Coach Muschamp spoke to media yesterday at the end of National Signing Day and here are some of the things he had to say about this recruiting class:
Will Muschamp’s first real class at Florida is now in the books, as 23 high school seniors signed their National Letters of Intent to join the football program today.
By all accounts this is very good group of players that Muschamp and his staff have recruited. Scout.com says the Gators have the fifth best class nationally. Scout.com’s top five are Texas, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan and Florida.
Rivals.com, has the Gators ranked third nationally. Rivals.com’s top five are Alabama, Texas, Florida, Ohio State and Stanford. ESPN.com ranks UF’s class fourth in the country. ESPN.com’s top five are Alabama, Florida State, Texas, Florida and Georgia.
To win some and you lose some on national signing day, and that is certainly the case for the University of Florida today.
Earlier I wrote that five-star defensive end Dante Fowler Jr had picked Florida over Florida State, but those good feelings soon dissipated with the news that that Lane Kiffin and his USC Trojans had nabbed two top Florida prospects from the Gators when No. 5 defensive tackle Leonard Williams (Daytona Beach, Fla./Mainland) and No. 6 wide receiver Nelson Agholor (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley) both signed with USC. Each was thought to have Florida and USC as their final two schools.
Good start to national signing day with the news that five-star defensive end Dante Fowler Jr had picked Florida over Florida State.
Fowler Jr. had been committed to Florida State but Will Muschamp and his staff were able to flip him.
According to ESPN, Fowler who is 6’3″, 236lbs is “an athletic defensive end prospect with the tools to be a productive pass rusher. He has good size. He will need to work to add more good bulk and improve strength, but is a kid that is pretty well put together”.
Philadelphia quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg has been a Penn State commit since last July, but on Friday that changed when a source told GatorCountry.com he became the 21st commitment in the Gators’ 2012 recruiting class.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound quarterback became interested in Florida after the hiring of Gators offensive coordinator Brent Pease.
Pease and Mornhinweg’s father, Marty Mornhinweg who is the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive coordinator, played college football together at Montana and that connection allowed Pease to come in late and snag the commitment of Mornhinweg.
While all eyes are on Florida’s 2012 recruiting class, Will Muschamp this weekend landed his second 2013 recruit as defensive tackle Caleb Brantley became the second verbal commitment for the Florida Gators’ Class of 2013.
The 6-foot-3, 285-pounder pulled the trigger on his pledge after the first of UF’s two junior days on Saturday. Brantley could not wait to accept Florida’s offer saying:
“I love Florida,” Brantley said. “My whole family has been Gator fans, and since I was little, I was, too.”
Brantley joins running back Adam Lane, who committed to Muschamp during an unofficial visit to Gainesville last Saturday.
After a phenomenal victory over #18 ranked Mississippi State, the Florida Gators complete a tremendous three-day sweep over two ranked opponents. Led by Brad Beal’s 19-points, the Gators defeated the Bulldogs 69-57. This caps off a five-game winning streak for the Gators and keep them in contention for the SEC title behind Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
Check out Coach Billy Donovan’s post-game thoughts by clicking here.
After a come-from-behind victory against Ole Miss on Thursday Night, the Gators basketball team had another key challenge to face that night – travel.
When their plan was delayed over 45 minutes while the flight crew attempted to contact Memphis air control, Billy Donovan and the #14 ranked Gators finally made it home to Gainesville at 1:30am Friday night. Now, the attention must focus on Saturday afternoon’s matchup at home when the Gators host #18 Mississippi State.
Despite the travel delays, Donovan and his team held their regularly scheduled practice on Friday afternoon. However, Donovan does not think that any of this is a bad thing.
Coach Will Muschamp and his staff have been working hard to pull in some of the top recruits throughout the state of Florida this offseason. Unfortunately, with the departure of Urban Meyer and most of his staff, recruiting efforts have to rebuild connections with the local Florida high schools and it is not a quick turnaround process.
The current Gator roster has roughly 60 returning players and the team just came off of a 7-6 record. Gator Fans across the state of Florida were less than pleased with the 2011 finish except that it came with a bowl victory over Ohio State – Urban Meyer’s new team.
