Five-star EDGE says the Swamp was 'real loud' in visit with Florida

Five-star EDGE Anthony Jones in the 2026 cycle visited Gainesville and watched Florida football defeat the UCF Knights, 24-13, in the Swamp last weekend.

Jones, a prospect out of St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Mobile, Alabama, and the second-ranked recruit in the state according to 247Sports, was pleased to see the Gators’ defense perform well against the Knights.

“It was great to see the home team get the win,” Jones told Swamp247 after the game. “I haven’t been to a lot of home games this year that the team I was visiting got the win. It was great to see their D-line getting in the backfield and all the blitzing they were running. It was great to see, and I could definitely see myself fitting into one of those spots on the D-line.”

Jones also credited the fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for bringing the energy.

“It was crazy in there. Real loud,” Jones said. “That is what you expect The Swamp to sound like for sure.”

Jones met some of the Florida coaches in person for the first time during his visit.

“I’ve never met them in person, so I got to do that while I was here,” Jones said. “It was good to put a face to the name, and start building a relationship.”

Jones went on to say, “They want me to come back for another game, and build a relationship. I was with coach (Larry) Williams, coach (Cannon) Gibbs, talked with coach (Billy) Napier, and was around coach Mike P (Peterson). It was a good time around all them, and meet all of them for the first time. Good conversations.”

Jones says the Gators are among several of his other top schools on his list, but it’s still early to tell.

“They’re up there, but I got to come back for more visits. So I can actually get real comfortable with everyone and the school more,” Jones said about Florida.

Jones has other football program visits on his schedule such as the Texas Longhorns, Florida State Seminoles and Alabama Crimson Tide. But the five-star prospect did say that he wants to try and come back for another Florida game later this season.

“I got Texas for the Georgia game, I got Miami vs. Florida State, probably Alabama vs LSU, and I think I want to try and get to Oregon,” Jones said about his scheduled visits. “I want to try and get back for another Florida game later this season. Maybe the LSU game or something like that, but not sure just yet. I want to though.”

Up next for the Gators

Florida travels on the road to Knoxville to play the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday, Oct. 12. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN.

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