Why Joshua Braun flipped his commitment from Georgia to Florida

Sitting in a cool, dark theatre as the previews played before a showing of Ford v Ferrari, Mike Braun leaned over to show his son a tweet. Sam Pittman had accepted the head coaching job at Arkansas. Joshua Braun had a lot to think about, but first, the movie and phones off.

There is no love lost between the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs. Not on the field nor off it, which makes Braun’s recruitment unique.

As a rising senior in high school, Braun took visits to universities throughout the state and even out to California, where his family is originally from. It wasn’t until he received a call from South Carolina saying they had accepted another commitment and their offensive line class was full. Braun’s scholarship offer was gone.

“In my head, I always knew that was a possibility but I never truly believed it,” Braun said on the Stadium and Gale podcast. “Once I knew that was happening, I knew that there was a clock on this and it was expiring quicker than I thought it was. After talking with both of my parents, my now wife, and both of my brothers — and given the information that I had — and with what was going on at the time, I initially committed to the University of Georgia.”

It wasn’t on a whim. The Braun’s did a lot of research. Joshua’s older brother, Trey, went and played for Georgia Tech and majored in engineering. He’s stayed in the Atlanta area. Braun knew that it was likely he would stay around the area. He was going to major in business and he loved the thought of playing for Pittman.

Seeds of doubt

Pittman leaving Georgia to accept the head coaching job at Arkansas might have been the final straw, but Braun was having second thoughts prior to the news. Much credit can be given to his wife, Azucena. She grew up a Florida Gators fan and had season tickets.

She took Joshua to the Florida-Auburn game in 2019. The couple had been dating since their freshman year of high school. Azucena Gonzalez (now Braun) dragged her boyfriend to The Swamp to enjoy a night, even though there may have been an ulterior motive to keep him closer to home.

“I didn’t want to go, she convinced me to go. We went and I loved it,” Braun recalled. “All throughout the game, in the back of my head, I was thinking how awesome it would be to play at The Swamp, on this field, with this crowd. That’s when the seeds of doubt started growing. I started to question my decision but I wouldn’t let it go there. Shoved it deep, deep down. I tried to ignore it until Sam Pittman took the head job at Arkansas.”

Braun has no time to waste

Pittman was announced as the new head coach at Arkansas on December 9. Braun was set to enroll early in just over a week. The clock was ticking.

Would he stay at Georgia, where his main relationship was with Pittman? Was there another school with availability, perhaps one that gave him goosebumps when he was in the stands watching the game?

He called Kirby Smart that night and decommitted from Georgia.

“He understood. And he knew that relationships were the number one decision-maker in my process. That I would not feel comfortable going to a place that at the time had no O-line coach,” Braun said. “He was very understanding. He wanted to try to change my mind back and convince me to stay.”

The next day former Florida offensive line coach John Hevesy called and set up an in-home visit with the Brauns. The week is a whirlwind so to break it down more easily.

Sunday: Sam Pittman leaves.

Monday: John Hevesy is in the Braun’s living room.

Tuesday: Braun commits.

Friday: Braun is on campus and practicing with the team.

It was fast but Mike Braun always told his son one thing.

“As soon as I stepped on campus I told myself this is where God wants me to be. This is where I have decided to be. This is where I am,” Braun said. “There’s no point in thinking about being somewhere else or wishing to be somewhere else.

“My dad taught me to be where my feet are. My feet were in Gainesville, so this is where I’m supposed to be and where I want to be.”

Gator Nation is happy his feet are in Gainesville, too.