Prestwood has leader after FSU official

Plant City (Fla.) offensive tackle Jordan Prestwood headed to Florida State this weekend for an official visit. The former Notre Dame commitment had previously visited the Seminoles, but came away even more impressed this time around.

"I had a great time," Prestwood said. "When I first got there we went out with Coach (Rick) Trickett and his wife and Coach (Lawrence) Dawsey, chaplain Clint (Purvis), and my host which was David Spurlock. We all went and ate dinner. We had a great talk."

After a good Friday night in Tallahassee, Prestwood learned a great deal about the University on Saturday leading up to kickoff.

"The next day we did the whole academic spread, weight room spread, all the facilities, and had a chance to meet all the academic people," Prestwood said. "After that was the game of course. After having dinner with the coaches and hanging out with the players, that was pretty much the whole trip."

The talented offensive lineman wasn't the only official visitor in town, as Cape Coral (Fla.) Island Coast defensive end Aaron Lynch was also on campus for the weekend. Lynch, like Prestwood, was formerly committed to the Fighting Irish. The two prospects had an opportunity to catch up with one another during the visit.

"I got to hang out with Aaron a lot," Prestwood said. "It was really my first time having a chance to hang out with him. We talked about both schools. It is a situation where we are each going to make the best decisions for ourselves."

Throughout the visit, the 6-foot-6, 280-pound offensive lineman enjoyed learning what it would be like to be under Coach Trickett firsthand from his host.

"David was an awesome guy," Prestwood said. "All of the (offensive) linemen that I got to meet are all really close. That is pretty important to me. He talked about how Coach Trickett is great, he is a hardcore coach but that is how he gets the best out of his linemen and he expects the best out of his linemen. You can definitely tell watching them that they are really well coached. David said he wouldn't go back and change anything or go anywhere else just because Coach Trickett has impacted him so much in his football career."

In addition to discussing the ins and outs of the offensive line with Spurlock, Prestwood also spoke at length with Rick Trickett.

"I had a lot of time with Coach Trickett, we met one-on-one a few times," Prestwood said. "I got a chance to know him. He had a chance to get to know me and my family. Him being the (offensive) line coach for FSU is definitely a huge plus for them right now. I really clicked with him. I would really like to be coached by him."

While the Seminoles came up short on the scoreboard, Prestwood was impressed by the game and the atmosphere in Doak S. Campbell Stadium.

"I thought it was awesome," Prestwood said. "The fans were awesome. I loved it all. Obviously they came up just short, but my opinion is that they are the better team and it is just a couple of plays here and there that if they could have executed on, it would have been a totally different game. It was just an awesome thing."

Accompanying Prestwood on the visit was his mother and father. His father had previously visited the Seminoles with Jordan for a junior day, but this marked his mother's first time at Florida State as the company of a recruiting visitor.

"She loved it, the coaching staff, everything about it," Prestwood said. "She loved how family-like it was up there. It was a big thing to get her up there to see it, because I am really close to my parents and especially my mom because I am the youngest, her baby, and it is really important to her to know where I am going to be. It was a great trip because she really loved it."

Entering the visit, Prestwood had eliminated the Fighting Irish from contention and narrowed his choices to just the Seminoles and the Florida Gators. At the conclusion of his official, one school sits on top for his services.

"I really like Florida State and they are definitely leading right now but me and my parents talked before I went there and once I decommitted, that I was going to give every school a fair shot," Prestwood said. "So I didn't really think about committing. I loved it up there but I really just have to give everybody a fair shot."

At this time, Prestwood plans to take an unofficial visit to Florida on Saturday when the Gators host the Gamecocks. He will return to Florida State for the Florida game at the end of November. His official visit to Gainesville is scheduled for the second weekend in December.