The recruiting trail is getting red hot in Gainesville as Florida football’s new head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and his army of staffers burn the midnight oil in their efforts to bring the best prospects into the fold. The month of March featured a flurry of visits from potential players that has continued as the calendar flipped to April.
Among the many making the trek down I-75 this month is four-star safety Isaac Smith out of Fulton (Mississippi) Itawamba Agricultural, who received an offer from co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach [autotag]Patrick Toney[/autotag] last week. The 6-foot, 200-pound high school junior has since voiced his desire to get better acclimated with the staff and the campus via a visit, according to Swamp247.
While his contact with the team has been funneled primarily through Toney and cornerbacks coach [autotag]Corey Raymond[/autotag], he has also been connected with others on the staff.
“Things have been building up for a little while with Florida,” Smith said. “Me and coach [Jamar] Chaney have been in contact since he was at Mississippi State. I have been talking to him for about two years now. When he went to Florida, we stayed in contact. We kept getting close, but I was also starting to talk with Coach [Corey] Raymond a little bit too. I talked to him last week and he also put the defensive coordinator the phone. We chopped it up a little bit and then he offered me.”
An in-person visit would certainly help improve these relationships by helping to put a face to the name as well as allowing both parties to nurture more intimate relationships than those that are developed over a distance. Smith also mentioned that he knows little about the school’s history, which makes bringing him to Hogtown that much more important, but did note that he “can see they are going to be building something big in the future.”
While a specific date for his visit has not yet been arranged, Smith says, “I will for sure try and get out there to visit them. If I can’t get out there to visit them in the spring I will in the summer.”
The safety prospect is ranked No. 169 overall and No. 13 at his position nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite, while the On3 Consensus ranks him at No. 153 and No. 9, respectively. The Ole Miss Rebels are currently listed in the lead for his services by both publications.
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