He made an oral commitment to the Gators in May and stood by the team even as the coach who recruited him, Charlie Weis, moved from being the Florida offensive coordinator to a head-coaching job at Kansas.
"I think it is the best all-around place to play football in the country and I visited around 10 schools," Thompson said. "They had what I wanted academicwise and footballwise. They're one of the best teams in the country every year and they have great people there.
"It's humbling. Not every player gets offers from schools in the SEC and I was blessed to have a few. It's an awesome opportunity and I couldn't let that slip by."
The 6-5, 255-pound Thompson was ranked by Scout.com as the second-best tight-end prospect in the country and looks to bring a mix of speed and brawn to the Gators. Florida plans to switch to a pro-style offense under coach Will Muschamp.
"I'm not very flashy, I just go out there and give 100 percent of my effort every time," Thompson said. "I bring technique and toughness on offense. I'm a threat in the red zone and on long and short passes.
"While I'm pretty polished in those areas, I just want to get better at running routes, blocking and just maturing as a player."
Wood coach Steve Devlin has plenty of praise for his former player.
"There's the character of the kid and what he does outside of football, he just brings a different mentality to everything he does and it's kind of fed off to everybody else," Devlin said. "He's a special kid that has done a lot for our program and a lot for our school."
Despite the individual success and accolades, the greatest memories Thompson takes from his time at Wood will be of his teammates.
"My favorite memories are really just the guys, walking off the field with 50 of my friends," Thompson said. "Whether we won a state title or the first game of my sophomore season, I could share it with 50 of my best friends and their families."
Said Devlin: "He's a special kid, one of the greatest kids I've ever met in my life and I'm going to miss him.
"He's one of a kind; there's not too many Colin Thompsons in the world."
