Austin Barber: Patient recruit and ferocious blocker

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is one of the greatest venues in college football. / Gator Country photo by David BowieAustin Barber’s recruitment story sounds like something you’d see in a movie or a television drama series.

The offensive lineman held offers from a litany of FBS programs, including Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. However, he had his heart set on a school that hadn’t offered him.

Barber grew up in Jacksonville in a diehard Florida Gators household. He always knew he would sign with UF if they offered him. It didn’t really matter who the coaches were, what the depth chart looked like or how Florida’s facilities…