Category: Football Recruiting

Nation’s top 2023 cornerback prospect names Florida in top 5

Florida football has a chance to get the best corner in the 2023 recruiting class. The Gators will face tough competition to land the elite athlete, though.

Cormani McClain, the nation’s top cornerback prospect in the class of 2023 according to 247Sports, has named Florida in his top five.

The Gators will compete with Alabama, Ohio State, Miami and Florida State for McClain’s letter of intent. McClain has over a year left to be recruited but Florida is one of the few schools to already have made an impression on the young athlete.

McClain made an unofficial visit to the Swamp in June and met cornerbacks coach Jules Montinar. He came to Gainesville again in late July for the Gators’ Friday Night Lights camp and left with an obvious affection for the school.

The 6-foot-1-inch, 165-pound four-star recruit out of Lake Gibson High (Fla.) used his long arms to pick off nine passes in his sophomore campaign. McClain was initially recruited and offered by cornerbacks coach Torrian Gray, but Montinar has since taken over both jobs.

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McClain has made it known that attending a university with a strong reputation for developing defensive backs is important to him. It will be key for Montinar to develop a relationship with the young corner going forward.

“It’s been good,” McClain said to AllGators in June, “but it’s getting closer and better.”

Being in the class of 2023, McClain has been unable to take official visits up until this month. He’s made stops at Florida, FSU, BYU and UCF but he’ll likely take official trips to his top five in the coming year.

With no commitment date set for McClain, Florida will exhaust all efforts to sign the defensive back before an elite school or in-state rival can. If the Gators can get him, he’d be the third top-100 player to join Florida’s 2023 recruiting class.

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Florida football gets another Clemson transfer

The Gators secure their second transfer from Clemson this year and add depth to their offensive line with this move.

Kaleb Boateng, a 2019 three-star recruit out of Fort Lauderdale High School (Fla.), is transferring to Florida from Clemson, according to 247sports.

Boateng will come to Florida as a preferred walk-on and provides some depth for the Gators offensive line. His signing comes with three years of eligibility and a day after Florida missed out on 2022 three-star OT Leyton Nelson. He joins fellow offensive tackle Austin Barber as part of offensive line coach John Hevesy’s 2021 recruiting class.

Boateng will join Demarkcus Bowman as the second Clemson Tiger to transfer to Florida this year. Unlike Bowman, Boateng was not heavily recruited by the Gators. He neither visited nor received an offer from Florida.

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He stunned many by jumping at a last-minute offer from Clemson but earned limited playing time for the Tigers while there. Redshirted in his first year, Boateng leaves with just 26 snaps played over five games, albeit for a championship-caliber program.

As a preferred walk on, Boateng can earn a scholarship as time goes on. He’ll have to prove his worth with the Gators and use his experience with Clemson to work his way up the depth chart.

Florida will face Florida Atlantic, one of Boateng’s initial final three, to kick off the season on Sept. 4.

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Florida football gets another Clemson transfer

The Gators secure their second transfer from Clemson this year and add depth to their offensive line with this move.

Kaleb Boateng, a 2019 three-star recruit out of Fort Lauderdale High School (Fla.), is transferring to Florida from Clemson, according to 247sports.

Boateng will come to Florida as a preferred walk-on and provides some depth for the Gators offensive line. His signing comes with three years of eligibility and a day after Florida missed out on 2022 three-star OT Leyton Nelson. He joins fellow offensive tackle Austin Barber as part of offensive line coach John Hevesy’s 2021 recruiting class.

Boateng will join Demarkcus Bowman as the second Clemson Tiger to transfer to Florida this year. Unlike Bowman, Boateng was not heavily recruited by the Gators. He neither visited nor received an offer from Florida.

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He stunned many by jumping at a last-minute offer from Clemson but earned limited playing time for the Tigers while there. Redshirted in his first year, Boateng leaves with just 26 snaps played over five games, albeit for a championship-caliber program.

As a preferred walk on, Boateng can earn a scholarship as time goes on. He’ll have to prove his worth with the Gators and use his experience with Clemson to work his way up the depth chart.

Florida will face Florida Atlantic, one of Boateng’s initial final three, to kick off the season on Sept. 4.

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This Florida defensive back commit plans to still visit other schools

Florida cornerback commit Julian Humphrey reiterated his commitment to the Gators last weekend despite his plans to visit other schools.

Most coaches in college football don’t like it or they even install a rule where their commits can’t take any more visits to other programs. However, coach Dan Mullen has been lenient with his Florida commits and allowed them to visit other schools. The Gators cornerback commit Julian Humphrey has taken advantage of that and has traveled to Georgia and Texas A&M since the NCAA dead period was lifted at the start of June along with visits to the Swamp.

The Houston, Texas product made the trek to Florida last weekend for Friday Night Lights. Like many other commits in town, he elected to work out to compete against some of the best players in the country.

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“The trip was amazing just like always,” Humphrey said, according to Swamp247. “A trip to Gainesville is always the best. The highlight was whenever I got here with the warm welcome. I talked to Dan Mullen and talked to him about life and stuff. The highlight was Friday Night Lights in the stadium that was live.”

He enjoyed competing last weekend because he was able to see how his future coaches like cornerbacks coach Jules Montinar and safeties coach Wesley McGriff in action.

“Coach Jules told me when I first get here he’s going to throw me right when I get here to get my feet wet,” Humphrey said. “He said it would be Jason Marshall and Jaydon Hill if he’s still here and me getting into the rotation and when Jaydon leaves it will be me and Jason Marshall. But if I come here and beat everyone I have a chance to start.”

When asked about his visits to see the Aggies and the Bulldogs, he said he’s doing it to have fun because he only has this chance once. But he reiterated his commitment to Florida. In the fall, he hopes to visit Alabama and then come back to the Swamp when the Gators face the Crimson Tide.

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Florida football lands in top 6 for this top-100 prospect

A top 100 prospect has named Florida has one of his top 6 schools going into Fall. If they get him, he could play early.

Chris McClellan, who’s ranked No. 90 on the 247Sports Composite list, has named Florida as part of his top six.

The Gators join Ohio State, USC, LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma in the latest cut for the four-star prospect. Ohio State is the favorite, but neither experts nor McClellan are certain at this stage.

“Honestly going through it with my family and considering how each school’s situation is set up I feel these are the best possible schools for me,” McClellan said to 247Sports. “I want to visit a few more of these schools and see what I need to see and commit.”

McClellan visited Florida during the first week of June and defensive line coach David Turner recruited him heavily with quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee, who played with McClellan’s father in high school. Turner told McClellan during the visit that there is potential for him to play early given his ability and character, according to 247Sports.

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Turner’s influence on McClellan is perhaps what’s kept Florida in the race so far.

“Our relationship is very nice,” McClellan said to 247Sports. “We have a very solid relationship… Coach Turner told me he needs guys, and that I’m the guy.”

The 6-foot-3-inch, 295-pound defensive lineman out of Owasso High (Okla.) doesn’t have any official visits schedule but has mentioned visiting for the Alabama game on Sept. 18.

McClellan’s highlight tape from his junior year can be found here.

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UCF snags this 3-star in-state recruit from Florida

3-star OT Leyton Nelson commits to UCF over Florida despite leaving UF “ecstatic” with an offer last month.

After listing the Florida Gators in his top five just a month ago, three-star OT Leyton Nelson has opted to play for UCF over Florida.

Nelson refined his list of five down to the two schools earlier this week while leaving a little room for Miami in third place, according to 247Sports. He was also scheduled to attend UF’s final Friday Night Lights camp on July 30 but missed the event due to a speeding ticket.

After an unofficial visit in mid-July, Nelson received an offer from head coach Dan Mullen and described his emotions as “ecstatic” to the Orlando Sentinel. The unsuccessful visit on July 30 denied Nelson and Mullen the opportunity to rekindle that excitement and possibly played a part in the final decision.

Interest in Nelson soared as schools got deeper and deeper into their recruiting season. For Florida, it was the loss of IMG Academy (Fla.) OT Tyler Booker to Alabama that moved Nelson up their board. Offensive line coach John Hevesy recruited him directly and Mullen also played a large part in the recruitment.

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It was thought that Nelson would join four-star Tony Livingston as the second committed tackle in Florida’s 2022 recruiting class, but the Gators will have to look elsewhere now. Two names to look out for would be three-star Eston Harris Jr. out of Auburn High (Ala.) and four-star Julian Armella out of St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.). Both have received offers from Florida, but Harris is the easier target and has listed the Gators in his top three. He says he’ll decide on Oct. 28.

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Good news Gators! 4-star LB commit says he shut down his recruitment

Florida got huge news last weekend when four-star linebacker Shemar James announced that he shut his recruitment down.

Many recruiting experts and I thought the battle for four-star Shemar James’ signature would last until National Signing Day even after he committed to Florida. They believed this because James was a touted prospect from the state of Alabama that coach Nick Saban really wanted and still pursued after he gave his pledge to the Gators. However, James announced that he shut his recruitment down following his visit to Florida last weekend.

“It was very cool to come back and visit being committed, I felt more relaxed, more comfortable here,” he said, according to Swamp247. “I feel like a lot of people knew who I was. They knew who I was the last time but this time around it was more of a family.”

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The visit this last weekend was different because he was already committed to Florida. This allowed him to have fun and relax with the coaches instead of having them make recruiting pitches all weekend. During Friday Night Lights, he elected to work out with the other campers.

“It was nice to be able to work with coach C-Rob (linebackers coach Christian Robinson),” James said. “He coaches me up on some things when I lost a couple reps, he just told me what to do better. Even the reps I won he would tell me little details that I can fix to help me out.”

He added that this latest visit confirmed that he made the right decision when he chose the Gators.

“Florida just continues to show true love,” James said. “I don’t plan on visiting anyone else, I’m shutting it down.”

That’s huge news for coach Robinson and coach Dan Mullen because he said Alabama was still recruiting him hard. He said he plans to visit Florida for its first and third game of the season to get a feel for a gameday atmosphere in the Swamp.

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This four-star defensive tackle enjoys environment at Gators cookout

Four-star defensive tackle Jamari Lyons was able to get to know the UF coaching staff in a more laid-back environment Saturday.

Four-star defensive tackle Jamari Lyons has seen almost everything Florida when he visited the Swamp for the third time this weekend. Because of that, he was able to get to know coach Dan Mullen and the Gators coaching staff in a more laid-back atmosphere.

“I don’t know it was something really different and something I’ve never really experienced with recruiting,” Lyons said, according to Swamp247. “It showed how much they love their recruits and how much affection they show their recruits. It’s not all about football, sometimes you have to have fun and be a family, get together and have a BBQ.”

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That family feel is part of what has made the Gators a front runner in Lyons’ recruitment. He said he is always in touch with coaches and current players.

“It just makes their bond better and greater,” Lyons said. “They are brothers and family and stuff and that is a great thing. I love seeing things on Twitter. I have Gervon (Dexter) on Snapchat and I love seeing the things they do. They come together and have fun. They are throwing guys in the pool, they go bowling, they did a costume workout the other day. That just seems so fun to me.”

However, defensive line coach David Turner still reiterated how much of a priority Lyons is to him. Turner admires how versatile a player Lyons is and pitches how he can be a great impact player in his defense.

He recently dropped his top three schools of Florida, Indiana and South Carolina and named the Gators his outright leader after his official visit in June. Lyons said that they still maintain the lead but he still has his other official visits to take. He plans to visit Florida for the Alabama game and take an official visit to the Gamecocks when they face Kentucky. Then he’ll announce his commitment on his mother’s birthday on Oct. 6.

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Four-star receiver on Dan Mullen: ‘A little bit more of a standoffish coach’

Four-star Jayden Gibson recapped his visits to Florida and Georgia after the NCAA dead period was lifted last Friday.

Four-star wide receiver Jayden Gibson made pit stops to Georgia and Florida after the near monthlong NCAA dead period was lifted last Friday. He made the trek to the Bulldogs and then traveled south to the Swamp Saturday. After a pair of visits, he updated where his recruitment stands currently.

Gibson raved about his trip to Athens and said the facilities there were the best he has ever seen. He thinks highly of coach Kirby Smart and likes how wide receiver coach Cortez Hankton coaches. Despite the late offer, it seems like UGA has asserted itself as a real contender for Gibson’s pledge. However, he said enjoyed his trip to see the Gators.

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“Florida was cool,” Gibson said, according to Swamp247. Saturday was all about having fun and it was a lot of fun, I’m not going to lie. We had a water balloon fight. It was like the Gator Olympics. We had a bunch of different events and they split us into different teams and that kind of stuff. Really, I just like spending time there. That’s the thing with Florida, it’s really about spending time with them and getting to know them because at other schools, they kind of put that stuff on display.”

He expanded on that thought and said that Georgia and Miami go out of their way to establish a relationship with a prospect.

“At Florida, they don’t really sell you that,” Gibson said. “That’s fine, I don’t want them to sell something that’s not true. They are just like, ‘We are going to develop you, we are going to get you to the league and we are going to get you a good education.’ It’s all that stuff. Coach (Dan) Mullen, he’s a little bit more of a standoffish coach. So, you got to spend more time with him to get to know him. That’s how I see it.”

Gibson continued and said that wide receiver coach Billy Gonzales balances out coach Mullen and that he serves as the yin to his yang. Florida is still considered a lock to get one of his last three official visits and pegged as the favorite for his pledge, according to 247Sports. Gibson provided good insight on how Mullen and his coaching staff approach recruiting.

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Florida impressed this coveted running back on visit last weekend

Three-star running back Jaylon Glover plans to make his commitment Aug. 6. Florida got him on campus last before he announces his decision.

Florida and running back coach Greg Knox plan to sign two tailbacks this recruiting cycle. They secured one this weekend when four-star Terrance Gibbs announced his commitment to the Gators. For their second running back, they have turned their attention to three-star Jaylon Glover. He spent the weekend visiting the Swamp before he announces his commitment on Aug. 6.

He said this visit was different from the one he took in June because he was able to get a more in-depth look at the program. Glover enjoyed the time he got to spend with Knox and head coach Dan Mullen. However, for most of the visit, the coaching staff pitched that Florida would develop him on and off the field.

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“I definitely learned that they are the No. 6 public school in the nation,” Glover said, according to Swamp247. “I needed to know because I didn’t learn that before. Facilities wise, buildings wise, definitely seeing the new building was real unique because I didn’t see anything before. I heard about the prototype but never got to see it in person so that was cool.”

The Gators also emphasized and ensured Glover understood their plans to take two running backs. He said he was able to meet Gibbs and start developing a relationship with him.

Glover will make his commitment public this Friday, and Florida currently sits in a good spot to earn his pledge.

“I mean it’s Florida man,” he said. “Obviously you got a good tradition of winning. You know you’re going to be playing for a championship every year. Then academically you can’t go wrong.”

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