2022 Safety Miguel Mitchell commits to the Gators

Over the weekend the Florida Gators had their first official visit weekend of the year. They hosted nearly ten visitors over the course of three days and made sure to show them the ins and outs of this new Gator program. Two major pieces were added from the list of visitors, one of which was Louisiana OL transfer O'Cyrus Torrence who has been highly regarded as one of the best offensive lineman in the portal, and the other being 2022 Safety Miguel Mitchell.

Just last week Mitchell released a top two of Florida and Tennessee, but after a weekend in Gainesville, he was ready to pull the trigger for the good guys. I got the chance to exchange messages with Mitchell and ask him some questions following his commitment.

Q: What impressed you the most over the weekend?

A: "Just the new staff and their motivation to turn the program around."

This is something that has seemed evident from the jump with Coach Napier hiring seemingly a coach for every player thus far, as well as fixing issues for the players such as nutrition, parking, and now reportedly housing accommodations. However, it is exciting to hear that not only are these things being seen from the outside, but recruits and players are taking notice too that Coach Nape will settle for nothing than the absolute best for his guys.

Q: Which coach/coaches did you spend the most time around?

A: "Coach Toney and Coach Raymond."

Coach Raymond and his name speaks for itself, but I have been super encouraged to see the amount of recruits who have mentioned Coach Toney's name. We all know the now famous story of him staying on Warzone with Shemar James until 2:00 am on early signing day, but I look for Coach Toney to quickly be one of the main recruiters on the defensive side of the Gators staff. Coach Napier gave him the Co-DC role from the jump, and if he can produce defenses as intense as he has been recruiting these past two months, his recruiting should jump to an even higher level in the coming years.

Q: How do the Gators and Coach Napier plan to use you?

A: "I'll be used at multiple spots in the backend."

Mitchell is an intriguing prospect because he has the ability to play multiple positions in the Gators secondary. While Safety is his primary position, he could play corner, or potentially even nickel as well if needed. His flexibility should allow him to get on to the field quicker and see meaningful snaps for Florida early in his career. He will again be learning from the best in all of college football in Coach Raymond, so I have no doubt that wherever he lines up, he'll be poised for success.

Q: What ultimately led you to commit to the University of Florida?

A: "I just felt like Florida was the perfect fit for me."

This is such an encouraging answer, not only because it brings Mitchell to the Gators, but also because it goes to show the effort this new staff is willing to put in to securing the commitment of players they want. Relationships are always a determining factor in recruits decisions on where to attend school, and to know that Coach Napier along with his staff have built a relationship strong enough to make a player feel like Florida is the perfect fit should be an indicator of how recruiting will be working going forward.