Florida Gators OL commit Mike Williams proud to have kick-started UF’s recruiting run
Offensive tackle Mike Williams of Baltimore (Md.) Charles Herbert Flowers was 2024 commitment No. 8 for the Gators when he gave his verbal to Billy Napier’s program June 12. Five weeks later, Florida owns 20 commits and has soared all the way up to No. 4 in the recruiting team rankings.
Fans may have been surprised by this recruiting run — but Williams was not.
“I mean, when I talked to (Gators offensive line coach Darnell Stapleton), we predicted something like this would happen,” Williams said. “We called it a domino effect. Now, we’re on a roll.”
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According to Williams, he was active in the recruitments of two other recent Florida commits. One was offensive lineman Marcus Mascoll of Georgia.
“I contributed. I was in there the same weekend at Marcus (for his official visit),” Williams said. “We bonded real fast. Afterward, I got a text and he told me his top two was LSU and Florida. I was in his ear. I told him we could be something great.”
Mascoll committed to the Gators on June 19. Two days earlier, 4-star linebacker Aaron Chiles of Maryland had jumped in the orange and blue boat.
“He’s from my hometown,” Williams said of Chiles. “We played youth ball when I was 7. I already knew him. I knew his top three was Maryland, Michigan and UF. But I was also in his ear.”
For Williams, Florida quickly moved into contention after he backed off a previous verbal to South Carolina in late May.
“I was a big Gator fan growing up,” Williams said. “Even though I’m from Maryland, I liked Gator football. I was always going to go to the SEC. It was Tennessee and UF. One of those two. I didn’t schedule (an official visit with the Vols). It was going to be later in the year.”
That Florida had Stapleton, one of the program’s two offensive line coaches, certainly helped the Gators.
“There’s three black offensive line coaches on the east coast at Power 5 schools,” Williams said. “South Carolina, FSU and Florida. I had already committed to South Carolina. I was talking to FSU and was going to go there for a visit. But after talking to some people the info I got was that I wouldn’t like Tallahassee even though (Seminole offensive coordinator Alex Atkins) is a great coach. The last school was Florida (with Stapleton). Florida blew me away. And my parents live in Orlando.”
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Williams said he’s also close with Florida’s other offensive line coach, Rob Sale.
“Coach Sale is the more upbeat type of coach. He’s hilarious,” Williams said. “I got to see his funny side, not just his coaching side. Coach Stapleton is more of a laid-back coach. He’s a real genuine guy. They both know a lot about football. And they teach the same scheme.”
Williams will return to Gainesville later this month for the program’s July 29 cookout.
And, he noted, he plans to do a little recruiting while he’s there.
“Oh yeah, for sure,” Williams said.
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