Gainer locks it down after Taggart visit; LB will enroll early at FSU

That didn't take long.

Within hours of being introduced as Florida State's next head coach, Willie Taggart locked in the recruit who is expected to be the bell cow of the Seminoles' 2018 recruiting class -- four-star linebacker Amari Gainer.

Gainer, who was scheduled to take official visits to Notre Dame, Miami and Texas -- the Texas trip was actually planned for this weekend -- confirmed that he has cancelled them all after receiving an in-home visit Wednesday from Taggart.

He is shutting down his recruitment.

"I was supposed to take a visit to Texas, but I'm not taking any more visits," said Gainer, who committed to the Seminoles in May. "I'm signing with Florida State and enrolling in January. Spending time with Coach Taggart was amazing. It felt like just being around family."

Although the nation's No. 4-ranked outside linebacker is expected to compete for early playing time at Florida State, football apparently wasn't the main topic of conversation.

Gainer said Taggart was mostly focused on getting to know each other on a personal level.

"It was pretty special," Gainer said. "Just a very special feeling. And I'm quite confident this class is going to be back to being top-five again. ... My Dad knew him from Bradenton, and they go way back. It really just felt like family for me, and I knew that's where I wanted to be."