DAYTONA BEACH — Seated at stage right, Leonard Williams punched his ticket to the left coast.
The last of 23 Mainland High football players to sign his letter of intent, Williams committed to Southern California over Florida in front of his parents, coaches, and fellow students in Daytona Beach Wednesday morning.
"I was about to commit to Florida, but just me and my coach ... we sat down and talked about it and I felt like I had a great opportunity at [USC]," Williams said.
Williams had narrowed down his choices to the Gators and the Trojans before Wednesday, but ultimately decided to go play for head coach Lane Kiffin at Southern Cal.
As a defensive lineman for the Trojans, Williams will work under defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and defensive line coach Ed Orgeron, who was the head coach at Ole Miss from 2005-2007.
Williams cited USC's 4-3 defense as a major draw; Will Muschamp employs both the 3-4 and 4-3 defensive schemes at UF.
"I always wanted to go to Florida ever since I was little — that's been my team forever," Williams said. "But after I experienced all of this (the recruiting experience), I just really found out what was best for me."
Williams joins several other UF targets to choose another school on national signing day, as five-star cornerback Tracy Howard, five-star linebacker Josh Harvey-Clemons and five-star wide receiver Nelson Agholor all decided on different schools after listing Florida among their final choices.
