One of head coach Urban Meyer’s first (and easily his biggest) commitment for the 2010 Florida Gators recruiting cycle is 5-star athlete Matt Elam from Dwyer High School in West Palm Beach, FL.
Having recruited and coached Elam’s old brother Abram while with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Meyer grabbing Matt’s commitment was a no-brainer. And while he remains committed the Gators, some of Elam’s recent statements should concern Gator Nation.
After visiting the West Virginia Mountaineers last week, Elam came back praising the program, saying it really opened his eyes as to what else was out there aside from Florida. Elam claimed he was simply doing his due diligence by taking all of his visits, but when pressed by the Palm Beach Post about where he would sign if he was forced to right now, he changed his tune.
“Probably West Virginia,” he said. “It’s crazy, huh? That’s how it is.”
On top of that, Elam said he does not plan to take an official visit to UF because he has already experienced Gainesville and what the school has to offer.
Having previously said he was “locked in” to Florida and it was “where I want to be,” Elam is not ready to completely change his mind just yet.
“I don’t want to de-commit and cause a lot of trouble,” he told the Post, “so I’m going to stay there, stay committed, but I’m going to look around.”
Prior to the 2009 season, before Meyer squashed rumors of him potentially leaving Florida at some point to return to Notre Dame, Elam said that was his only concern about becoming a Gator.
“Nothing could persuade me [to de-commit from Florida],” Elam said. “I won’t change unless the coach changes.”
In the end, could it simply be opportunity and playing time that are causing Elam to question his dedication to the Gators?
“There’s a lot of places that I could get a better opportunity than Florida,” Elam said. “I’m not going to run away from Florida because of competition, but I don’t want to wait. I feel I shouldn’t have to wait. I just want to go in and play. I don’t want to have to beat out four or five people. I know I’m going to have to compete wherever I go, but Florida probably has the biggest depth in college football.”
One must wonder if simply the threat of competition can outweighs a promise and family history as strong as Elam’s with Meyer.
“I promised Coach Meyer I was going to his school,” Elam said. “Me and his relationship is very strong. That’s one reason why I won’t leave Florida.”
We’ll see.
Photo Credit: Jim Rassol, Sun-Sentinel
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