Florida football recruiting: TE Gage Wilcox is Tim Brewster’s first Gators commit

The Florida Gators — okay, Dan Mullen — hired Tim Brewster as tight ends coach in early February in the hopes that he would help elevate the Gators’ recruiting from excellent to elite. Within a month, he’s made sure that Florida logo on his polo will be a force to be reckoned with in the Sunshine State by showing the same boisterousness on social media that he did while cobbling together pieces of championship teams under Jimbo Fisher at Florida State for much of the last decade.

On Friday, though, Brewster went beyond merely talking a good game by landing his first commitment — one from Tampa tight end Gage Wilcox, a four-star recruit, who made the call for the Gators via a live stream on a Instagram account and followed that up with another post confirming his decision.

Just how much Brewster had to do with reeling in Wilcox or accelerating his commitment is probably up for debate, as he had been a Florida lean who was on the Gators’ radar since long before former tight ends coach Larry Scott departed, with Florida offering him a scholarship in May 2018, per 247Sports.

But what Brewster will be getting in the 6’4”, 215-pound Wilcox, who attends Tampa’s Jefferson High, is a big-bodied player with little apprehension about playing his position physically.

Wilcox is rated the No. 248 prospect in the 2021 cycle by the 247Sports Composite, making him a lower-rated four-star, but I’m certainly inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to Brewster, especially given that there are only 13 four-star tight ends in the 2021 class and that only one other one hails from Florida.

Wilcox’s commitment gives Florida 13 for the 2021 cycle, a number that leads the nation by three. The Gators also moved up to No. 2 nationally with the commitment, trailing only Ohio State — the only program to have multiple 2021 five-stars currently committed.

And, of course, Brewster knows how to play the game, celebrating Wilcox’s pledge...

...while also hinting at more to come.