Marc Deas, a 6-foot-1, 185 pound safety/linebacker prospect out of Osceola High School in Kissimmee, Fla., used to love the Florida Gators.

But, he now has one less pair of boxers because he came to Athens and fell in love, committing to Georgia and head coach Mark Richt a little more than three weeks ago at the G-Day game.

“I hate them already,” Deas said. “I used to be a huge Florida fan. And I had some Florida drawers that I used to wear, but since I committed to Georgia, I threw them away in the trash can.”

And all it took was a little Southern hospitality and a game between the hedges for Deas to quickly realize the errors of his ways.

“Just the environment that I was in. It was a special environment. It’s kind of different from where I’m at now in Kissimmee. It’s a mix from all over from New York to Puerto Rico,” he said. “When you go to Athens, its country over there, and you really get a feel of Southern hospitality. And just with the program itself, with the tradition and history, it really doesn’t get any better than that and I fell in love. It was pretty much love at first sight.”

After he “fell in love,” he immediately committed, allowing him to enjoy the G-Day game and the love of the Bulldog Nation.

“G-Day was awesome. I loved it,” he said. “I committed that morning and it got out to thousands of fans, and they showed love, too, welcoming me into the Dog Family and Dog Nation, so it was real nice. I even signed autographs, so it was crazy, a real good experience.”

A month ago, Deas’ grandmother passed away. When the Georgia coaching staff learned the news, Deas was shocked as to how supportive they were to his family – especially his primary recruiter, linebackers coach John Jancek,.

“I’ve been going through some things, family things, with my grandmother passing away and it showed that he’s a really good man and not just him, but the whole coaching staff,” Deas said. “They gave me their condolences and just wanted to see how [we] were doing and to give us the support that we needed. They’re real cool people.”

And those are qualities on the coaching staff that Deas believes start with the head coach.

“Coach [Mark] Richt, he’s a million-dollar man. I’m not talking about money – I’m talking about heart,” he said. “He’s a real special guy. It’s hard to find at college, and he’s a real special man not just as a college coach, but as a person. He has a real big heart, and you could see it just by talking to him in a quick conversation. There’s just something special about him, and I think it’s because of his faith.”