Dawkins hopes to visit Florida several more times
When three-star prospect Terrell Dawkins showed up to the Florida Gators practice on Saturday, he chose to wear an interesting NFL jersey.
Dawkins did not have on any apparel of the Carolina Panthers, which would have made sense since he hails from Concord (N.C.). Instead, the strongside defensive end sported a jersey from the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that Dawkins says he has been a fan of for over a decade.
“Actually, I’ve been a fan since 2007,” Dawkins said of the Jaguars. “And when I wear it, people think I’m a bandwagon just because they’re good now. The reason why is because I used to play Madden with them a lot because I liked the jerseys. I played with Maurice Jones-Drew in Madden 07 a lot, so I just became a fan of him and then maybe a fan of the Jaguars.”
While on his unofficial visit to Florida, Dawkins had the opportunity to watch the football team practice and see how the coaches handled their duties during the practice. Although he only saw about 20 to 30 minutes of the practice, Dawkins said he was impressed with how it was operated.
“The practice was really fast-paced and intense and they were moving around a lot. That was pretty cool,” Dawkins said. “It was very organized how the practice was run and it was still fast pace, so that was pretty nice that they organized at that pace.”
After seeing a portion of the practice and getting fitted for a jersey, Dawkins was able to talk to head coach Dan Mullen and three other individuals: defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, cornerbacks coach Charlton Warren and Assistant Director of Player Personnel Otis Yelverton.
Defensive line coach Sal Sunseri was not able to meet with him, but Grantham talked to Dawkins about where he would be played in his defensive scheme. To Dawkins’ liking, he found out that he would be played as a “Buck” linebacker, which is a hybrid between a defensive end and an outside linebacker.
Dawkins also enjoyed his conversation with coach Mullen, who seemed to be confident in what Florida has to provide for the young man.
“Coach Mullen was a cool person,” Dawkins said. “He talked about how if I go to Florida, he can’t promise me everything. But he said one thing he will promise is I will graduate if I leave early and go to the draft, if that happens. He also said he wants me to visit every single school to see what they got because he’s confident [Florida] has everything that I need just to go to school. He was pretty confident, and I like that about him.”
As to whether he will be back to Florida, Dawkins said that he would like to be back for the spring game on April 14th and to make multiple future visits to Gainesville. Dawkins said that this visit helped Florida’s chances with him because of the position he would be played at if he chooses the school.
“Yea, it actually did,” Dawkins said of whether the visit helped Florida’s chances or not. “I found out the position that I would be playing at, and that’s the position that I want to play. It kind of helped me out to put Florida higher up in the school that I’ll probably go to.”
Dawkins will be releasing a top five list around the middle of June, but he said that Florida and Tennessee are appealing because they will play him at the position he likes. He also told Inside the Gators that he will be taking official visits to Tennessee and Florida in the fall.