Elijah Holyfield recently made a secret visit to UGA, and he finally opened up about it to the AJC over the weekend

Holyfield, who said he has been told by UGA that he’s the No. 1 target at running back, tried to keep last week’s visit to the Bulldogs’ practice known to only a few people, but he was quickly spotted by UGA’s beat reporters.

“I got to see (Nick) Chubb, and he’s pretty damn good,” Holyfield told the AJC. “I got to see Sony (Michel) and all of the other running backs, too. I just wanted to see the team practice and watch how (UGA running backs coach Thomas) Brown coached his players.”

After taking in his first practice, Holyfield got a chance to meet with his potential future teammates. One of them in particular had a strong message for him.

“Chubb told me to keep balling,” Holyfield said. “He and the other (running backs) said by the end of this year, if you come here, we want you to be the No. 1 running back in the nation, so we’ll see.”

The son of boxing legend Evander Holyfield has the same fighter’s mentality as his dad. When asked if he thinks he’d be able to compete with Chubb and other veterans for a starting position if he ended up a Bulldog, Holyfield said he wouldn’t back down from stiff competition.

“I’m definitely going to try to compete my hardest, of course,” he said with a laugh. “But I’m not going to say that I’ll take (Nick Chubb’s) spot. I’m definitely going to have the mentality that I am trying to, though.”

Holyfield said the running backs gave off the impression that they really liked learning from Brown. That’s one of the main questions he wanted an answer to, and he got what he was looking for.

“It’s a real family environment and it’s a room that I would be comfortable in,” he said.

Don’t expect this UGA visit to be the last one he makes before he commits in a couple of weeks.

The 5-foot-10, 204-pounder says he plans on secretly visiting one to two more schools before announcing his commitment at his high school, Woodward Academy, on Sept. 4.