Gators lose McRae’s commitment

New Smyrna junior safety Jaleel McRae became the third player this weekend to decommit from a pledge to the Florida Gators, but McRae said before the school hired

Dan Mullen it had nothing to do with the Gators’ struggles this season or lack of a head coach.

“I feel like I played really well my freshman year when I didn’t have any worries or anything, and I just want to get back to that for next year heading into my senior season,” said McRae, a 2019 prospect who joined 2018 players

Jacob Copeland and Taylor Upshaw as the most recent decommitments from UF.

“I just felt like going into my senior year I should have no worries about any colleges or what not. I just felt like that’s what my heart wanted, so I just did it,” McRae added. “It’s really about me focusing on my last year of high school.”

The decommitment by McRae, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound safety, opens the door for one of the schools high on his list, and he said that if coach Scott Frost stays at UCF, the Knights will be among his top schools.

UCF’s 11-0 season has raised some eyebrows among Florida college football prospects, and McRae is certainly one of them. He was at the Knights’ victory over USF on Friday, and then attended the Gators’ loss to FSU on Saturday in Gainesville before making his decision to decommit Sunday.

With UCF, not only does McRae have a good relationship with Frost and defensive backs coach Travis Fisher, but he also sees opportunity.

“I looked it up, and their secondary, mostly, will be gone in 2019,” McRae said.