Four-star safety, Jordan Castell, goes in depth on his decision to commit to Florida

Photo Credit: All Gators Sports Illustrated

The commitment of four-star safety, Jordan Castell, capped off a stellar July for the Florida Gators. The momentum the Gators carried into the month of August shows that they can compete right off the bat in the recruiting world with a brand new coaching staff. On Saturday night, Castell joined me on Instagram Live for an interview to go in depth on his decision to commit to Florida.

Jordan Castell Interview

https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cg8FlhhBVgp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Jordan Castell is a six-foot, two-inch, 195-pound safety from West Orange High School in Winter Park, Florida. He is ranked as the No. 13 safety in the country, No. 41 recruit in Florida, and the No. 202 overall recruit in the country according to 247sports.

Castell held 34 offers throughout his recruitment, but after building bonds with the coaching staff, and an official visit in early June, Castell was sold on Florida. “I really like Coach Toney, Coach Napier, the area was a little spot too, my family being able to come watch the games,” Castell said. “But really just the love that I was getting, texting me every day, I just knew that was home.”

The coaching staff at Florida told Castell they can see him playing more than just safety once he arrives in Gainesville. “When I was talking to Coach Toney, Coach Napier, and Coach Raymond, they were like ‘at first, we wanted you at safety,’” Castell said. “But then I had went out and worked out for the coaches, and they was like ‘we want you at corner, we want you at safety, nickel, really just anywhere we can put you we know you’re going to dominate.’”

Another factor that led to Castell choosing the Gators was the familiar faces he’d be joining. Castell grew up with four-star wide receiver, Aidan Mizell, and four-star cornerback, Ja’Keem Jackson, who are both committed to Florida. They even planned to commit to Florida in three consecutive days in late July. “My relationship with Aidan and Ja’Keem, we grew up playing against each other, always competing against each other,” Castell said. And now that we get older and get to play on the same team, I feel like that’s really special.”

With everything that led Castell to Florida, it wasn’t always that easy of a decision. Castell was also interested in programs such as Alabama, Tennessee, and Auburn, but Alabama was a school that was intriguing to him for some time. “When I was up there at Bama, because I was silently committed to Bama,” Castell said. “But when I went up there with Coach T-Rob, I wasn’t really feeling it.”

Castell committed to Florida on July 30, and since then the Gators have been ranked in the Top 15 in the recruiting class rankings according to 247sports. From Castell’s knowledge, they don’t plan on slowing down. “I feel like we’re setting up something special,” Castell said, “We got some more guys about to announce too.”