Billy Napier is continuing his pursuit of players for his next class with a big recruiting month and more to come.
But as Florida fans are aware, he’s not done with this last one.
To paraphrase the Avett Brothers, “Two words that be-came hard to say … Transfer and Portal.”
Florida has eight spots left on an incomplete roster that UF plans to fill with players from other teams, mostly from the portal that sometimes was glorious for Dan Mullen and other times simply didn’t work out.
The programs that are currently among the elite (Florida has a ways to go to get back there) use the transfer portal because they want to plug a hole or three here and there with players who were stars at other schools.
Napier has no choice because of the late start to a recruiting class that turned out pretty good but still leaves a roster with plenty to be desired.
Napier has a portion of his “army” working on nothing but the portal, identifying players who can help right away and making sure they are good fits for the culture he is trying to install in Gainesville.
So, what kind of players should Florida be looking for? It’s not like they have their pick of the fleeing players but there are plenty of them available.
There is also this – once spring football is over, there will be a mad rush to the portal for players who don’t like where they stand on their current teams. And certainly, that can happen at UF, so the roster could be further depleted in terms of numbers.
That said, here is what I would go after if I was the coach at Florida, although to be honest I have not been asked for any advice so far.