Gators PWO Commit Keenan Landry Has Florida Connections Aplenty

New Gators preferred walk-on commit Keenan Landry discussess his connections to Billy Napier and Florida's new coaching staff.

Photo: Florida Gators defensive line coach Sean Spencer; Credit: Zach Goodall

It was a rather easy decision for Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College defensive lineman Keenan Landry to commit to the Florida Gators as a preferred walk-on, which the Louisiana native announced on Monday.

To put it simply, Landry felt a strong family connection to the Gators' new coaching staff, one he is very familiar with due to its history of coaching in his home state at Louisiana-Lafayette from 2018-21.

"Honestly, it was just the family connection, the family vibe," Landry told AllGators. "I knew a lot of the coaches from high school, pretty much everyone on the staff knew me so there's a lot of history between everyone. It just felt like the best fit for me and my family."

Landry was recruited by the Gators' staff, led by head coach Billy Napier, at UL as a prospect in the 2021 recruiting class. He was able to bond with co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney and numerous off-field assistants at Louisiana that have followed Napier to Florida, as well.

However, even though he was academically qualified to go the Division 1 route upon his graduation from Jennings (La.) High School, Landry took the junior college route for a year before ultimately uniting with Napier and his assistants at Florida.

"They recruited me out of high school," Landry said of the staff before complimenting their success. "It was pretty crazy watching UL transition to something bigger. And then seeing, you know, pretty much the whole staff come to Florida, I'm just like, 'Yeah, I've gotta be a part of that.'"

Considering his knowledge of Napier and the success he had at Louisiana, Landry has full trust in his head coach-to-be to put Florida back into a position to compete for championships.

"I feel like it's gonna be second nature for him," Landry said about the task ahead of Napier. "I feel like his mindset is 'We don't rebuild, we reload.' So just having that mindset, like, it's not rebuilding time, it's time to just go out there. We have everything we need to be successful this year."

Although he wasn't a member of Napier's staff at Louisiana, one coach that stands out in particular to Landry is Sean Spencer, the assistant who oversees the Gators' defensive line where Landry will soon lineup in practice and on game day. 

Spencer made his way to Florida after spending two seasons coaching the same position in the NFL with the New York Giants, an aspect of Spencer's résumé that appeals to Landry quite a bit.

"Seeing [Spencer] coach in the NFL brought a lot of attention to me. Like, I have to be a part of that, you know, with his NFL mindset," Landry explained. "You want to get coached by the best, be around the best every day and compete against the best every day, because you're only gonna be as good as the guys around you. Just being there and competing, that's gonna make me a better player."

As things stand, Spencer envisions Landry aligning as a nose tackle in Florida's defensive scheme. Landry is accepting of that role as he prides himself on his run-stopping ability, although he suggested that if he can shed some weight off of his 6-foot-2, 335-pound frame, he is versatile enough to play three-technique defensive tackle as a pass rusher as well.

Landry paid UF a visit in March to reconnect with Napier and the staff, and he was blown away during his time on the "beautiful" campus. He pointed to the new football facility Florida is constructing as an example of how seriously the program takes its athletics.

"That's the kind of program I want to be around," Landry said.

In addition to being wowed by the visit and his ties to Florida's coaches, Landry has other ties to the program that helped him make the decision to commit to the Gators.

Although the two didn't cross paths at Mississippi Gulf Coast, Gators linebacker Diwun Black transferred to Florida from the same junior college. Landry admitted in fun that the two have opened up a pipeline from MGCCC to UF.

At Jennings, Landry played alongside class of 2022 running back and Florida signee Trevor Etienne. The two spoke several times before Landry announced his commitment to Florida, and Etienne expressed that UF is the place to be from his knowledge of the program already.

"We go way back. We called a couple of times about it," Landry said of Etienne. "He was just saying, like, 'It's the opportunity there, man.' He felt like I needed to take it and everybody else around me felt like I needed to take it."

Landry plans to enroll at Florida this summer. 

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