If you’ve ever spotted Ron English at Gator Walk, you know he has an elite hat game.
When he doesn’t have on a Florida cap, you can catch the veteran safeties coach rocking a fedora or bowler hat. The motivation behind his style is simple.
“The hat game’s here because of the loss of my hair, which I hate,” English said. “I hate not having hair. I gotta be clean shaven because I don’t have any hair. So, the next best thing is what? Hats. I don’t even really like the bald head look, so I got my hat game going.”
That’s not the only swag he has at the house. Parked in his garage is a 1969 Mercury Marquis — barely.
“It fits, man. Barely. I mean barely,” English said. “I’ve gotta be careful in the front and in the back.”
When he rode it to work one day in June, UF assistant director of creative media Kevin Camps started photographing him behind the wheel. English admits that it’s a family car.
“I was just driving in my car — well it’s my wife’s car actually, which is a whole ’nother story — and Kevin was like, ‘I’m gonna take some pictures.’ ... You look at the license plate, this is the ’69 hooptie she calls it. And if I didn’t drive it, it would probably not start because she never drives the darn thing. But it’s fun to drive,” said English, who also has a 1993 Mercedes-Benz 300SL.
He tweeted out one of Camps’ photos following the addition of four-star safety Donovan McMillon, who joined the class a month after English flipped Dakota Mitchell from LSU. He landed a third safety pledge on Aug. 10 when 5-star recruit Corey Collier Jr. committed to UF in an exclusive video with Gators Territory (watch).
English tweeted out the photo again that day, but he also shared a recruiting edit that Camps made with him and assistant director of player personnel John Herron in the ’69 Mercury Marquis.
“Of course we’re taking pictures, and Hova’s gotta jump in and get in the pictures. So he jumps in and there we go,” English said of Herron, who had the forward thinking to get the shot a month ahead of Collier’s commitment. “And then people were like, ‘I thought that was Photoshop, man!’ And I’m like, ‘Nah, man.’ This is real.”
The “ROOM FOR ONE MORE” edit was intended to let safety prospects know the Gators aren’t full at the position. Mitchell is being recruited to play STAR and Collier has the versatility to play multiple spots in Florida’s secondary.
The staff is still prioritizing Rivals250 member Terrion Arnold, who plans to decide on signing day.
“Kevin made it go viral,” English said of hooptie edit. “We gotta get one more to fill it up, then it will really go viral.”
English can’t comment on 2021 recruits, but he did discuss his freshmen trio Thursday, all of whom have all impressed in fall camp. He recruited four-star safety Rashard Torrence II with linebackers coach Christian Robinson, while teaming up with cornerbacks coach Torrian Gray to land three-star DBs Tre’Vez Johnson and Mordecai McDaniel.
The Gators also signed four-star athlete Fenley Graham, an elite returner who could play safety, nickel or possibly receiver. He suffered a fractured forearm in the first scrimmage.
UF coach Dan Mullen called Johnson the sleeper of the class on signing day and said he stood out in Monday’s scrimmage at STAR, while defensive coordinator Todd Grantham praised the play of Torrence and McDaniel last week.
“I don't think we missed on any of those evaluations, I think we were spot on. We got what we thought we were gonna get, I think those guys are gonna be really good players, all three of them,” English said. “Rashad Torrence came to us in January. He got a 4.0 his first semester here, but he wasn’t able to go through spring ball, so that was kind of a little bit of a downer. But he’s probably the furthest along in the sense that he’s been around the longest. He just flashes; he makes plays. We certainly didn’t miss on him. He’s a really good football player. He’s mature, he’s smart, he’s conscientious, he’s everything you would want. I think our evaluation was right on there.
“With Mordecai, he is probably more athletic than I thought he would be. He’s a big guy. He’s going to be a big man, but he’s fast and athletic and explosive — more so than I thought he would be, even with all the track times and the things he did in that arena. And he’ll hit you, he’ll hit you. So I’m happy with him.
“Tre’Vez is coming along. He’s playing the star, so he’s had it the toughest because that position entails a lot of technique and a lot of learning. He’s so gifted in terms of his speed. I know you have heard the stories. We never got him over a 4.45 on any clock, any day that we timed him. Not only here, but on the road. And he’s got some toughness. So I like the guys and I just feel like we did a nice job of evaluation. We took the right guys.”
Hats off.
