Miami (Fla.) Carol City safety Kenneth Phillips is one of the top players in America period. He is also one of the Florida Gator’s most prized recruits, what effect does the firing of Ron Zook have on his recruitment?

“It does change things a little bit I will have to admit,” Phillips said. “I know that I am still going to visit there and the date I have scheduled unless something changes. I will say that I am not as high on them as I was before.”

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Phillips is the nation’s No. 16 player overall and the consensus No. 1 safety in the country.

“One of the main reasons Florida was one of my top schools was because of coach Zook and coach Red Anderson,” Phillips said. “I really want to see what happens to the assistant coaches and who they bring in to replace coach Zook. Florida is not out of it, but I am interested to see who they bring in.”

Though he has not had the opportunity to speak with any of the Florida assistants he did talk to one of the “Big Three” tonight.

“I talked to coach Shannon from Miami tonight for a while,” Phillips said. “He never mentioned Florida at all to me. We just talked about how my season was going and things like that. As of right now the Florida visit is still the only one I have scheduled, but I am going to set one up with Florida State and Miami soon.”