The path to a resurrection of the glory days in the Swamp runs through Florida football’s recruiting efforts, which has become the focus of the program since [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] took over for [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag], the latter who took a lackadaisical approach when it came to bringing premiere prep talent to Gainesville.
But the endeavor involves more than just Napier — the first-year head coach also brought in an army of coaches and staffers with him to assist in making the University of Florida a premiere destination for aspiring football players once again. Among those now on the payroll are some of the best in the business when it comes to turning raw talent into top-level athletes.
The Athletic’s Manny Navarro took a look at how all the Sunshine State schools compare to each other in his most recent mailbag. Read below his response to one reader’s query regarding the best recruiter from each program who is not the head coach.
If you go by the 2023 recruiter rankings at 247Sports, Miami offensive line coach Alex Mirabal (No. 7), Florida co-defensive coordinator [autotag]Sean Spencer[/autotag] (No. 14) and Florida State receivers coach Ron Dugans (No. 27) ranked the highest last cycle.
Most insiders, though, would tell you Mario Cristobal anchors Miami’s recruiting efforts. I did a straw poll of beat writers, scouts and analysts, and all of them agreed Cristobal is the guy. When I pressed for names of Miami staffers, tight ends coach Stephen Field, running backs coach Kevin Smith, linebackers coach [autotag]Charlie Strong[/autotag], defensive backs coach Jahmile Addae, defensive analyst DeMarcus Van Dyke and Mirabal all received some love. But there was no clear-cut No. 1.
At Florida State, offensive coordinator Alex Atkins received the most love with veteran defensive line coach Odell Haggins and co-defensive coordinator [autotag]Randy Shannon[/autotag] getting a shout-out.
At Florida, it was defensive backs coach [autotag]Corey Raymond[/autotag] who was the overwhelming selection.
While the Hurricanes appear to have the upper hand in this survey of assistants including former Gators coach [autotag]Charlie Strong[/autotag], between Spencer and Raymond — especially considering that Cristobal is considered the alpha and omega of Miami’s recruiting efforts — it appears that the Gators likely have the upper hand in this one.
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