Florida Defensive Lineman talks Minnesota Football

Minnesota has a lot of talent and depth to their defense in the 2009-2010 season. You can never have to much depth though when it comes to the men in the trenches. With two senior defensive tackles departing at the end of this season the gophers will look to pick up some young talent to fill the depth chart.

Antonio Ford is a 6'3 272lb defensive tackle out of Pahokee High School in Pahokee, FL. As Ford recently kicked off his senior season he had a lot of things in mind including improving his skills. His skill on the field makes him a commodity for many of the division one schools in the NCAA.

We caught up with Ford this week and he had this to say about what makes him such a huge pick up. “I am a really hard worker. I give my all on every play. I never give up. I have a lot to work on though, but I am a very coach able athlete”. This also sparked some interest for ford in Coach Hammock and Cross. “They are really good guys. I enjoy talking to them a lot. They are just really cool.”

When you have the kind of talent that Ford has the list is long for programs with interest. Some of those programs include our own Minnesota along with Wake Forest, Purdue, Oklahoma State, and Louisville. He has not yet narrowed his list down though and is surely keeping his options open.

Ford and the Minnesota coaching staff have not yet come to an agreement on when he will be coming for his official visit. When asked Ford had this to say, “Coach Hammock and I are currently in the process of getting me to Minnesota to see a game and check out the University.” Antonio has however set up official visits with Purdue, Wake Forest, and West Virginia so far this season.

This summer was not to busy for Ford. He would like to have made a few more camps but he was pleased that he got to attend a few in state camps. He attended camps at the University of Florida and FIU. Other than that it was the normal summer practice schedule and lifting.
Antonio has not yet gotten a chance to see the school and the area but he is sure looking forward to it. When we asked him about his opinion on the school and the area from what he has seen so far he had this to say. “It looks like a really nice place. They seem to have a pretty good set up. I cant wait to actually see it in person.”

Ford is a good student as well as an athlete. He held a 2.8gpa at the end of his junior year. Antonio has been looking into the Universities Accounting program which is what he intends to major in wherever he ends up at the end of this long recruiting process.

We look forward to following Antonio Ford on his recruiting path this season as well as the rest of
the 2010 recruiting class of the University of Minnesota. Stay tuned to for follow up interviews and in depth game break downs for your golden gophers this season. Gopherzone.com were you hear it first.