Florida is surging for 2024 QB Davi Belfort; fall visit to Gainesville is set

Last month, Davi Belfort made the trek up to the University of Florida for the very first time.

The highly-regarded quarterback was able to get a taste of the campus atmosphere; however, the majority of his time was on the camp circuit with Billy Napier and Ryan O’Hara. He excited campus with a new offer to consider as well.

On Tuesday, Belfort’s day-long visit at the Swamp was all about growing closer to UF’s staff. Nearly all of his family was in attendance, while quarterbacks trainer Baylin Trujillo was also present for the meetings.

Belfort has since reclassified as well, resulting in Napier reaffirming his offer for the class of 2024.

Shortly after yesterday’s visit, Gators Online spoke with Belfort and Trujillo about the quarterback’s development and areas of strength, Tuesday’s experience in Gainesville, Belfort’s commitment timeline and much more.

Trujillo provides a rave review of his star pupil

You have worked with a boatload of signal callers and are highly regarded in that field.

As for Davi, how long have you guys been together? Also, what makes him a special player?

“About six months now. He’s a special talent. The kid can make any throw and makes my job a lot easier. He’s very coachable, and I think that’s one of the best attributes about Davi. He works really hard, but he really processes information and really puts it into his development. That’s the biggest thing for me.

“When I first started training him, he had natural pop on the ball. He has very good touch, but in our recent trainings, we have been focusing more on velocity, explosion through the lower level and his biomechanics in his lower body. He’s really been working on that, so now the ball is just popping off hard.

“Now, he has full control of the ball, but he’s learning to put more velocity with the same motion as he would be throwing with touch. We have been working a lot of that. It’s been really fun to see because now he can make any throw on the field look effortless.

“But yeah, it’s just been a pleasure when you have a talent like that. He’s a once in a lifetime talent. He has all the tools mentally, as well as physically, to be successful at the quarterback position. This past weekend, we were spending hours going over film, pre-snap reads, coverages, and he’s just a student of the game. He loves knowledge, and again, accepting information and applying it.”

Was reclassifying something you guys discussed? His parents obviously play a huge role in that, but with you being accustomed to his skill set, were you involved in those conversations as well?

“Other than his parents, I was the first coach he called and asked to get my thoughts on the whole thing. I was definitely for it. He is definitely mature, well beyond his years and ready for it. If we didn’t feel like he was ready, we would have probably reconsidered; however, the fact that he has 30 offers just shows you he has the ability to play this game at a high level.

“It’s not a development issue; it’s just more of, ‘He’s ready. Let’s move him up and get this process rolling.’ With the transfer portal, kids get lost in the shuffle. With him, he already has credits to graduate in two years. We just thought it was best to move up a class and compete with the other guys in the 2024 class. That seems to be a pretty good class, so it puts his name right there at the top of that list and obviously he will graduate with the 2024 class.

“He’s probably the best quarterback that I’ve ever worked with from a gifted standpoint and throwing the football because I’ve worked with some of the best. He’s definitely a once in a lifetime talent. Throwing the football, it’s elite.”

Are the Gators trending for Davi Belfort?

This was your second time visiting the Gators. How was your experience this time around?

“I’d say the biggest thing was that my whole family came this time besides one of my sisters. She wasn’t able to come because she had to stay back to train, but my mom and dad came and my other sister came as well. It was really cool to almost have the whole family here.

“We really got to see the whole facility. Last time, I didn’t really get to see it because we had to head back on the road, so it was really cool seeing the whole facility and seeing the new facility they are building.

“Also, I felt like this time I was really able to spend some good, quality time with coach Napier. We got to sit down and talk for about 45 minutes in his office, which was really cool. I got to know him a little bit more and he got to know us more as well, so I thought it was awesome and we had a great time.”

Prior to reclassifying, you were the only 2025 quarterback with an offer from the Gators. Now that you hold an offer as a 2024 recruit, was that discussed during the visit?

“We didn’t talk too much about the reclassification process because we had a whole phone call about that prior to me announcing it. I let my top schools know before I announced it, and Florida was obviously one of them. We had a great conversation on the phone prior to me doing that.

“What we were talking about more was the vision he has for the program, what he’s trying to build here and how well he thinks I could do here in this awesome program he’s building and this culture he’s establishing. It was mainly about that, but it was really a great, great conversation. It was awesome.”

Now that you have spent multiple days in Gainesville, what highlights your interest in Florida?

“I feel like one thing that I love about the program is just the culture coach Napier is establishing. It’s a culture of hard work, dedication and discipline. That’s one thing I love.

“Another thing that really, really stands out is how involved coach Napier is in the quarterback room. He’s the head coach, but he’s the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach as well. That’s one thing that really stands out to me.

“When I was camping there, he was giving his full attention to me. I would say another thing too is just the love him and coach O’Hara have been showing me. They text my parents or my coach every week to just check up on me and stuff like that.”

You mentioned Ryan O’Hara. Did you spend additional time with him as well?

“He was actually with me the whole day, like, during my tour. We really got to spend some quality hours of time together, so it was really, really awesome. My whole visit he was with me today. We got to just talk and talk about ball a little bit as well.

“I also got to sit in the quarterback meeting as well, which I thought was really cool with all the guys. We all got to see practice a little bit.”

Where are you at with the recruiting process? With you reclassifying, I was not sure if that changes your commitment timeline.

“Since I reclassified, it definitely sped up the process. I definitely look forward to committing pretty soon and start building a class. I definitely want to build one of the best classes in the country; that’s definitely my goal. I would say probably toward the end of the season if I feel comfortable.”

Belfort has three visits scheduled for the fall, including another trip to Gainesville

With the season right around the corner, Belfort is shifting his full attention to Miami Gulliver Prep. He is set to go on a family vacation to Jamaica as well.

However, the 5-foot-11.5, 185-pound signal caller does have several visits lined up for the fall.

“As of right now, I’m scheduled to go to Michigan State, Alabama and Florida for the LSU game. I have a couple visits that we are probably going to finalize this week with a couple other of my top schools,” Belfort said.

Georgia, Miami, Michigan, Texas A&M, Oregon and Florida State are some of the additional schools that previously offered the South Florida native.

Stay tuned to Gators Online.