• Welcome to Green Bay Packers NFL Football Forum & Community!
    Packer Forum is one of the largest online communities for the Green Bay Packers.

    You are currently viewing our community forums as a guest user.

    Sign Up or

    Having an account grants you additional privileges, such as creating and participating in discussions. Furthermore, we hide most of the ads once you register as a member! Furthermore, we hide most of the ads once you register as a member!

Florida Gators 2013 Recruiting Class

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
There IS one possible QUESTION still out there regarding changes and additions, but this one isn't to do with the recruiting-class per se, but rather whether or not the Receivers Coach will be "replaced", if that rather than "added" is the proper term...See, A graduate Assistant, Pease's young "protege, has been acting as the de facto "Receivers Coach" since Aubrey Hill had to leave suddenly (under somewhat "obscure and possibly tainted" circumstances early THIS season), carrying out the OCs basic design and orders while "learning-on-the-job" in the interim, the feeling being that this was preferable to rushing into some hire that little history, loyalty, or "fit"...The hope was/is that "the right guy" would become available as time went on, and that the current situation was better than a "bad hurried hire", and at the very least wouldn't make things worse. Judge andor blame as you will (or won't), but it sure LOOKS like Pease AND our receiving corps could use a little help--Hey, there's gonna be a LOT of work to do, no matter HOW you analyze it or apportion "blame". The "wallet"" is stuffed and open, the time is (almost) right and the need is there: Let's see who they bring in...
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
The following recruits were invited to the 2012 Florida Gator Annual Awards Banquet. As of the day of the banquet on 12/8, the Gators have 22 commitments. Two of those commitments have openly stated that they are still taking other visits. One of the commitments is a soft verbal. I would estimate that 19 of the commitments are solid, 3 are iffy, 2 from this list are near definite Gator leans, and 1 more from this list would yield a class of 25 with a couple that could fall off with last minute flips that might be balanced out by 2 flipping to Florida if Joker Phillips is successful.
  • DE Jason Hatcher (official visit, USCw commit)
    • The Gators would like to flip Hatcher and flip his close friend WR James Quick
  • LB Quentin Powell (committed, but is taking other visits)(later decommited)
  • QB Will Grier (committed to the 2014 class)
  • CB Duke Dawson (committed to the 2014 class)
  • WR Laquon Treadwell (uncommitted)
    • With the addition of WR coach and recruiter Joker Phillips, Laquon might flip to Florida after feeling slighted by earlier attempts to recruit him. This could be a test of Joker's recruiting prowess and could signify a different point of view on recruiting receivers, perhaps different from Brent Pease and DJ Durkin's approaches.
  • CB Mackensie Alexander (uncommitted)
    • With the addition of recruiter Joker Phillips, Mackensie might flip to Florida. This could be a test of Joker's recruiting prowess.
  • FB Kennard Swanson (working in academic qualification)
  • OT Trenton Brown (committed to the 2013 class as a transfer)
Additional recruits being targeted this month include:
  • 2014 target WR Artavis Scott
  • 2014 target LB Greg Miclisse
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
Another update:

LB Matt Rolin de-committed form South Carolina and committed to Florida as commitment #23. This game soon after LB Trenton Brown transferred over from Milledgeville Military Academy.

Editor's note: this is a complete surprise to me.
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
The Gators now have a full class of 25. There might be room for 3 more due to early enrollment.
 

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
(1) We are gonna have a KILLER-D for years to come. "Good-and-getting-better" next year, "great and relentless" from about mid-season on--and then THAT for who-knows-HOW-many-seasons?
(2) We are filling "needs" as well--and doing it in quiet-but-amazingly-efficient manner--picking off rivals' commits, AND (for eg.) grabbing that top-rated JUCO OL that a BUNCH of both SEC and Big 12 teams were after (he'll enroll come January--submitting papers on Monday--so that he won't even COUNT as part of this class, btw) to fill-out our class just rounds out what will be, even with some attrition--and again, the feeling is there'll be less this time than the last 2 years, AND our people are working like mad behind-the-scenes to both get as many as possible enrolled early, and "extras" they'll have to either fill THOSE spots OR "creatively juggle" if, "worse-comes-to-worst" and (oh darn) we get EVERYONE we have lined -up and "leaning", we should have either the #1 class , or close enough not-to-matter.
*(3) OK, WHAT ABOUT THIS "Oh, By The Way"-Game IN JANUARY? Don't look now, Gators, but we DO have ONE more game here this season--Those "OTHER guys" sure are aware of it, have a good coach and EVERYONE PICKING AGAINST THEM...We should know how THAT feels--and how it can motivate a decent team--and whatever else you think about the relative talents of these two teams, the strengths and weaknesses of each this season up 'til now, they ARE a "decent team", with a VERY good defensive coach and all KINDS of motivational edges. In relation to that, the one thing that really worries ME about this game is how the "EXPERTS", who I think, feel and SEE are wrong about EVERYTHING ELSE, it seems, are uniformly picking US not to just WIN but WIN BIG. It ISN'T just the emotional factors that worry me here, it is simply that singular observational one: I HATE that the same people who know so little and are clearly so wrong (imo) about everything else, are choosing NOW to line up uniformly in their sudden confidence at OUR dominance--something they have denigrated all season before THIS.
We SHOULD beat them--but we have "played down" to teams all season...Frankly, I like this team's play and hence their chances against a team that WE would have been more "jazzed" about meeting. This is sort of a "worst case scenario" for this Gator team, BCS-Bowl-wise: A team JUST good enough to give us a game, trust me, but NOT high enough-placed in terms of ranking OR image to excite ANYONE (least of all US)--except the OPPONENT THEMSELVES! Now we are DEPENDING on this Head Coach's passion, along with he and his staff's ability to rekindle the sense of pride, self-discipline and determination that carried them through this season, and will motivate them NOW to take NOTHING for granted, to care about finishing this season RIGHT. Approach this game like we know we could LOSE, as we did our toughest games before now, as we would have against the Oregon, KSU or even OU teams we expected to play, and we win this one going away--anything ELSE will mean trouble, unexpected difficulty and perhaps even EMBARRASSMENT: In case anyone hadn't noticed, we either show-up-to-play, or DON'T and have to SCRAMBLE to pull-it-out. Aside from our Head Coach and the various qualities he chose for and/or nurtured in the young men who play on this team, there is the pride and deep desire among them to "finish-what-they-started" REGARDLESS OF THE OPPONENT--bring that with them across-the-long-break and, even more than "getting healthy", will be how much difference it makes in the likely outcome--but until then NOTHING is guaranteed.
Look, I AM "the Voice of Doom", but that doesn't mean I'm necessarily wrong. We have just ONE MORE GATOR GAME to watch this season, and I for one would really LIKE to be able to sit back on the evening of January 2nd and ENJOY IT, the exclamation point of a fine season.
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
That is why I say there might be room for three more. I am not sure, but I think there are 80 players on scholarship now. We lose 14 seniors (not sure how many are on scholarship), and may lose another five or so juniors. Most schools lose 25 scholarship players per year to graduation, NFL draft, or miscellaneous transfer.

None of these commitments are legally binding, so I assume out of the 25 commitments we have before Christmas that we will lose 3-5 of them, then gain 1-2 more in January, then lose 1 more on signing day or after signing day due to grades. That puts us at 20 +/- 2 right now, the week after the winter banquet. We tend to learn a lot about the commitments this time of year. Historically, whatever our numbers are around Christmas will have a standard deviation of about 1.5 players from the average verbal commitment list. I think this year we will hit 25 on the nose one way or another. The recruiting class is still missing a playmaker receiver.
 

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
You think that none of these are "obvious" enough in their incoming ratings-and-reputations to rate the term "playmaker", I take it? Unlike Diggs or Algholar LAST year, huh? We have 4 really good-looking ones--3 of the to-varying-degrees "long, lean and flowingly FAST"-types, and 1 "smaller, fast and shifty/quick-trigger-elusive", all who have shown good moves and great hands at the last level. I'd LOVE to see us get just ONE 5-star-plus, can't-miss WR, but how many are even OUT there?...Considering that he could be promised a reasonably good chance of STARTING his freshman year for the Florida GATORS, tell me who this person IS that we have so far failed to identify and go AFTER? Is he OUT THERE? We SHOULD be all OVER him, if SO: He should be Joker's first, for now maybe his ONLY project the rest of this December and January. Really, I'd place its priority higher than our BOWL GAME for our new "Receivers Coach and Recruiting Coordinator"--wouldn't YOU?
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
This is the recruiting thread, and some of the coaches are out recruiting...so let us talk about recruiting. The NCAA limits FBS football teams to 85 scholarships, and Florida is close to that limit in 2012, with 81 players on scholarship. Florida has 14 seniors and redshirt seniors who will have exhausted their eligibility after the Sugar Bowl, the transfer of Jafar Mann, and three underclassmen on "walk-on scholarship"--Gilliam, Ferris, and T. Clark--who are not assured of renewal, because walk-on scholarships are not guaranteed into the next year. Walk-on scholarships are only there to help with the balancing act of scholarships, and are very expendable. That leaves Florida with 64 scholarships committed and 21 scholarships available before factoring in the attrition that will come from a variety of sources. And Florida has 25 committed recruits, meaning both that it will need four more scholarships to come open before NSD. The magic number is 25, plus the EEs that we can take from last year. This class has three wide receivers, but no tight ends. Overall, it looks as if next year's offense will be pretty good assuming we get all the commitments listed above. Remember that the pre-Christmas commitment list is early enough where players can change their minds.
 

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Escambia94,
You STILL haven't dropped us a name on that (mythical ?) 5-star (or WHATEVER) "playmaker" at WR we have so far either failed to identify or pursue...You put it out there, E-, and I'm with you, we NEED him, he's the "missing piece" that will TRULY put us "over-the-top" with this class--if you can just identify him, so we can try to figure why we're not already relentlessly going AFTER him!
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
The prevailing theories are that we are trying to flip a 5* wide receiver, James Clark or Demarcus Robinson. That would seal the deal on a top-3 class--a 5* WR to complement Ahmad Fulwood.

In other news Quentin Powell de-committed. He has been shaky for the past few weeks any way due to competition from other recruits.

Note that I have no emotional attachment to any recruit here--they are all high school kids that are free to come and go. These updates are just here to have something to talk about until the Sugar Bowl.
 

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Escambia94,
Hadn't heard yet about Powell...wasn't he one of EARLIEST commits? I tend to feel as you do, NOT to get attached emotionally to ANY of these kids, regardless, until they are OFFICIALLY Gators (though it DOES bother me when a "legacy" commit suddenly flips...). I get that this happens these days, especially when these kids start seeing competition where they had originally planned to go, 'cause they thought what? That we were so low-on-receivers and that once we had THEM, suddenly we wouldn't look for any more??? Pretty damn stupid AND self-centered, when you think about it--which they DON'T, being generally stupid spoiled little gits who, if they bail at even the IDEA of some competition, we shouldn't want 'em ANYWAY--and, I like to think, that is our Head Coach and staff's attitude TOO...
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
Escambia94,
Hadn't heard yet about Powell...wasn't he one of EARLIEST commits? I tend to feel as you do, NOT to get attached emotionally to ANY of these kids, regardless, until they are OFFICIALLY Gators (though it DOES bother me when a "legacy" commit suddenly flips...). I get that this happens these days, especially when these kids start seeing competition where they had originally planned to go, 'cause they thought what? That we were so low-on-receivers and that once we had THEM, suddenly we wouldn't look for any more??? Pretty damn stupid AND self-centered, when you think about it--which they DON'T, being generally stupid spoiled little gits who, if they bail at even the IDEA of some competition, we shouldn't want 'em ANYWAY--and, I like to think, that is our Head Coach and staff's attitude TOO...

Quinton Powell was commitment #6, right behind Kelvin Taylor. As I mentioned earlier, he was a little iffy on his commitment as time went on, for whatever reasons. The tipping point may have been the recruitment of Matt Rolin. Who cares why, really. He made his choice. This is just how the business goes.

I had a close friend whose son played basketball for Notre Dame, so I got watch a lot of this fairly closely. I was also friends with the family of Johnny Manziel, and watched how then-Texas DC Muschamp and current Texas co-OC Major Applewhite were recruiting Manziel and some other San Antonio-Kerrville-Floresville-Castroville kids. We just need to remember that they are kids, and that their parents and coaches are by no means professional agents. High school kids can be coerced into flipping by just about anything. They get jealous easily when another 4* or 5* player is being recruited. It is all part of the game.
 

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Interesting perspective and resulting insight, E-, specifically re Manziel and family (which I suspect--and maybe you can confirm or refute this--that whomever is responsible, the Texas staff, as they have done on an annual basis it seems the last 8 or 10 years, again whiffed on recognizing outstanding talent and hence never made the big effort that their stature and facilities put them in natural and advantageous position to win...even before Johnny Heisman there was Drew Breez, for eg. who played right here in Austin and was consciously passed over while guys on his team were courted, and a string of others who are either already in the NFL or currently starring at other mostly out-of-state schools.
Sharpest point of all--and I would find it fascinating to investigate this in closer detail--is the one you make at the end regarding "coercion", "flipping" and "jealousy when another 4* and 5* player is being recruited".
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
WR Demarcus Robinson just committed today! That is one of the studs we were looking for.
 

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
WR Demarcus Robinson just committed today! That is one of the studs we were looking for.
Just heard myself...BIG news, along "Ask, and thou shalt receive" (Choir goes "AHHH!"-kind-of-thing). No sh*t, E-, pretty close to what I was asking you about...
Now: Stay tuned for a couple more, well, if not "shockers", certainly "Alright!"s, that are developing at the end of the recruitment campaign, to be coming in the next few weeks...The work behind-the-scenes NOW is to make room for all the good ones we'll have and need every crack and loophole in the system to keep.
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
I just found out that Willie Bailey will transfer out. That opens up a scholarship. We have 8 or 9 EEs that count back towards 2012:
  • WR Darious Robinson
  • OT Trenton Brown
  • RB Kelvin Taylor
  • LB Daniel McMillian
  • S Marcel Harris
  • DT Darious Cummings
  • LB Matt Rolin
  • DE Joey Ivie
We had 22 in 2012, minus 7 EEs for a 2012 net class of 15. The NCAA authorizes 28 per recruiting class, but the SEC caps it at 25. This means that the most Florida can recruit this year is 25 for 2012 + 10 leftover from last year for a total of 35. Will Muschamp will not use up all 35, because he wants some EEs for next year. Even though as recently as a week ago we had a "full class" of 25 by SEC standards, we technically can recruit about 7-9 more because we have 8-9 EEs.
 

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
RE Bailey (and others, before and after):
Pretty interesting--and a strange turn-around ALL around!--that we get to actually be kind of happy (or at least "OK-with-it") rather than worried when a "decent recruit" from last season is announced to be transferring out after his freshman year. Of course, the reason for our relaxed, even reflective attitude is the REALLY cool part: We know that it makes room for a likely MUCH more talented prospect in the 2013 class. In this case, a freshman who never made the field, and (as we've learned the hidden meanings behind the wording of Coach's AND players' statements in such cases) is just not cutting it at this level, is now gone in a year where, as a result of the quantity-of-QUALITY already leaning or committed, we are already operating at the upper end of a limited number of slots for only the "best of the best at positions of need", and even THEN (as Escambia94, points out) hope to "save" a certain portion of the "EE-extras" for NEXT year--so that THIS move amounts to a "trade UP" that doesn't cost us one of those precious few left-at-the-top.
This is a process similar to the one that has (somewhat more haphazardly, but no less fortunately) occurred on our coaching staff, where we have been "lucky" to lose several coaches in various ways that, regardless of intent on the part of them or US, have opened up spots that have ended up in EACH case being filled by MUCH more apt individuals--in other words, like with players in the recruiting process, again and again, facing sudden losses of coaches at important positions, we have ended up replacing them in a timely manner with ones who are in each case a MUCH better "FIT"--in this way, again: a kind of "trade-up". More and more, it feels as if things are just "falling our way".
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
I just updated the commitment list after Jarrad Davis flipped from Auburn. I also realized that I forgot to include Tyler Moore, who announced his transfer from Nebraska back in September. As of today, some recruiting services have us ranked as #1, some at #3. Either way, the Gators have a top-three class with 26 commitments as of 12/15. Only Georgia and aTm have more recruits at 30 and 33, respectively. USC and Notre Dame have the most 4* and 5* athletes, so they have a higher recruiting ranking with fewer recruits--not that it matters much. The important thing is filling in capability gaps, and the Gators are filling in offensive line, defensive line, linebacking corps, and wide receiver.
 

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
I'm ALREADY getting excited about next season. Man, we are gonna be GOOD. CRAZY good.
 

Members online

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
20,339
Messages
90,513
Members
1,226
Latest member
GeorgeDuema
Top