UF's Brandon James talks HOF induction, favorite returns

When former Gator Brandon James found out about his induction into the UF Athletic Hall of Fame, he thought it was an April Fools’ joke.

His teammate at Florida, fellow 2020 inductee Brandon Spikes, delivered the news.

“Spikes let me know, on the first of April actually, and I thought he was joking to be honest,” James said. “Then he sent me his email and I found out from the administration, and it was crazy.”

He was officially announced Monday as one of nine members in UF’s 2020 HOF class, including Spikes, Tim Tebow and former men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan. James owns four SEC and 11 school records for kickoff and punt returns, including career kickoff return yardage (SEC) and career punt return yardage (UF) from 2006-09.

As a return specialist, getting inducted in the same class as Tebow and Spikes means a lot to James.

“When you’re looked at as a returner, it’s kind of hard for you to know how much people appreciate what you bring to the game,” James said. “Throughout those times, no doubt teammates and opposing teams, of course, knew the impact I had on the game. But 10 years removed, you never know much appreciation you really have because I played with a lot of great players — a lot of NFL players. So for me to go in with Tebow and Spikes as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, that’s big time. Especially at the University of Florida.”

He received a congratulatory text from Gators coach Dan Mullen, who was the team’s offensive coordinator when James played. During his Zoom call with the media Monday, Mullen recalled recruiting James to UF and the staff’s decision to pursue him despite his 5-foot-6, 167-pound frame.

“Going back to his recruitment and he’s 5-foot-6 — he’ll probably get mad at me — maybe 5-foot-7, 170 pounds,” Mullen said. “What position does he even play? I remember sitting in recruiting meetings saying, ‘I don’t know, but he’s a guy you want on the team.’

“Those are the type of people you want to be around as football players. You might have questions, ‘Can he do this, can he do that?’ I’m not sure, but he’s a guy we want on our team. That’s something special. … Those are the guys who have great careers.”

James’ career with the Gators may not have happened without their top-ranked 2006 class, which featured Tebow, Spikes and the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect, Percy Harvin. The chance to team up with those players trumped the way James felt about Florida as an FSU fan.

But it took time. When UF defensive coordinator Greg Mattison first reached out to him, the conversation didn’t go so well.

“I’ll never forget the first time he actually called,” James said. “He was like, ‘Hey, what do you think about being a Gator?’ And I just told him straight up, ‘I hate the Gators.’ I was a big Seminole all my life, so I never saw myself being a Gator.

“But as the recruiting process went along and I was able to see the class Coach (Urban) Meyer was putting together, I was like, ‘Look man, that’s something special I want to be a part of.’ I was always winning growing up playing sports, so just being a competitor, I wanted to win. And I knew I was going to be around the talent and on the stage of the SEC, and it was going to show my competitive nature.”