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.
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.
Watching Florida play last season it was clear that the Gators needed to get bigger, tougher and more athletic on the defensive line. So it is not a surprise to learn that Florida has added seven defensive lineman to its class of 2012.
The latest lineman to commit to Florida is Alex McCalister, a three-star defensive end from Clemmons (N.C.) West Forsyth. McCalister is the 20th member of Florida’s class of 2012.
University of Florida added two more verbal commitments and interestingly one is for 2013.
Committing to Florida for 2012 is defensive end Bryan Cox Jr, a three-star recruit from Fort Lauderdale.
The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder, who could also play Florida’s buck position, is the 19th commitment for the 2012 class. He is the son of former Miami Dolphins outside linebacker Bryan Cox, who worked alongside Quinn in 2007 with the New York Jets. The two have maintained a close relationship since and have a “brotherly bond,” according to Cox Jr.
This is a really big weekend in the Will Muschamp era at Florida as a three elite prospects highlight a group of 10 recruits coming for an official visit.
Wide receiver Stefon Diggs, cornerback Tracy Howard and defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. are all considered blue-chip recruits and play at positions of need for UF.
“This weekend is huge for Florida,” said 247Sports national recruiting analyst Barton Simmons. “The class is great as it is. It’s a top-five group right now, but it can become a very strong group, particularly at the receiver position. That’s a position of need and the one thing that really must be added on to. Stefon Diggs is a big piece to that puzzle.”
According to ESPN recruiting, defending champions Alabama tops the list nationally with Florida ranked No. 4 nationally and Georgia No. 5. Florida has eight ESPNU 150 prospects committed, Alabama has twelve and Georgia has five.
The Crimson Tide, Gators and Bulldogs are the only three SEC teams in the top 10 nationally. Texas A&M was previously No. 9, but tumbled in these latest rankings to No. 12.
South Carolina is No. 14 and making a push for its third top 15 class in the past four years.
Less than a month ago, I wrote how Florida had landed Lineman Visesio “Junior” Salt, one of the top recruits in the country. So I am shocked to hear that Salt has decommited to Florida and instead will attend Utah.
It seems that at some point during the Christmas holiday, Salt looked at a map and realized how far Florida was from the west coast.
According to Gator Country’s Andrew Spivey Salt said of his decision to go to school in Utah and not Florida was purely a distance thing:
Big signing for Florida football today as defensive end Jonathan Bullard announced at the 2012 U.S. Army All-American Bowl that he will be a Gator next year.
“I will be attending the University of Florida,” Bullard said. “QUOTE.”
Bullards is a bit light at the moment (6-foot-4, 240-pounds), but had a terrific senior season with 16 sacks and over 80 tackles.
“He shows the speed, strength, quickness, burst, and determination needed to become an impact DE at the next level,” analyst Tom Lemming said. “This guy dominates from his DE position, has an exceptionally quick first step, and is as explosive as they come. A quick twitch athlete with a great motor, he’s highly competitive and relentless when in pursuit. He is a pass rusher who will not stay blocked.”
