During a National Signing Day in February where Florida landed a massive haul of six commitments, one of those key additions was Rivals250 defensive back Brian Edwards.
Once he reached a top four of Colorado, Florida, Louisville and Miami, Edwards visited the Buffaloes in December and then Louisville and Miami on two January official visits. The weekend before he signed with the Gators, Edwards wanted to "save the best for last" and then took his official in Gainesville.
The enthusiastic 6-foot-2, 195-pound defensive back out of Miramar (Fla.) High School, who is currently deciding between majoring in communications or sports management, is extremely eager to make it up to Gainesville in late June for the start of the summer B session. He said he expects to play right off the bat at cornerback, as one of six defensive backs in Florida's 2017 recruiting class.
Today, it's time to learn a little bit more about Edwards on a personal level in this edition of Getting to Know.
I know you were looked at by a bunch of different schools, but what were the reasons why you chose to come to Florida?
“One reason that led me to the University of Florida was just the academics. Anybody that I see that has a diploma from the University of Florida, they’ll accept you for a job because it’s such a great school. It’s great to be a part of that, ‘DBU’ Nation, and it’s great to have a great coaching staff. Coach (Jim) McElwain, Coach (Corey) Bell, Coach (Randy) Shannon.
“It’s DBU. You could see by the way Florida put those guys in the draft. This year, they just had Marcus Maye, Quincy Wilson and Jalen ‘Teez’ Tabor go, so seeing those guys and seeing how they play on the field man-based, zone-based, I just can’t wait to play out there in those schemes and get ready to play in Coach Randy’s system.”
Take us through the process that led to your commitment on National Signing Day. What was that final month like for you?
“Coming down to the last month in January before signing day, me and my mom, we had a rough time with Miami, Louisville and Florida because it was so tough – they’re all great coaches, all those schools are great schools. It was all about where will I be comfortable at and where will I be the most successful at, were the questions. Going to the visits, Louisville was great, Miami was great, but once I got to Florida, it just felt like home. I knew I was going to be comfortable, be way more focused there. It’s a quiet town, everybody loves the Florida Gators in Gainesville. So, it’s just a great atmosphere and I can’t wait to play in The Swamp.”
Who came in second for you and why?
“Miami, because they were a great school at the end of the day. They made sure to see me when they could, they called me whenever they could. They all showed love. I know that if I had gone to Miami, I would have had the whole city behind my back and I knew I would have made a great impact at that school, especially being around Coach (Mark) Richt. I feel he had great plans for me, so that was a great school to be my second school.”
What did you like the most about the recruiting process?
“I had fun on my visits. I had fun just talking to the coaches and being able to see the different fans from different programs. That was my favorite part, seeing what I could contribute to the program and seeing that I could come in and be a true freshman.
“Visiting, being on campus and trying on the whole gear, it was just fun, man. It was awesome.”
What about the least?
“Really, what I hated the most was I wish I could stay for a week at each of those schools. That’s the worst thing I hate. I wish I could have stayed longer at all those visits and be able to ask some more questions. Another thing I really didn’t like was the dead period. I know you’ve got to give these coaches some time to themselves, but I didn’t really like the dead period. I did too, at the same time, because it gave me a chance to think, because they’ll come at you hard. Like, ‘Commit, commit.’”
What would you say right now are some of your greatest strengths as a football player?
“I don’t want to give away too much of the recipe, but I guess you can say some of my strengths are my length, I’m pretty tall – 6-foot-2, 195 – and I could run with the receivers. I’ve got great hips. My confidence is up, my playing skills are up and I’ve got the swag to play corner. So, just me being that swag corner and coming out, they’re going to love to watch me play.”
What do you really want to work on the most when you get to UF?
“I just want to learn the game more. There’s always something to learn every day, so continuing to get myself up on that. Making sure I learn more to the game and making sure I know my tendencies and certain receivers, the way they move. Just making sure I’m locked in. That’s it.”
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Have the coaches expressed to you where you fit in the secondary?
“The coaches talked about it already - we find it bringing me in and me coming in playing corner right now. To be on that island, just fitting in, just reading everything, you get to talk sometimes with the receiver. You get to play around. You get a lot of attention when the ball is up in the air and it’s you and that receiver. Everybody’s just holding their breath and they’re waiting to see what the outcome is. So being on that big stage and knowing I’ll be competing with some of the great receivers in the SEC, that’s just what’s amazing about that corner position.”
Considering you entered high school as a receiver but moved to the secondary, what was playing at both cornerback and safety like for you?
“I started off playing safety for a good two years from ninth grade to the summer of 11th. It was fun playing safety, had a couple of interceptions and tackles. It was going well, and then coach said we needed some corners. It was good. I had fun and I surprised a lot of people going to corner. They’d watch film and see me at safety and they’d be like, ‘He’s a safety.’ But when they see me out there at corner, they’d be like, ‘Oh, why are you at corner?’
“The one thing I hated though this year was that some teams wouldn’t try to throw to my side. That was one of the issues I had this year. They didn’t want to throw to my side, but I had fun. It was good being a threat to some teams. They’d throw to me and I’d catch some interceptions.”
You've also experienced success in track and field, placing second in the high jump at states and being named to the 2016 All-County 4A-3A Second Team. For those not too familiar with your track and field career, what should they know?
“So, I started off late 10th grade. I tried to run track, like really try to run. I do the field events now. But, I really tried to run and do field events at the same time. I did the 400 and 4x2 and started off good in that but never really made it to state with it until I found out I was good in the high jump. When I found that out, my coach said, ‘Let’s do this. You’ve got great ups. I want you to try it.’
“Me and Jovon Durante – he’s at West Virginia, the receiver – me and him, we started jumping man. He was hitting like 6-6 my junior year and I was hitting 6-3. So going back and forth with him, it was funny. We just found out that we could really go to state. Once I did that, I ended up going my junior year. I didn’t really do too good, but my senior year I went back and got second place in the high jump at 6-6. I was able to break my school record during the track season, hitting 6-10.”
Will you pursue being a two-sport athlete at UF?
“I’m still thinking about it, but you won’t know until you get there.”
Who has been the biggest role model for you in your life?
“I didn’t grow up with my dad, but I did grow up around father figures. Just looking at them, they were always around the older guys. Seeing that, you learn from them, so that’s what I’m trying to do and bringing to the team when I get to college, find the right older guys and have them lead the way for me.
“I really look up to my brother who is in the military right now. Great guy, always humble. He made sure he was able to have some money in his pocket, either way, just to take care of the family. He knew what we didn’t have and he made sure he’d get us some KFC at times. He made sure we were good. Seeing him grow up and what he did for us, he made sure he was always there, made sure he did what he had to do all the time. He was a great role model for me.”
If you could meet one person in the world, who would that be?
“You can say Deion Sanders, because I haven’t met ‘Prime Time’ yet.”
Which NFL player would you compare your talents to?
“I would say Xavier Rhodes, because he’s a guy from down south here, too. He’s another long corner like me, not lanky but he’s got some size on him. He’s got swag on the field too, he can play. So, I guess you can compare my game to him a little bit. Richard Sherman, Xavier Rhodes and Jalen Ramsey.”
What is your favorite type or music or favorite artist?
“I like hip-hop. I like Kodak Black, ‘They don’t like to see you winning.’ You know, everybody knows some of that. I like listening to Kodak. I like some music that’s going to give me a lot of motivation, something that means something. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Lil Herb and Lil Bibby, but those guys are from Chicago and they’ve been through some of the things I’ve been through. Being able to relate with them through their music is crazy.”
What about your favorite movie?
“I love The Fast and the Furious. I’ve followed the whole series from the start. Another one was Remember the Titans.”
What’s one thing about you that some Florida fans may not know?
“Some people don’t know that I’m good at dancing. I could dance, I could move. They’ll see when I get in the end zone – I’ve got a little dance for them.”
If you were to get drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft, what would be your first purchase?
“My mom, I’ve got to get her a house. That would be my first purchase. Buy her a house to make sure she’s straight. Then, I’d get my Bentley or Ferrari.”
What are three things you have on your bucket list?
“I really want to get my masters, so that’s something on my list. My second thing is ball out in the SEC, make sure I’m the top corner in the SEC. Really ball on the field and make sure the world knows my name. The third thing is to get to the draft.”
What are your overall expectations for your first season at Florida?
“I expect to get as many picks as I can. I’m not just talking about picks - I’m talking about pick-sixes. But, just getting that in and get my feet wet. Matter of fact, don’t even get them wet, get them damp. Be able to get into the game and be a freshman. Make a couple mistakes but be able to correct them. Just go in there, learning the aspects, learning the defense and just have fun my first year.”
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