Gators begin to show an interest in Ellis
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Several weeks ago when we saw Daytona Beach (Fla.) Mainland tight-end/defensive end Brian Ellis in Gainesville for his kickoff classic he told us that up until that point the Gators hadn't been recruiting him. The start of the contact period on September 1st brought interest from the Gators and then a few calls from a relative helped shuffled his list of favorites.
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Since the contact period began he has received calls from several of his favorite teams, included on that list is the Florida Gators. The same team that not a week before the start of the contact period he had said had shown absolutely no interest in him.
Does he have any idea why Florida jumped on the bandwagon?
"I don't know, I couldn't tell you. I didn't think they were going to recruit me but they started. They were one of the teams I talked to first. The night they could start calling (Wed, Sept 1st) I had a game when most of the coaches called and I missed about all of them. The colleges I did catch were Florida, Florida State, UCF and I think Tennessee, but most of all the other coaches I missed."
According to Ellis, the offer has moved the Gators up his list.
"To me I'm only going to consider teams that have offered me. I'm not going to play a game where I have to wait it out for them. I can't think of all of them at the top of my head. I think I have 15 to 20 offers.
"Teams I remember are Florida State, Florida, LSU, UCF, Oklahoma, South Carolina – there's a lot of them. I'm trying to get the school work side taken care of before I think about it that much."
One thing that he has had time to think is official visits. He has one planned already and will schedule two more as soon as he can get the dates coordinated with the coaches.
"I have one set up for Florida State (1/7) and I'll be talking to the coaches to set up visits with UCF and Florida."
Ellis said that while he doesn't want to be considered a lean to any team in particular, two colleges do stand out above the crowd.
"Florida and Florida State have always been the all time favorites around here. When you live here you're a Gator or a Seminole fan. I couldn't do wrong with either of them."
At 6-foot-4, 235 pounds with 4.7 speed in the forty, he could play several positions.
He said that the Seminoles are recruiting him as a tight-end while the Gators are recruiting him for either side of the ball. As far as his own personal preference, he had this to say:
"It doesn't matter – I'll play both. I love playing tight-end, catching the ball. I love playing defense where I can hit. Where I play isn't too important. For the right team I'll play anywhere they want."
While college coaches are limited in the number of times they can call him at this time, relatives are free to call whenever they chose. One such player for the Gators has that luxury.
Ellis is a cousin of current Gator freshman linebacker Brandon Siler, who has called Ellis a couple of times recently.
"He called me after his game and told me he played the whole second half. He asked me where I'm thinking about going and I said, 'I don't know cuz, I'm not sure yet.' He said, 'Come to Florida.' We laughed about it."
He's planning on attending the Florida State game this weekend against UAB.
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