Category: Football Recruiting

Pair of praised Palmetto prep players sign with Florida Gators

Florida Gators football welcomes two blue-chip prospects from Palmetto High School: cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. and safety Corey Collier.

Florida has officially welcomed two blue-chip prospects from Palmetto High School in Miami on Wednesday, as cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. and safety Corey Collier signed their National Letters of Intent to play for the Gators.

Marshall is a five-star recruit and the No. 27 overall player in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s the nation’s second-best corner, and at 6-foot-2-inches, 180 pounds, he has prototypical size for the position. He has excellent ball skills and athleticism, as he snagged five interceptions and broke up 15 passes as a junior.

Given Florida’s struggles at the corner position this season and depth question marks behind incumbent starter Kaiir Elam, Marshall has the chance to contribute immediately in a secondary starving for difference-makers.

NEXT: Corey Collier

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Florida football recruiting tracker: Live updates on early signing period

The Florida football Class of 2021 is taking shape. Follow here as Gators recruits officially commit on early signing day.

College football’s national signing day is finally here and the Florida Gators are on the move!

There is some good news when it comes to the 2021 recruiting cycle for the Gators fans as ESPN ranks the UF’s upcoming class — which features 26 members — fifth in the nation and third-best in the Southeastern Conference. Only the Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 1) and the Tennessee Volunteers (No. 3) are ahead of the Gators among league programs.

In order to keep up with the ink action, we here at Gators Wire have put together this recruit signing tracker, which will be updated as events warrant. Take a look at who has already put their John Hancock on paper and keep checking back for more information.

Fab Four: Selecting Florida football’s Mount Rushmore of all-time recruits

Without further ado, here is who has signed so far.

Fab Four: Selecting Florida football’s Mount Rushmore of all-time recruits

On the eve of early signing day, Gators Wire recalls the most hyped commits in school history.

Florida Gators football came into prominence only recently in the grand scale of college football history, emerging from the swamps of the Southeastern Conference in the early 1990s behind its Heisman hero, Steve Spurrier, and his fun-and-gun offense.

As the team improved in the standings, it also made headway off the field on the recruiting front. It was not until Urban Meyer took over that the program reached stratospheric heights when it came to bringing in some of the best players the nation’s high school ranks had to offer.

In fact, two of our top four all-time recruits arrived during Meyer’s watch, while the Ol’ Head Ball Coach snagged one and Jim McElwain, who oversaw one of the two worst seasons in Gainesville since 1979, also scored a victory in the prep wars.

Here is Gator Wire’s Mount Rushmore of prospects, but first take a look at our honorable mentions.

More Mount Rushmore’s from the College Wire Network:

Bama / Aub / Fla / LSU / Tenn. / UGA // Mich. / Mich St. / Ohio St. / Wisc. // Okla. / Texas // ND // USC

NEXT: Honorable mentions

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Gators 2021 recruit linebacker Chief Borders breaks record

Florida Gators 2021 linebacker recruit Chief Borders earned himself a place in the annals of Heard County, Georgia, sports history.

Florida Gators linebacker recruit Chief Borders, a member of the 2021 class, earned himself a place in the annals of Heard County, Georgia, sports history this season for his high school team. The 6-foot-3-inch, 230-pound middle defender set the record for tackles in a season for his respective county with 146, breaking the previous mark of 139.

Graddick Sports reported the news on its official Twitter on Tuesday.

“Heard County Brave & Future Florida Gator @ChiefBorders
set the new Heard Co. record for tackles in a single season with 146! Borders broke the previous mark of 139 set by current MTSU Raider Andrew Leak in 2017. Borders had 60 solo tackles, 4 sacks & avg. 14.6 tackles per game.”

Borders is a 247Sports Composite four-star and the No. 19 outside linebacker in the class, as well as the sixth-highest rated of Florida’s 14 current commits in the 2021 cycle. He received a three-star rating from Rivals.com.

Recruited by linebackers coach Christian Robinson and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, he committed to the Gators on November 10, 2019, choosing Florida over the Arkansas Razorbacks, Auburn Tigers, Toledo Rockets, Virginia Tech Hokies and 18 reported others.

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Fab Four: Selecting Florida Gators football’s Mount Rushmore of all-time recruits

Here’s our “Mount Rushmore” of UF football recruits over the years, headlined by Percy Harvin, Brock Berlin, Martez Ivey and Ronald Powell.

Florida Gators football has only come into prominence more recently in the grand scale of college football history, emerging from the swamps of the Southeastern Conference back in the early 1990s behind its Heisman hero Steve Spurrier and his fun-and-gun offense.

As the team improved in the standings, it also made headway off the field on the recruiting front. It was not until Urban Meyer took over that the program reached stratospheric heights when it came to drawing premier prep talent, bringing in some of the best that the nation’s high school ranks had to offer.

In fact, two of our top four all-time recruits came on Meyer’s watch, while the Ol’ Head Ball Coach snagged one of his own and Jim McElwain, who oversaw one of the two worst seasons in Gainesville since 1979, also scored a victory in the prep wars.

Here is Gator Wire’s “Mount Rushmore” of prospects, but first take a look at our honorable mentions.

NEXT: Honorable mentions

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Florida Gators up to No. 6 in ESPN 2021 football recruiting rankings

ESPN released its most recent update to its recruiting rankings and Florida moved up one spot to No. 6 behind Alabama and LSU.

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Adding two players, Birmingham, Alabama weakside defensive end Jeremiah Williams and Murphy, North Carolina guard Yousef Mugharbil, to their 26-member class since October 26, the Florida Gators moved up one spot to No. 6 in ESPN’s latest 2021 recruiting rankings, which were released on November 5.

The Gators were the third Southeastern Conference program to appear in the rankings, slotting in behind Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide, who occupied the No. 1 spot, and Ed Orgeron’s LSU Tigers at No. 4.

Ryan Day’s Ohio State Buckeyes, Mario Cristobal’s Oregon Ducks and Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers completed the top-five, checking in at No. 2, 3 and 5, respectively.

Miami cornerback Jason Marshall, Jr. and Cartersville, Georgia pro-style quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson are the program’s highest-rated pledges, both earning a grade of 86 from ESPN.

A quintet of commits, Miami safety Corey Collier, Williams, Fort Lauderdale defensive end/tackle Tyreak Sapp, Mugharbil and Powder Springs, Georgia outside linebacker Chief Borders, were not far behind, each receiving a grade of 84.

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Three receivers, Ocala’s Trevonte Rucker, Loganville, Georgia’s Daejon Reynolds and Seffner’s Charles Montgomery, who also projects to contribute out of the backfield, all registered an 83.

After Florida, Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs, Jeremy Pruitt’s Tennessee Volunteers, Clay Helton’s USC Trojans, and Manny Diaz’ Miami Hurricanes rounded out ESPN’s top-10.

Other notable rankings include Lincoln Riley’s Oklahoma Sooners at No. 13, Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines at No. 14, Tom Herman’s Texas Longhorns at No. 16, and Mike Norvell’s Florida State Seminoles at No. 19.

After four of the scheduled games were postponed because of positive coronavirus (COVID-19) tests, Dan Mullen’s Gators will participate in one of just three games on Saturday’s SEC docket, hosting Feleipe Franks and the Arkansas Razorbacks, who will be without first-year head coach Sam Pittman, at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN.

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Florida Gators add three commits to two classes in 11-day span

UF added three names to its recruiting class signing defensive end Jeremiah Williams, athlete Sam McCall and guard Yousef Mugharbil.

As pointed out by The Independent Florida Alligator, Dan Mullen’s program has been on a nice run on the recruiting trail, adding three commits – spanning both the 2021 and 2022 classes – from October 26-to-November 6.

First came Birmingham, Alabama weakside defensive end Jeremiah Williams, who, at 6-foot-3-inches and 224 pounds, is the No. 5 prospect at the position and a top-five player in his state, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Williams was recruited by linebackers coach Christian Robinson and chose the Gators over a Southeastern Conference West Division power, Gus Malzahn’s Auburn Tigers.

The program’s third-highest rated commit in the class – trailing only five-star cornerback Jason Marshall, Jr. and four-star safety Corey Collier, who are teammates at Miami Palmetto – Williams, paired with St. Thomas Aquinas four-star defensive end/tackle Tyreak Sapp, gives Florida a promising pass-rushing duo to build around.

NEXT: Five-star athlete Sam McCall

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How Florida Gators commits fared in high school football action Week 7

Many of Florida’s recruiting class of 2021 were in action last Friday, here’s a summary of how they all fared in high school competition.

Ranked No. 8 in the latest Amway Coaches Poll Powered by USA TODAY Sports, the Florida Gators will travel to TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville to clash with one of their fiercest rivals, the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs, on Saturday.

There will be plenty of action the two days before this showdown, as well, as the program’s 2021 commits will be in action in their respective high school games.

As we at Gators Wire have done each of the last six weeks, here is a look at how some of these skill position pledges fared in their most recent showings.

Prospect rankings courtesy of the 247Sports Composite.

Florida Gators land commitment from 2022 five-star athlete Sam McCall

UF’s 2022 recruiting class got a big boost with the addition of five-star athlete Sam McCall to their commitment list on Wednesday.

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Lake Gibson (Lakeland, Florida) 2022 five-star athlete Sam McCall committed to the Florida Gators on Wednesday, which was also his birthday, making the announcement on his Twitter account, with head coach Dan Mullen watching live.

Listed as the No. 4 athlete in the cycle and a top-five player in the state by the 247Sports Composite, McCall attended one of the program’s Junior Days on March 7 and the Gators were seen as the leader for his services throughout his recruitment.

As his two-minute-and-twenty-second video shows, he chose Florida over the Alabama Crimson Tide, Florida State Seminoles, and Oklahoma Sooners.

Contributing on both sides of the football at the prep level for the Braves, the expectation is McCall will play cornerback in Gainesville, but the possibility exists of him chipping in on offense, too.

Position coach Torrian Gray has been McCall’s primary recruiter, and Andrew Ivins, a Miami Hurricanes insider for 247Sports, had high praise for the 6-foot-2-inch, 180-pounder in his evaluation, comparing him to former Alabama safety standout Eddie Jackson, who is now in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears.

McCall becomes the second member of the Gators’ 2022 class, joining Edison (Miami, Florida) four-star wide receiver Syveion Ellis.

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Florida Gators commit Tyreak Sapp and St. Thomas Aquinas to play on ESPN2

The four-star defensive end will get the chance to showcase his talents on national TV at 2020 GEICO High School Football Showcase.

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ESPN announced the matchups for the final week of their 2020 GEICO High School Football Showcase on October 23, and one of the games will feature a future Florida Gator, four-star strongside defensive end Tyreak Sapp.

A senior at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Sapp and his Raider teammates will host the American Heritage Patriots at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, November 6 on ESPN.

In addition to Sapp, St. Thomas Aquinas fields four-star defensive end Dallas Turner, an Alabama Crimson Tide commit, and inside linebacker Jaydon Hood, a fellow four-star who has pledged to the Michigan Wolverines.

The Raiders play their home games at Brian Piccolo Stadium. Piccolo, who graduated from the school in 1961, when it was still known as Central Catholic High School, went on to earn Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Year honors with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in 1964 and player five seasons in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears.

Unfortunately, Piccolo passed in June 1970 at the age of only 26 due to cancer. His friendship with backfield mate Gale Sayers was chronicled in the 1971 made-for-TV film, Brian’s Song.

The other game on ESPN’s final week slate will feature two schools from Oklahoma, the Booker T. Washington Hornets at the Bixby Spartans at 8 p.m. ET the day prior, Thursday, November 5.

Bixby captured their second consecutive Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) state championship in 2019, while one of Booker T. Washington’s standout players will also be taking his talents to the Southeastern Conference, 2021 three-star cornerback Keuan Parker, an Arkansas Razorbacks commit.

According to the 247Sports Composite, Sapp is the fourth highest-rated prospect in Florida’s upcoming class, trailing only Miami Palmetto teammates, five-star cornerback Jason Marshall, Jr. and four-star safety Corey Collier, and Birmingham, Alabama four-star weakside defensive end Jeremiah Williams.

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