Tag: 2023 football recruiting

Florida football getting in the mix for nation’s No. 6 running back

Can Billy Napier and the Florida Gators get this four-star running back to stay in-state?

Four-star running back Treyaun Webb is the kind of player Billy Napier wants to keep in Florida, and the two will get a chance to meet face to face in March, according to 247Sports.

Webb, the sixth-best running back on the 247Sports Composite, is set to meet with Florida’s new staff on March 3 when the Jacksonville Trinity Christian prospect stops by campus. It won’t be his first time on campus, but it will be Webb’s first real taste of what Florida now has to offer.

Napier and defensive analyst Jamar Chaney made a stop by Webb’s school in January, and running backs coach Jabbar Juluke paid him a visit as well. He’s eager to meet the staff in person after keeping in contact for a while.

“I have been talking to them on the phone a lot, especially Coach Napier,” Webb said to 247Sports. “That is one of the things that is most different now, because Coach Napier is really involved with recruiting. He’s even more involved than the position coaches sometimes, so that is a plus. I just want to get there and see how they are looking there.”

The staff has done a good job of making Webb feel like a priority. Napier wants to keep nearby talent at home, and Florida amped up its recruiting after being left out of his top 11. The idea is that the players will be more likely to give their all to a program if it’s in their home state.

Webb has already backed off of two commitments so far. Georgia and Oklahoma briefly held pledges from the 6-foot-1-inch, 205-pounder, but now Webb says he wants to finish taking official visits over the summer before deciding. The plan is to make a decision going into his senior year of high school and to enroll early once it’s over.

247Sports ranks Webb as the No. 106 overall player in the class of 2023 and No. 23 in the state of Florida.

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Nation’s top 2023 receiver set to visit Florida football in March

The Gators get a visit from one of the top-10 overall athletes in the nation next month.

The recruiting period for the 2022 class has passed but Billy Napier and his army of staff have already moved on to the 2023 brood as the new head coach looks to restore the Orange and Blue to its previous glory. Among those Florida football is persuing for its next generation of Gator gridiron warriors is 247Sports’ top wide receiver prospect in the nation, Brandon Inniss from American Heritage in Plantation, Florida.

The in-state offensive target announced his plans to visit Gainesville on Twitter Wednesday, setting the date for March 6. He also noted that he intends to also visit the Ohio State Buckeyes on April 2 in an earlier tweet.

Inniss was initially committed to the Oklahoma Sooners but backed off after Lincoln Riley stepped down as head coach, re-opening his recruitment to all potential suitors. The 6-foot, 190-pound Floridian currently owns a five-star rating from 247Sports Composite and a four-star rating from the On3 Consensus. The former lists him as the top receiver in the nation while also holding the overall No. 3 spot in Florida and No. 8 in the nation.

According to 247Sports, Inniss has received offers from 37 total programs so far, but only Ohio State, Miami Hurricanes, Alabama Crimson Tide and USC Trojans are considered “warm” for his services. According to On3, the Sooners still lead the race for Inniss, though it lists wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons — who followed Riley out west — as the primary recruiter for both Oklahoma and USC, suggesting that the Okies might not be in as strong a position as indicated. Florida, however, is included among On3’s remaining top-five suitors along with OSU, Miami, USC and Alabama.

Landing Inniss would be a massive coup for the Gators not just from the standpoint of improving its wide receiver corps but also taking advantage of the massive talent pool that is available in their own backyard.

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Florida set to receive visit from 2023 4-star receiver

Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage receiver Santana Fleming will be on campus in Gainesville on March 6.

With the 2022 recruiting class all but complete — with the exception of California athlete and UF target Arlis Boardingham, who is set to announce his decision on Wednesday — the Gators can focus on the 2023 class, which will be coach Billy Napier’s first full recruiting cycle in Gainesville.

There is currently a dead period during the month of February which prevents recruits from visiting campus or from meeting with coaches. However, when the calendar turns to March, the staff will be all in on next year’s class.

One player from that class already intends to visit, as four-star Plantation (Florida) American Heritage receiver Santana Fleming announced via his Twitter account that he will be on campus on March 6.

Fleming was offered by the previous staff last March and was able to visit campus in June, but now he’ll have the chance to meet with the new staff and his potential position coach in Keary Colbert. The 5-foot-10, 163-pound player needs to put on a bit of size, but he’s currently the No. 283 player in the nation and No. 37 receiver, according to the 247Sports Composite.

With the growing trend of coaching changes in college football, Fleming told 247Sports’ Blake Alderman that he is taking his time with the decision. Florida State is currently considered the favorite, as he’s taken several visits to Tallahassee, but the Gators will have plenty of time to make their case.

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Report: Florida targeting 2023 five-star athlete from IMG Academy

Billy Napier has his eyes on another five-star from IMG Academy for the class of 2023.

Recruiting never stops in college football, and Billy Napier is already working on the class of 2023. Five-star athlete Samuel M’Pemba has Florida on his list of schools to visit during the spring, according to Gators Online.

M’Pemba decided to back off his plan of committing in the fall after seeing all of the coaching changes taking place around the country. Alabama and Notre Dame sat at the top of his recruitment at the time, but now he’s opening things up to see how his visits play out.

Napier ended a decade-long drought for Florida by signing IMG Academy five-star safety Kamari Wilson during the 2022 early signing period. He’s since said that he’d like to keep bringing in players from IMG and M’Pemba is the next step to establishing the pipeline Gator Nation has always dreamed of.

The plan is to get M’Pemba in Gainesville for a visit next month. He’s eager to get some in-person time with the coaches at many schools and has noted that Florida’s new staff has some good chemistry going.

“I have been talking with Florida about visiting there that first weekend in March,” M’Pemba said to On3’s Chad Simmons. “Then we have spring break starting March 12, so I want to visit as many schools as I can that week.

“Nothing is scheduled yet, but Arkansas, Oregon, Ohio State and Alabama are some of the schools I am looking at. I am going to work on setting visits up for that week.”

Florida hosted M’Pemba for the Alabama game last season, but that was under Dan Mullen’s staff. Defensive analyst Jamar Chaney is his main contact on this staff, and he’s mentioned talking to outside linebackers coach Mike Peterson as well. Despite playing both sides of the ball in high school, it looks like Florida wants him on defense based on his recruiters.

The competition will be fierce for M’Pemba as he is ranked No. 11 overall on the On3 Consensus and No. 14 overall on the 247Composite. Both services have him listed as the top athlete in the country.

Napier got Florida on the table with several of the nation’s top undecided recruits on national signing day. Most of them chose other programs, but Florida’s new coach proved that he could at least get the Gators in the conversation with minimal time to do it.

M’Pemba is looking at a December decision, but that could change in the future. That gives Napier nearly a year to work on him and earn a commitment.

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Florida’s top 10 recruiting targets in 2023, per On3

With the 2022 class basically in the books, Florida will turn it’s attention to the 2023 cycle.

The ink is barely dry on the letter of intent for Florida’s 2022 class, and it still awaits the decision of California athlete Arlis Boardingham on Wednesday. But for the most part, the staff is now ready to turn its attention to the 2023 class, its first full cycle in Gainesville.

Much of the talk in the 2023 class centers around Arch Manning, the New Orleans Isidore Newman quarterback prospect who’s the nephew of NFL stars Peyton and Eli and the grandson of Archie. He’s the No. 1 overall player in the class, and while the Gators have made some headway with him, visiting him last month, there are other targets in the class the team will look to prioritize.

On3’s Donavon Keiser took a look at the players in the 2023 class who UF will likely covet the most, and here’s a rundown of his list of the top 10 targets from next year’s class.

Billy Napier hoping to have continued success at IMG Academy

Billy Napier already broke the IMG Academy course at Florida, and he’s hoping to land more recruits from the in-state program in the years to come.

Billy Napier’s first big moment as Florida’s head coach came when he landed one of the top safeties in the nation, IMG Academy’s Kamari Wilson, during the early signing period.

Wilson immediately brought star power to the Gators’ 2022 recruiting class, and his signing broke a decade-long IMG Academy curse despite the elite high school program being located in Bradenton. Following the announcement, Napier said that the plan was to keep a relationship with IMG Academy and to bring in more recruits from the in-state gold mine.

Napier took another step in building that relationship this weekend by hosting two of IMG’s top recruits. 2023 four-star defensive lineman Will Norman and Desmond Ricks, the top cornerback in the class of 2024, were unofficial visitors at Florida over the weekend before the dead period begins on Monday.

Norman wants to be committed by the start of his senior year, and he’s not short on offers. Auburn, Florida State, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma and Texas A&M are just a few of the names competing for him, but Norman claims that no one is out in front just yet.

Landing a four-star or five-star recruit from IMG in each of his first three years would be quite the feat for Napier considering Florida’s track record with the school. He’ll have help from Wilson who loves recruiting top tier-talent to play alongside him, especially if they’re from his alma mater.

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Gators lead in the race for this 2023 OT

Billy Napier has his eyes on an offensive tackle for the class of 2023, and he was at the Swamp this weekend.

One of the many underclassmen visiting over the final weekend of the 2022 recruiting cycle was 2023 offensive tackle Tommy Kinsler.

Kinsler, a three-star recruit from nearby Ocala Trinity Catholic, has been to the university several times but not since the new staff took over. He met the new staff on Saturday, spending most of his time with offensive line coaches Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton, according to 247Sports.

Florida has been Kinsler’s top school for some time now. The last staff extended him his first-ever offer back in April, and Billy Napier confirmed that the new staff was still offering a scholarship this weekend.

“Florida is still on top for me,” Kinsler said. “It’s just the atmosphere they have there and they keep it about family there. They treat you like family up there, so I really like it. The staff is just really different from the old one. The whole staff now treats you like family.”

Florida’s proximity to home gives the Gators the edge over the other programs that have offered him so far. Louisville, Maryland, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee are interested, but he’s only visited Florida State and Miami aside from his three trips to the Swamp.

Although the Gators are at the top of Kinsler’s list, he’ll be waiting to make an announcement. He plans on committing in the middle of his senior year or at the end of it.

Kinsler is ranked No. 39 at his position on the 247Sports Composite and is ranked No. 529 overall nationally.

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Here are the recruits visiting Florida on the last weekend before NSD

It’s the last weekend before national signing day and Billy Napier has another group of recruits in the Swamp.

College football’s national signing day is on Wednesday, and Billy Napier is using the last weekend of the recruiting cycle to host another group of prospects at the University of Florida.

After a few cancellations, the Gators will host five official visitors over the weekend, including four-star receiver DJ Allen and four-star defensive lineman Caden Story. Michigan commit Kevonte Henry and Georgia commit Jordan James won’t be able to make it despite both having plans to visit.

Napier has Florida positioned to be a part of several decisions made on national signing day, and hosting this final group should help secure a few more hats on the table on Wednesday.

Here’s a look at every recruit visiting the Swamp this weekend.

Billy Napier visits No. 1 running back in 2023 class

Five-star Lehigh Acres (FL) Senior running back Richard Young is the No. 16 overall recruit in the 2023 class.

Running back has clearly been one of the top priorities for Florida coach Billy Napier since arriving in Gainesville. The Gators lost their only running back commit in the 2022 class under Dan Mullen when Terrance Gibbs, who is now likely heading to Texas, decommitted following the coach’s firing.

Since then, though, Napier has secured the pledge of four-star Louisiana running back Trevor Etienne and a transfer in Montrell Johnson, who was the second-leading rusher for Napier’s Ragin’ Cajuns team in 2021. The staff is also still making a push for another prospect from the Pelican State, as four-star TreVonte’ Citizen is also in play.

But Napier is also starting to turn his attention to the 2023 class, and on Thursday, he and defensive analyst Jamar Chaney visited Lehigh Acres running back Richard Young, the No. 1 running back in next year’s class.

Young is a five-star recruit and ranks as the No. 16 overall prospect in the class, according to the 247Sports Composite. Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State currently seem to be in the lead for him, but there’s certainly time for Napier to make up some of that gap. Though he has offers from many of the top programs around the country, he hasn’t received one from the Gators yet.

Florida has three running backs who enter the 2022 season with high expectations in Nay’Quan Wright (though he’s battling back from a broken leg suffered in the win over Florida State), Demarkcus Bowman and Lorenzo Lingard. The latter two are transfers and former five-star recruits who have yet to make a major impact in Gainesville.

Some attrition at the position is to be expected, and based on the offenses Napier ran in Lafayette, it’s clear that he wants a reliable group of backs to shoulder a lot of the work in his offense.

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Report: Billy Napier visits top 2023 prospect Arch Manning

The latest Manning quarterback prospect is the No. 1 player in the 2023 class and the Gators are out to get him.

Florida may find itself a part of the Arch Manning sweepstakes, as coach Billy Napier visited the 2023 quarterback on Tuesday while the coaches are on the road recruiting, according to 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong.

The son of Cooper Manning, nephew of Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and probable Hall-of-Famer Eli Manning, and grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, Arch is a five-star and the No. 1 overall recruit, according to the 247Sports Composite.

A product of the Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, which his father and uncles attended, Manning has 5,731 passing yards, 72 passing touchdowns and 18 interceptions in three years as a starter. The 6-foot-4-inch, 215-pound passer is lauded for his pocket presence, solid frame, mobility and decision-making.

Just about every top program in the south has made an offer for Manning, one of the most coveted quarterback prospects in recent memory. However, Florida is yet to make an offer, though that could be coming shortly. He said in October that a college decision could come as soon as this spring or summer, though he hasn’t announced a commitment date yet.

Florida may be getting in the game late, but it’s clear that Napier wants to at least make a push for the decorated high school quarterback with a championship pedigree.

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