Florida Acquires PWO Promise From Regional Broadcaster
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David Schmidt, a wide receiver from Newberry, Florida, commits to Florida as a preferred walk-on.
Gainesville, Florida Wide receiver David Schmidt from nearby Newberry (Fla.) High School has joined Billy Napier’s growing walk-on army at Florida.
On Thursday night, Schmidt made his decision, citing Florida as his ideal university over offers from Brown, Miami, and Stetson.
“Compared to all these other people who are from all across the country, there is going to be something different about me. “I grew up a Gator, but they want to be Gators,” he said to All Gators. “My entire life, I have been in Gainesville. Guys like Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, and Kadarius Toney were my childhood idols. I can walk in their footsteps and establish a reputation for myself, just as they did when I was a child.
“Just blessed and excited to be on this path.”
After meeting with UF director of football logistics Ashour Peera and personnel quality control specialist Lamar Sorey, Schmidt initially received a preferred walk-on (PWO) offer on December 15, which he announced on the social media site “X.”
His stats on MaxPreps show that in his two years at Newberry, he caught 56 passes for 1,099 yards and 11 touchdowns. During his tenure with the Panthers, he also gained 119 yards and three touchdowns on the run in addition to scoring touchdowns on kickoff and punt returns.
You can watch Schmidt’s complete 2023 Panthers highlights here.
Travis McGriff, a former UF wide receiver, served as his offensive coordinator at Newberry (1994–98).
“Anytime you coach young kids, you just want them to have a chance to realize their dreams, and David being a Gainesville kid and a Gator fan and attending Gator games the majority of his life, I know that’s kind of a dream come true for him,” McGriff stated.
After offensive lineman Chase Stevens (Vero Beach, Fla.) and Mark Faircloth (Tallahassee, Fla. Florida High) and wide receiver DeBraun Hampton (Willis, TX.), who was five-star signee DJ Lagway’s high school teammate, Schmidt becomes the fifth known class of 2024 PWO pledge for Florida.
Paul Kessler, a quarterback from Los Angeles, California, class of 2023, signed a PWO contract with the Gators on Thursday morning.
Along with him are two four-star wide receivers, Tawaski Abrams and Jerrae Hawkins Jr., who all signed on Wednesday.
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