Tag: Darnell Stapleton

This big-time 4-star offensive lineman sets visit in April

Four-star offensive lineman Sam Pendleton has set a two-day visit to Florida in April.

Four-star offensive lineman [autotag]Sam Pendleton[/autotag] has been a major target for coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and staff since Florida offered him in early March. The Gators coaching staff’s relentless pursuit of Pendleton is starting to pay off and he’s now scheduled to visit the Swamp on April 11 and 12 with his family.

The Pfafftown, North Carolina, native is ranked as the 359th overall prospect and the 23rd best player at his position. He told 247Sports that Clemson, Michigan, North Carolina State, Penn State and Virginia Tech are standing out the most in his recruitment so far but added that the Gators are getting there.

Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach [autotag]Rob Sale[/autotag] has been the main point of contact for Florida in Pendleton’s recruitment so far. He looks forward to meeting Sale, Napier and offensive line coach [autotag]Darnell Stapleton[/autotag] in person the most during his visit in April.

Many offensive line prospects, including Pendleton, are intrigued by the idea of having two coaches dealing with the unit. When looking forward to a decision, he wants to go to a school with an emphasis on developing offensive linemen. He said Florida checks that box off because of its two coaches that it has dedicated to the offensive line.

Sale is really high on Pendleton and has told him that he can be a culture changer for his unit. However, he said they still haven’t discussed where the Gators see him fitting the best.

He originally wanted to make a decision in March but is in no rush because of the new offers that have rolled in.

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Florida receives new crystal ball prediction for this coveted recruit

Florida received a crystal ball prediction for three-star offensive Bryce Lovett on Saturday.

247Sports Florida recruiting reporter Blake Alderman submitted a crystal ball prediction in the Gators’ favor for three-star offensive tackle [autotag]Bryce Lovett[/autotag] with a high confidence of seven on Saturday. The Rockledge, Florida, native is considered the 653rd overall prospect and the 57th best player at his position, according to the 247Sports composite.

Since the calendar flipped to 2022, Lovett has been a constant face on campus. He has visited three times, including visiting the Swamp the past two weekends.

The Gators have surged in his recruitment since head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and Co. after landing an offer during his visit back on Jan. 29. Co-offensive line coaches [autotag]Rob Sale[/autotag] and [autotag]Darnell Stapleton[/autotag] have led the charge for Florida in Lovett’s recruitment so far.

Alderman said he doesn’t believe Lovett will make a decision anytime soon, but dropped a prediction for him because of the number of visits he’s taken to the Gators.

A three-star offensive tackle may look uninspiring to Florida fans on paper but he is one of the top players within that 4.5-hour circle around Gainesville that Napier wants to lock down.

The Gators also need more talented offensive linemen after former offensive line coach [autotag]John Hevesy[/autotag] struggled to recruit the unit well.

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Blue-chip offensive lineman says Florida is at top of his recruiting list

The Gators are doing everything right when it comes to recruiting 4-star OL Payton Kirkland.

A week after naming the Gators in his top five, four-star offensive lineman [autotag]Payton Kirkland[/autotag] indicated that Florida was on top of his recruitment following a visit to the Swamp.

Kirkland got to Gainesville on March 24 and had a chance to meet with head coach Billy Napier and both offensive line coaches, [autotag]Rob Sale[/autotag] and [autotag]Darnell Stapleton[/autotag], according to 247Sports. After the trip, he said that Florida has stood out compared to the other schools still in the race.

“I’m still not sure but I really do feel like Florida is very much in contention as of right now,” Kirkland said. “They may be in the lead.”

Alabama, Miami, Michigan State and Oklahoma are the Gators’ competition, and Kirkland has a set decision date of July 23 along with two other Orlando-area recruits that Florida is targeting. The last recruiting staff at Florida had trouble landing big-name offensive linemen, so it’s encouraging to see Napier prioritizing in-state big men early.

The family-oriented approach that Napier has brought to UF is a big reason things are going so well with Kirkland. He’s looking for a mentor and someone to guide him, and his time with the coaches allowed him to see what Florida has to offer in that area.

“There are some coaches where once you mess up, they chew you out and wait for your next rep 15 minutes later,” he said. “(Stapleton and Sale) were like, ‘OK, do this, do this, do this, now give it another try.’”

Now the Gators will wait and see how the rest of Kirkland’s visits go. He plans to take official visits to each of his top five in June, so Florida should have one more go at him if that connection begins to waver in the coming weeks.

The 247Sports composite ranks Kirkland as the No. 203 overall recruit in the class of 2023 and the No. 18 offensive tackle. Regardless of those rankings, Napier and Co. are treating him like he’s the best lineman in the country. With the way that Florida is going after Kirkland, it will be hard for another team to eat into the Gators’ lead.

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This big-time 4-star OT plans to visit Florida next week

4-star offensive tackle Lucas Simmons sets multi-day visit for next weekend.

Florida has worked since mid-January to try and get four-star offensive tackle Lucas Simmons to the Swamp. After all that hard work put in by coach Billy Napier and staff, the No. 17-rated prospect at his position told Swamp247 that he has scheduled a multi-day visit to the Gators next week on March 15.

Offensive coordinator and offensive line coaches Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton have led the charge in Florida’s pursuit of Simmons so far. He said he likes how both coaches are down to earth and want to have conversations about other things besides football. For example, he’s from Sweden and his parents haven’t made the move across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States. Simmons said Sale and Stapleton always make sure to ask about his family back home. However, he is still in the process of getting to know the new coaching staff.

His visit that he set up for next week won’t be his first trip to see the Orange and Blue. Simmons has visited Florida on game days under the old coaching staff. He said the atmosphere in the Swamp is crazy.

After his visit to the Gators, he plans to head out west to see USC on March 26.

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Florida coaches visiting offensive line commit Thursday

Florida’s offensive line coaches are stopping by this commit’s school before he visits Auburn and Mississippi State.

The only Florida commit that didn’t sign during the early period was three-star offensive lineman Jalen Farmer. Offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Rob Sale will be making a trip to Covington, Georgia to visit Farmer on Thursday, according to 247Sports.

Sale will be joined by assistant offensive line coach Darnell Stapleton on the visit to Eastside High. Farmer previously met with head coach Billy Napier and strength coach Mark Hocke in December, and he was able to make it to Gainesville the weekend of Jan. 14.

While Farmer did hold off on signing, he’s one of the few commits who stuck with Florida through the coaching change. He committed to Dan Mullen on Sept. 10, but the new staff made a good impression on him quickly. Farmer’s high school coach said that he felt comfortable while visiting Florida and kept mentioning how cool the coaches were.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 325-pounder has looked at other options, though. He took an official visit to Kentucky in December and is set to visit Auburn and Mississippi State in the coming weeks. Losing the No. 34 ranked interior offensive lineman in the 2022 class isn’t something Napier wants right now, so stopping in before Farmer heads to another SEC school for the weekend makes sense.

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Gators bring on Darnell Stapleton as assistant offensive line coach

Florida’s newest assistant coach Darnell Stapleton blocked for Ben Roethlisberger in the Super Bowl over a decade ago.

Billy Napier continued to fill out his staff at Florida on Friday with the hiring of former Lousiana assistant coach Darnell Stapleton as an assistant offensive line coach.

Napier said that he’d have two offensive line coaches on his staff to manage a large group of players, and Stapleton is a familiar and proven name. After finishing his NFL career, Stapleton coached the offensive line at Bucknell for three years. He spent another three years at Sam Houston State in the same role before Napier brought him over to Lousiana.

Stapleton played collegiately at Rutgers before signing as an undrafted free agent with the Steelers in 2007. He stepped into the starting right guard spot four games into the 2008 season and won a Super Bowl with Pittsburgh that year.

In 2021, Stapleton’s unit blocked for Levi Lewis, who had 2,646 passing yards and threw for the third-most touchdowns (19) in the Sun Belt Conference. The running game produced 31 rushing touchdowns behind Stapleton’s line, which is good for 14th in the nation. The Ragin’ Cajuns were also top 25 in the nation in rushing yards this season.

Stapleton is the sixth assistant to join Napier’s staff at Florida. Patrick Toney (co-defensive coordinator/safeties), Jabbar Juluke (running backs), Ryan O’Hara (offensive analyst/quarterbacks) and Mark Hocke (strength and conditioning) joined earlier in the week, and Napier made a big splash by nabbing former LSU cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond.

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