Gators five-star commit Matt Elam is solid

Much has been made over the last week about prized Florida Gators commitment, five-star safety/athlete Matt Elam of Dwyer, wavering on his desire to attend the University of Florida this spring. A source close to Elam told OGGOA early Wednesday that his commitment to the Gators is solid, regardless of what he is telling reporters. Elam is simply doing his due diligence and taking his official visits before signing at the deadline to enroll early in the spring.

Nevertheless, Elam’s comments over the past week have ruffled the feathers of some Florida coaches and players, who have taken it upon themselves to indirectly answer some of the questions that were brought up. Chief among those is the contention that increased positional depth in the secondary will inhibit young players from getting playing time as freshmen.

[Read Florida’s responses after the jump…]

Safeties coach Chuck Heater, speaking generally and not directly to Elam, told Rivals that the Gators have had a “pretty good track record of playing young players,” pointing out that cornerbacks Joe Haden and Janoris Jenkins and safety Will Hill all saw the field as true freshman and “played really well.”

To the talk that getting on the field as a freshman at Florida is difficult, Heater believes, “It’s obviously fueled by others, and they don’t understand the magnitude of what that means. The biggest problem is not us or anyone else, it’s are they ready? That’s what they don’t understand. They don’t understand that jump could be pretty significant. If they’re ready nobody has enough guys.”

Added Haden, “Everybody [on the Gators] was the best in their state at that position; so just knowing you have to work hard every single day to get that much better. It’s not just talent. It’s work ethic and knowing the plays and worrying about more than athletic ability. If you really think somebody’s going to give something to you, then you don’t deserve to be here at all.”

Photo Credit: Jim Rassol, Sun-Sentinel