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Friday, March 29, 2024

LAND O’LAKES  — The 6-foot-5, 215-pound son of a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive tackle tries very hard to keep his secrets.

Kent Taylor, rated the No. 1 tight end in the nation by Rivals.com, walked into the lobby of the Land O’Lakes High gym wearing red and black, an ambiguous color choice given his offers from FSU, Georgia and Alabama.

He had waited nearly a month, keeping his decision under wraps until the Thursday afternoon ceremony presenting him with his U.S. Army All-American Bowl jersey.

He said only a few close friends and family members knew his final decision.

Taylor has hung out in Nick Saban’s office and Joe Paterno’s house. His final choices included college football’s No. 1- and No. 2-ranked schools in LSU and Alabama, respectively.

His principal even said the ceremony was “one of the most important announcements in Land O’Lakes High School’s history.”

So after Taylor slipped on the black-and-gold All-American jersey, he stepped up to the podium, visibly anxious. He thanked his loved ones and talked gratefully about his final six choices: LSU, Alabama, Penn State, Georgia, FSU and Florida.

“But I do want to tell you guys this,” he started. “Once a Gator – “

He stopped, reaching for a Philadelphia Phillies drawstring backpack, which he struggled opening for about 20 seconds.

“Uh,” he stuttered awkwardly. “Hold on.”

“— always a Gator.”

He threw on an orange-and-blue hat, finally making his decision public.

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Earlier this month, when Taylor called UF tight ends coach Derek Lewis to inform the staff of his decision, he said all the coaches were in a meeting room.

“When I committed, they really went crazy,” Taylor said.

His oral commitment is significant for Florida, which just had sophomore tight end Gerald Christian announce his transfer. Taylor is also the 17th overall oral commit in coach Will Muschamp’s first full class.

“I wanted to play football since I knew what football was,” Taylor said. “My dad played for the Bucs, and I’ve always wanted to do it. So now that I’ve lived through (that) and I get to go to Florida … it’s absolutely a dream come true.”

But the biggest determining factor, Taylor repeated several times, was the promise of playing time in the new offense.

“Past history has shown that the offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis, is going to throw to tight ends,” he said.

“It depends how ready I am and how big I get. They kind of said as a freshman, (I’ll be) just kind of catching balls and growing into that every-down blocker.”

Next on Taylor’s schedule: “absolutely got to recruit recruits.”

He said he is currently talking to Tampa Berkeley Prep five-star athlete Nelson Agholor, the nation’s No. 11 overall recruit, and St. Petersburg Lakewood High five-star defensive end Dante Fowler, Jr., who is currently a soft oral commit for FSU.

Oral commitments are non-binding until a national letter of intent is signed on or after National Signing Day on Feb. 1, 2012.

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