DE Jack Pyburn Recaps Official Florida Visit, Gators Now Firmly in the Mix

2022 Bolles (Fla.) defensive end Jack Pyburn discusses his official visit to Florida and scholarship offer from Billy Napier.

The Florida Gators hosted their final group of official visitors before National Signing Day this weekend, with just over a handful of prospects making their way to Gainesville. Of those players, only two of them arrived for the visit without a Florida offer in hand, one of those being Bolles product and Jacksonville (Fla.) native Jack Pyburn.

However, Pyburn did not leave the visit empty-handed. Pyburn tweeted shortly after the conclusion of his visit that he had indeed received an offer from the Gators and even went so far as to call it his dream offer.

“It’s pretty surreal. It’s a cool feeling seeing your childhood ambitions coming true.” Pyburn told AllGators. “It’s really, really cool and it’s just special. I’m very blessed.”

Head coach Billy Napier has been on the front lines of Florida’s recruiting efforts since taking the job back in December and that was no different for Pyburn’s recruitment. In fact, Napier is the person that extended the offer to the talented edge rusher. 

“Coach Napier [offered me]. He just basically told me that he needed me to be a part of his program, that he didn’t want me, he needed me,” said Pyburn. “[He wanted me] to be part of a culture shift and that I’m a great player but also my character as a young man. He told me that, all around, I’m the perfect package for him and that I’m wanted in Gainesville. So that was really cool to hear.”

While the head coach is a big part of the recruiting process, as a prospect it is also important to get to know your future position coaches, as those are the people you will be spending most of your time with. Pyburn was able to able to chop it up with a couple of Florida’s defensive coaches and get a good vibe from them.

“I spent a lot of time with coach Chaos [Sean Spencer] and coach [Mike] Peterson especially. Their message to me was pretty much the same as coach Napier’s. They were consistent with their narrative that I’m a great player and they see huge potential in me, but also just who I am as a person,” Pyburn said. “They said I’m a special young man. It’s amazing to hear that from people.”

Less than a week ago, Pyburn had narrowed his decision down to just two teams in Miami and Auburn with the plan to commit on Tuesday, February 1, just one day prior to National Signing Day. And while the decision date still stands, with the Gators extending an offer to Pyburn, they have now added themselves firmly into the mix with those other two schools.

“It’s a three-headed race now,” Pyburn said. “For me, it’s just going to be about the right fit. It has to be the right fit for me to do it, and that’s what it’s going to come down to. I’m going to sit down with my family members and talk things over. Look at my visits, revisit everything that we’ve done and then go from there.” 

Stay tuned to AllGators for continuous coverage of Florida Gators football, basketball and recruiting. Follow along on social media at @SI_AllGators on Twitter and Florida Gators on Sports Illustrated on Facebook.