beal discusses florida visit
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 7:55 am
Brendan Beal was wowed. And that was at 11:30 a.m., when he arrived in town and saw that tailgaters had already congregated around Florida Field. He became even more impressed once the Florida-Auburn game started more than eight hours later.
"It blew my expectations away," Beal said. "I've heard a lot of things about it and how it's pretty nice. The place was jam-packed. It was so loud. It was like an earthquake. I couldn't believe it.
"I've been to Boston College. I've been to a lot of other games. I couldn't get over the stadium. The college town itself was so nice. It was incredible. When I got there at 11:30 the place was packed with tailgaters. The love for Florida and the athletics is amazing."
Beal, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound four-star linebacker from Bethlehem (Pa.) Liberty, will see the Gators play again next weekend because he is visiting LSU when it hosts Florida at 8 p.m. Saturday in Baton Rouge. That game will be televised by CBS.
Boston College and Southern California are also in the running. He said he's trying to set up an official visit to USC before making his decision in late October.
Beal, who watched one of Florida's practices earlier this year, brought his mother to Gainesville this weekend to tour the campus. He said sitting down again with coach Urban Meyer was one of the highlights.
Beal has already held the national championship trophy and tried on the title ring, so this visit was more about seeing a game at The Swamp, talking with Meyer and getting more acclimated to the campus. He wore a blue Florida Gators t-shirt to the game.
"It's an honor to be recruited by coach Meyer," Beal said. "Every time I talk to him I get so fired up. We're kind of the same people, blue collar. It's great to see a guy like that. That's the type of guy he wants in his program.
"This time I wanted my mom to see Florida. I'm starting to take her around to see the schools. (Coach Meyer and I) have a great relationship."
Rivals.com rates Beal as the second-best inside linebacker nationally. He's No. 5 on the Pennsylvania top 40 of 2008 and the 50th best player regardless of position. The top 29 players in the country hold five-star status.
The only player rated higher than Beal at his position is Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway's Shayne Hale, a five-star recruit who has narrowed his list to Michigan, Ohio State, Virginia, West Virginia and Pittsburgh.
In his sophomore season at Roxbury (N.J.), his former high school, Beal recorded 121 tackles, six sacks and an interception. He had 151 tackles, 11 sacks and two picks in his junior year.
According to the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call, Beal and four other Liberty starters served a one-game suspension Friday for skipping a class at the end of the school day. Liberty (5-0) still defeated Allentown Dieruff, 37-0. Beal said even though Florida lost to Auburn, 20-17, that has no bearing on his decision.
"It was a chance to see a great SEC game and they're big rivals," he said. "It had no effect on my decision whatsoever. They lost last year and still got that ring. Maybe it's an omen."
"It blew my expectations away," Beal said. "I've heard a lot of things about it and how it's pretty nice. The place was jam-packed. It was so loud. It was like an earthquake. I couldn't believe it.
"I've been to Boston College. I've been to a lot of other games. I couldn't get over the stadium. The college town itself was so nice. It was incredible. When I got there at 11:30 the place was packed with tailgaters. The love for Florida and the athletics is amazing."
Beal, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound four-star linebacker from Bethlehem (Pa.) Liberty, will see the Gators play again next weekend because he is visiting LSU when it hosts Florida at 8 p.m. Saturday in Baton Rouge. That game will be televised by CBS.
Boston College and Southern California are also in the running. He said he's trying to set up an official visit to USC before making his decision in late October.
Beal, who watched one of Florida's practices earlier this year, brought his mother to Gainesville this weekend to tour the campus. He said sitting down again with coach Urban Meyer was one of the highlights.
Beal has already held the national championship trophy and tried on the title ring, so this visit was more about seeing a game at The Swamp, talking with Meyer and getting more acclimated to the campus. He wore a blue Florida Gators t-shirt to the game.
"It's an honor to be recruited by coach Meyer," Beal said. "Every time I talk to him I get so fired up. We're kind of the same people, blue collar. It's great to see a guy like that. That's the type of guy he wants in his program.
"This time I wanted my mom to see Florida. I'm starting to take her around to see the schools. (Coach Meyer and I) have a great relationship."
Rivals.com rates Beal as the second-best inside linebacker nationally. He's No. 5 on the Pennsylvania top 40 of 2008 and the 50th best player regardless of position. The top 29 players in the country hold five-star status.
The only player rated higher than Beal at his position is Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway's Shayne Hale, a five-star recruit who has narrowed his list to Michigan, Ohio State, Virginia, West Virginia and Pittsburgh.
In his sophomore season at Roxbury (N.J.), his former high school, Beal recorded 121 tackles, six sacks and an interception. He had 151 tackles, 11 sacks and two picks in his junior year.
According to the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call, Beal and four other Liberty starters served a one-game suspension Friday for skipping a class at the end of the school day. Liberty (5-0) still defeated Allentown Dieruff, 37-0. Beal said even though Florida lost to Auburn, 20-17, that has no bearing on his decision.
"It was a chance to see a great SEC game and they're big rivals," he said. "It had no effect on my decision whatsoever. They lost last year and still got that ring. Maybe it's an omen."