Linebacker is a position of need and the Florida Gators hosted top linebacker target Tre Lamar (6-3, 240, Roswell, GA High) on Saturday where he got the red carpet treatment.

“It was great, it was a good visit,” Lamar said. “We got to watch practice, tour the campus and see everything. After that we got to sit down with our position coaches and have a position meeting.”

Lamar went out to the Gators practice and his main focus was to watch linebackers coach Randy Shannon and the linebacker position and he liked what he seen out of the group.

“I really liked practice, it was very high pace,” Lamar said. “It was good to see the coaching staff out there coaching and see how the players reacted to the coaching. It was cool to see everything. I watched coach Shannon a lot and he expects a lot of his players. He focuses on the little details.”

After practice was over Lamar got the opportunity to sit in on the linebacker meetings and also have a one-on-one chat with Shannon about his goals for the position.

“Coach Shannon was talking to me a lot about how he wants his linebackers to be the head of the defense,” Lamar said. “He was telling me about how the linebackers work in his defense and what he expects out of them. He was showing me how the inside linebackers play because that’s where he wants me to play.”

Lamar is a stranger to Florida but he’s very close with defensive coordinator Geoff Collins and the two got to catch up on Saturday.

“I’ve known coach Collins for a while, since he was at Mississippi State,” Lamar said. “The relationship was already there so we just had a normal conversation. He was talking to me about practice and he was telling me why Florida was a good choice. He said it’s going for academics and athletics.”

Saturday was the first time for Lamar to meet head coach Jim McElwain and the Georgia linebacker walked away impressed.

“Coach McElwain is a great guy,” Lamar said. “He’s real nice guy to talk to and he seems like a real personable guy. It was good to meet him and he was talking to be about early enrolling and that stuff.”

Heading into the visit Lamar had Florida in his top five but Saturday helped the Gators out a lot in terms of moving up for the big linebacker.

“Saturday helped Florida out a lot because I had a lot of interest before I had ever visited,” Lamar said. “Getting down there and seeing everything including the facilities and campus life definitely moved them up. Right now I would say my top 5 is Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida and Florida State in no particular order.”

INSIDERS TAKE: Florida is now a legit contender in Lamar’s recruitment and the relationship he has with Collins will help keep the Gators in the mix throughout his recruitment.