Duncanville High (Texas) edge rusher [autotag]Colin Simmons[/autotag] has many Power Five teams after him, but only a select group will get him on campus over the summer between his junior and senior seasons.
The Florida Gators are hoping to be one of those select programs that hosts the nation’s top-ranked edge rusher, but nothing is set in stone yet. Simmons’ mother, Monica McCarley, spoke to 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong, and rattled off a few of her son’s planned visits.
He’ll take officials to Miami, Alabama and Texas, in that order over the next three weekends, while Oregon (June 20) and Texas A&M (June 28) each get him for an unofficial visit. Although Florida isn’t on the list, McCarley says a trip to Gainesville could come in the fall.
“(Simmons) wants to do more officials during the season,” McCarley added. “We don’t have those scheduled yet. He wants to do LSU and Florida.”
Whether that means both schools get official visits or he wants to attend the annual game between the two is up for interpretation. Simmons was by campus in the spring, but McCarley wasn’t there. She mentioned that he liked the “energy that the fans gave to the players,” but Florida still feels like an afterthought in this recruitment right now.
On3’s recruiting prediction machine agrees. LSU (43.2%), Texas (23.4%), Alabama (14.8%) and Georgia (11.9%) are the four clubs on top with the best odds to land him, and Florida is one of four schools behind Texas A&M (1.2%) with less than a percentage point of the prediction.
Florida needs to get Simmons on campus, but it’s not going to happen over the summer. However, the Gators rarely hosted players during the season, and Simmons’ summer schedule is essentially full already.
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