If you watched Jim McElwain’s introductory press conference last Saturday, you knew one thing — he was excited to get on the recruiting trail as Florida’s new head coach.

“I recruited Florida when I was at the University of Louisville, when I was at Michigan State, recruited Florida obviously for the University of Alabama,” McElwain said. “What I’m excited about most of anything is rekindling the relationships … getting back involved with the players that we had an effect on their lives. That’s what it’s all about.”

McElwain wasted no time in building the Gators’ 2015 recruiting class and was out on the road Monday morning.

Here’s the latest.

Securing his own

Florida has a very small, underwhelming recruiting class right now for a number of reasons. The constant coaching rumors and mediocre season didn’t help, either.

McElwain started off recruiting by speaking to the current Gator commits, including four-star athlete Derrick Dillon (UF’s current highest-rated commit).

Three-star OL commit Mike Horton

Four-star OL commit Brandon Sandifer

Three-star WR commit Kalif Jackson

Three-star OL commit Tommy Jordan

Top prospects a priority

Although Florida’s recruiting class is nothing special compared to many other SEC schools, the Gators are still in on several highly rated prospects.

One of the biggest prospects remaining is five-star defensive end CeCe Jefferson. Florida is one of the strongest favorites to sign him in February and the defensive playmaker was curious about the new coach, so he asked current UF commit Tommy Jordan how things went with McElwain.

McElwain also didn’t hesitate to contact Jefferson himself.

According to Zach Abolverdi of the Gainesville Sun, McElwain also took time to visit five-star offensive lineman Martez Ivey. Ivey, who is considered by some recruiting services as the top overall prospect, is seriously considering the Gators and Florida expects to be in it all the way until the end.

McElwain also visited five-star defensive end Byron Cowart and other prospects this week, some who are committed to other schools.

In-home visits were also a priority for McElwain, who stopped by the house of three-star TE prospect Daniel Imatorbhebhe in Georgia.