Category: Football Recruiting

Florida football makes the cut for this 5-star defensive lineman

The Gators were included in the top five for five-star defensive lineman Walter Nolen. It’s not surprising after two strong visits to UF.

It’s not surprising to see Florida make five-star defensive lineman Walter Nolen’s top five. The stellar recruit from Tennessee made two visits to the Swamp in June where he raved about his time with the Gators.

On Friday, he trimmed his list from eight schools to five via Twitter. His top five programs currently are Florida, Michigan, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. His first visit to see the Gators was an official visit the weekend of June 4. This visit solidified the orange and blue as contenders for his pledge.

“Oh yeah, I fell in love with it,” Nolen said back in June after his two Florida visits, according to Swamp247. “It felt like home to me. They got everything I need. They got a good medicine program. That’s what I really plan on going into. Everything was cool.”

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Head coach Dan Mullen and defensive line coach David Turner have pushed all the right buttons so far in his recruitment. Nolen said they were the realist coaches out there.

The key for Florida is to get Nolen back on campus before August because he wants to make a commitment before summer is over. He told Swamp247 that he doesn’t have any visits planned yet for when the NCAA dead period is lifted at the end of July.

The Gators should love where they stand with Nolen currently.

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Florida football in the hunt for this Clemson legacy recruit

Four-star Trevor Etienne is the only star running back in the family. But his family’s ties to Clemson will be difficult for UF to beat.

Not many high school prospects have family members and friends that have gone through the recruiting process before. Luckily, for Trevor Etienne, he has his older brother and current Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis that can guide him through this difficult venture and help him choose the best school for him.

Etienne is one of the top running backs in the class of 2022 and has no plans to make a commitment anytime soon. He plans to use his five official visits to schools like Florida, Georgia, Alabama, LSU and Clemson, of course. He said that the Gators stand out because of their academics and the connection he has with coach Dan Mullen and running backs coach Greg Knox, according to 247Sports.

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The four-star recruit added that his unofficial visit to the Gators was mindblowing like the previous ones he has taken. After he complimented Mullen and Knox, Etienne said he can see himself getting coached by them.

However, the Bulldogs, Crimson Tide and Tigers catch his eyes because of their track record on the field with their success in the College Football Playoff. LSU has a leg up on its competition because the Etiennes are from Louisana.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Travis try to convince his younger brother to follow in his footsteps. But Etienne said he hasn’t and that he encourages him to do whatever is best for him.

Etienne also knows what he was looking for when it came time to decide where he will take his talents for the next three to four years.

“I’m looking for a home away from home,” he said. “For me, it’s a 40-year decision, not a four-year decision. You got to look at life after football and how a school is going to set you up to be a better man after football because the NFL stands for not for long.”

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This top DB target commits to Notre Dame over Florida

The Gators are looking to take one to two safeties this cycle. One of their top targets committed to Notre Dame over them Sunday.

Florida and its rivals like Miami and FSU have had a difficult time keeping the best in-state talent home. Many top players have elected to head to other powerhouse programs like Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State or LSU instead. It’s a major reason some of the top programs in Florida have struggled to make the College Football Playoff.

The Gators’ efforts to keep one of its top targets at safety in the state of Florida failed this weekend. Three-star defensive back Devin Moore committed on Sunday to Notre Dame over the orange and blue.

“I’m so thankful God has put me in a position to further my athletic and academic career into a higher level,” Moore wrote on Twitter. “I want to thank my family for always believing in me and punishing me towards betterment in every aspect of life.

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“Thank you to my coaches and teammates for helping me maximize my potential. To the colleges and coaches who gave me attention, support and an opportunity to live out a dream of mine, I’ll always have the utmost respect for you and the universities you coach for. This has been a life-changing experience and a very difficult decision. With all that being said, I have decided to commit to the University of Notre Dame! Go Irish! Thank you Brian Kelly and Marcus Freeman for this opportunity.”

Moore sat near the top of Florida’s defensive back board and visited Gainesville in early June. Cornerbacks coach Jules Montinar was the main contact for the Niceville, Florida, product and was a huge part of why the Gators remained near the top for Moore throughout his recruitment.

“It was a great visit,” Moore said after his June visit, according to SI’s AllGators. Oh, it was beautiful. I mean, just seeing everything again, seeing the coaches again. Just kind of further developing that relationship with Coach Jules, you know, been developing that with him for a couple of years now since he been at USF and Georgia. That’s my guy, I really mess with coach Jules. He actually came from my high school. So you know, we’ve got a very strong and great relationship.”

Coach Dan Mullen and his staff will move their focus toward another safety target on their big board like a Kamari Wilson or Tre Donaldson.

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This Florida QB commit finished top three in Sports Illustrated’s Elite 11 rankings

Florida QB commit Nick Evers entered the Elite 11 finals vastly underrated. After a strong performance, he should be underrated no more.

Florida quarterback commit Nick Evers flew under the radar entering the Elite 11 finals this week. 247Sports had him rated as a three-star prospect and 26th-best signal-caller in the country. The Flower Mound, Texas, native didn’t fare much better in the Rivals rankings, either. He was ranked a three-star and as the ninth-best dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2022.

Evers should surge up both rankings after a strong performance this week. He finished top eight in each of the quarterback rankings and wound up third overall in the Sports Illustrated All-American Elite 11 rankings. Elite 11 themselves included Evers in its rankings, and 247Sports had him listed at 11.

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Here is a recap of Evers’ performance this week from SI All-American.

Among the top five prospects in our final rankings, Florida commit Nick Evers may have been the most underrated entering Elite 11. He exited the week as one of the consensus favorites among the SI All-American staff.

Generating power from a quick release, on the move and in the pocket, came with extreme ease for Evers. His showing in the Accuracy Gauntlet was spectacularly streaky as Evers nailed eight on-target throws in a row – six of which passed through the bullseye and were deemed perfect – in the midst of the challenge.

What stood out to us about Evers the most was his ability to quickly pick up on new footwork concepts. Hailing from a spread option-heavy offense that operates out of the gun, under center and play-action roll-out dropbacks are a bit foreign to Evers. Despite shaky footwork in some of those specific drills, Evers maintained his impressive velocity and accuracy on the majority of his reps.

It’ll be interesting where Evers ends up after both recruiting services adjust his ranking.

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Gators out in front for this much-sought linebacker recruit

EJ Lightsey dropped his list of top six schools Friday via Twitter, but he wasn’t shy about dubbing the Florida Gators as his leader.

Three-star EJ Lightsey may have dropped a list of his top six schools that include Florida, Georgia, LSU, FSU, Georgia Tech and Auburn. But he named the Gators his leader in an interview Thursday with Swamp247. He visited the Orange and Blue twice in June that were his first visits to Gainesville ever.

“Seeing everything in person, it was everything I expected it to be,” Lightsey said, according to Swamp247. “I expected Floria to be a great place and have a great atmosphere and all that. I have watched videos on YouTube about them, so when I went there really wasn’t any differences. The thing that stood out to me the most about Florida is the people and the love they show.”

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The best aspect about the Gators, to Lightsey, is his connection with linebackers coach Christian Robinson. He also likes the Otis Hawkins Center, the academic center for UF’s student-athletes.

“Coach Robinson is just a straight-up dude,” he added. “He tells me all the time that whatever I want to do in college I can do it with him as long as I buy into what he says and do everything he tells me to do. He’s going to make sure his players are the best version of themselves. He’s going to make sure they accomplish their dreams.”

When Lightsey watched film with coach Robinson, he told the Georgia linebacker that he can play all the spots in Florida’s linebacker room, which is what the NFL looks for.

Even though he dropped his top six schools, he wasn’t shy to admit that they are all chasing Florida.

“I would say Florida is the leader right now,” Lightsey said. “They have been recruiting me very hard and showing me I am a priority. They make you feel like family and make you feel like you can come in and do everything you want to do. They also have a good education, and I think about life after football. They are one of the top academic schools, so I know even if the NFL doesn’t happen, I know Florida will have me successful to do what I want to do.”

Lightsey plans to use his official visit to the Gators when they play Alabama.

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Florida football still in the thick of it for this coveted 4-star recruit

Many recruiting experts pegged four-star defensive back Azareyeh Thomas to LSU after a strong visit. But Thomas said not so fast Friday.

The 247Sports crystal ball forecasts for four-star defensive back Azareyeh Thomas piled up in favor of the Tigers following his visit to LSU the weekend of June 18. It was a crushing blow for Florida because Thomas was considered one of its top targets in the secondary. However, the Niceville, Florida, native said not so fast this weekend when he spoke to reporters at The Opening Finals Friday.

“I feel pretty good about all of them,” Thomas said, according to 247Sports.com. I mean all three of them (LSU, Florida and Georgia Tech) showed me great love. So, I’m feeling pretty confident about all three of them.”

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Thomas added that he saw all the predictions that projected he would become another top defensive back for the Tigers. He said he stopped doing interviews about LSU because that will make people believe that is where he will end up, but honestly, he doesn’t know where he wants to go currently.

However, the reviews of his trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana were glowing.

“To be honest, when I got there it just felt different,” Thomas said. “The whole weekend the coaches were just showing me love and the energy was just so high. Just seeing the legacy with all the DBs that they have had there — it’s like legendary. I was just looking around, and I can definitely see myself playing there.”

Thomas said that the reports about Florida fading his recruitment aren’t accurate because they don’t know how he is really feeling. The Gators stuck out to him because of how they personalized everything on his visit.

He enjoyed breaking down film with Gators cornerbacks coach Jules Montinar. They featured plays of him and then some video of Florida’s current players.

However, Georgia Tech is also in the running for his pledge, too, because his older brother plays for the Yellow Jackets.

For Florida fans, this is great news because coach Dan Mullen and his staff still have a chance, but his trip to LSU was a huge success for the Tigers. The Gators need to get Thomas back on campus to make up some of that ground.

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Gators on the rise in Sports Illustrated’s All-American recruiting rankings

After adding four new commitments in the month of June, Florida’s recruiting ranking is on the rise (albeit slightly).

On June 1, the recruiting dead period that began at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 finally came to an end. That meant that in-person meetings and official visits could resume, and the Gators quickly got to work on repairing a recruiting class that to this point isn’t particularly impressive.

Florida had a load of prospects on campus each weekend last month, hosting 29 in total. That resulted in four new commitments, which bumped the Gators up three spots in the Sports Illustrated All-American recruiting rankings from No. 25 to No. 22.

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22. Florida (25)

10 Verbal Commitments

Florida surprised many on the recruiting trail in the first two weekends of the June window, with star-studded visitors and a commitment from Alabama native Shemar James. UF added skill position talent in the speedy Chandler Smith and Jamarrien Burt, as well.

James is clearly the headliner of this group. The four-star Mobile linebacker is the No. 145 player in the nation, per the 247Sports Composite, and he had an offer from the in-state Crimson Tide. James took an official visit to Tuscaloosa on June 4, but he committed to UF 16 days later.

Smith is a three-star receiver from Orlando who is a developmental prospect but has good size, while Burt, a three-star from Ocala, is a two-way receiver/defensive back. However, according to the scouting report on Burt from our own Jay Markle, his future with the team is likely as a defensive back, possibly at free safety.

The Gators also found their future kicker in five-star Maryland specialist Trey Smack, who will likely take over placekicking duties in 2022.

These additions aren’t the flashiest, and bigger fish are still out there — such as Walter Nolen, a five-star defensive tackle from Tennessee for whom many consider Florida to be the leader. The Gators’ class still ranks 24th in the nation according to the 247Sports Composite, and coach Dan Mullen will need to close out strong if he wants to put a stop to the narrative that the program is lagging behind in recruiting.

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Opinion: Did Florida have its top prospects use official visits to the Swamp too soon?

With Florida fading for top recruits, I answered the question: Did Florida have its top prospects officially visit too soon?

I posed a question at the end of the story I wrote Wednesday about where Florida stands with its top prospects heading into the NCAA dead period that lasts until the last weekend of July. Did the Gators coaching staff have their top recruits use their official visit to the Swamp too soon?

As a follow-up to that story, I wanted to tackle that question. In a year where the world hadn’t just gone through a pandemic, Florida absolutely had its top prospects visit Gainesville too soon. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there really isn’t one right answer.

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Most of the top players that visited Florida the weekend of June 4th were top 100 players in recruiting services like 247Sports and Rivals. These types of recruits have all the powerhouses like Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Clemson and Ohio State chasing them. The majority of these prospects will wait until November or December. Some of them want the television spotlight during the Early Signing Period on ESPN. Therefore, most schools want to have these players officially visit right before their commitment, so they can have the last word.

Official visits play a significant factor in recruitment for prospects because it allows the program to pay for his travel expenses. Players on unofficial visits have to foot the bill for the trip.

This is why Florida should wait to host some of the top players on its board in a typical recruiting cycle until the season or the last weekend before the first signing period or National Signing Day. However, this time around is vastly different due to the over year-long NCAA dead period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Gators coaching staff were smart to get these players on campus as soon as possible because most of these recruits haven’t seen the sights and sounds of any college program. This could play as a huge advantage for Florida because the first official visit can be hard to top if a school hits a home run with that prospect similarly to the way people feel after that first bite of cake. None of the pieces eaten afterward live up to the first one. However, it can also be a disadvantage because of the recency effect when it’s time to make a decision.

For the most part, it did aid the Orange and Blue because it surged in recruitments for star recruits like Evan Stewart and Walter Nolen. Many recruiting experts didn’t think Florida had a chance with those players before the first weekend in June.

However, because they used official visits on these prospects, there isn’t a guarantee the Gators will get them back to campus to witness a game in the Swamp this fall. This is the largest downside of having top prospects taking an official visit early.

That’s why there isn’t one clear answer to the question I originally posed Wednesday this year.

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Here’s an updated look at the recruits Florida football is prioritizing

The Florida Gators entered the month of June looking for a strong recruiting campaign. Here are some players they’re still chasing in July.

Entering the month of June, the Florida Gators and every other program in college football were faced with the unique challenge of packing months worth of recruiting activity into a few short weeks. The strategy devised by head coach Dan Mullen and his recruiting team was to front-load their efforts and allow for players who came away particularly impressed time to schedule another visit.

Four players committed to Florida during the month: CJ Smith, Shemar James, Trey Smack, and Jamarrien Burt. Perhaps more interesting, though, is the insight we were able to glean about which players they’re still chasing. There’s a long list of guys who the Gators would like to persuade to come to the Swamp, so we put together a sampling of the players who stand out from what we’ve read and heard.

The players are listed by position group rather than ranked order, but their 247Sports assigned star rating and placement in the composite national rankings are included with each player. Additionally, not every player on this list is leaning toward a Florida commitment, but that isn’t going to stop the team from trying to win them over.

Let’s dig in!

Florida football falling behind heading into another NCAA recruiting dead period

The Gators had a flurry of top players visit the Swamp June 4. Looking back a month later, UF seems to be fading for these same players.

June has been a whirlwind for college programs across the nation because it was the first of the month ended a recruiting dead period that lasted a year and almost three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Florida and many other schools welcomed a flurry of official visitors throughout June.

But now another NCAA dead period is set to start July 1 that lasts until the last weekend of July. The Gators seem to be fading for top prospects on their board. The weekend of June 4th was the biggest weekend for coach Dan Mullen and his coaching staff. They hosted 13 official visitors that included two Florida commits in quarterback Nick Evers and wide receiver Isaiah Bond.

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Some of the top names that visited the Swamp that weekend was five-star defensive lineman Walter Nolen, five-star wide receiver Evan Stewart, four-star offensive tackle Tyler Booker, four-star cornerback Azareyeh Thomas, four-star running back Omarion Hampton, four-star edge rusher Jihaad Campbell, four-star wide receiver Gentry Williams and four-star defensive lineman Chris McClellan. Many of these prospects roam at the top or near the top on Florida’s recruiting big board at their respective position.

Nolen named Florida his leader earlier this month. Stewart took an official visit to Texas after visiting Gainesville. In his Longhorns’ photoshoot, he was seen sporting a Florida wristband. The coaching staff made a splash with Booker when the Gators found equipment that fit his little brother, so he could enjoy the photoshoot, too. They also made up significant ground with the other top recruits mentioned.

However, most of these players have visited other programs, and it has felt like Florida has taken a back seat in the majority of these prospects’ recruitment.

Nolen’s family raved about their official visit to Michigan. Booker took visits to Oregon, UGA, Alabama and Ohio State. He told 247Sports he felt calm with the Bulldogs compared to his trips to Oregon and Florida. The IMG prospect also took visits to the Crimson Tide and the Buckeyes the last few weeks.

Some of them have committed to another school or are favored for another program that isn’t Florida. Campbell committed to Clemson on June 27th. Thomas named the Gators as the standard compared to future official visits. LSU cleared that bar during his official visit the weekend of June 18th. McClellan told Swamp247 that Florida ranked “very high” in his recruitment. Following a visit to Ohio State last weekend, the Gators and the Buckeyes are the top two teams to beat currently.

It’s not all bad news for Florida, though. Many of these players’ recruitments will take some more twists and turns and may not make a decision until Early Signing Day or National Signing Day. But it begs the question: Did Florida have these players use their official visits to the Gators too soon?

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