Gus Malzahn’s UCF Knights got a big recruiting win over the Florida Gators on Thursday with the commitment of Orlando Boone High offensive tackle Leyton Nelson.

Nelson told Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel that UF head coach Dan Mullen and offensive line assistant John Hevesy were pushing right up until the last minute.

“It was pretty tough,” Nelson said. “Especially given the phone call before my commitment, like Coach Hevesy and Dan Mullen have been spamming my phone and they were getting a little, like, defensive about it, which I can understand, so it was kind of hard to, like, deny that.

“But in all, I think UCF, for the majority of [recruiting], deserves that and I’m just excited for the future. Coaches [Gus] Malzahn and [Herb] Hand did a great job recruiting me, understanding my family and what I’m coming from. They just know me so well.”

Nelson said UCF recruited him on a different level.

“It was just the appreciation UCF had for me as a player and who I am and their determination also, I guess. Don’t get me wrong, Florida was recruiting me hard, but UCF was at like a whole other level.”

Nelson picked up an offer from the Florida staff in June. He was reportedly unable to visit to Florida for its Friday Night Lights camp this past weekend after receiving a speeding ticket. For his five official visits he went to Pittsburgh, Miami, Utah, Louisville and UCF.