Mornhinweg commits to Florida, unofficially

[travisduncan]

Update: It's official now...here is what Mornhinweg said via Philly.com

"I had an opportunity to meet the players. They're a great group of guys, and I was incredibly impressed with coach Muschamp and coach Pease."

"I liked Penn State very much. It was a privilege to be recruited by Joe Paterno and Ron Vanderlinden. But I think there are going to be some dramatic changes there."

And his high school coach at St. Joseph's Prep, Gabe Infante, said this "Coach Pease wanted to handpick his quarterback, have a say in who his quarterback was going to be. He wanted Skyler to be his guy.

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Skyler Mornhinweg, the three-star rated quarterback from St. Joseph's in Philadelphia, has commited to the Gators according to Rivals and ESPN.

Mornhinweg has yet to make that official and previously was committed to the Penn State Nittany Lions.

According to reports Mornhinweg did not flip his commitment specifically because of the scandal at Penn State but rather because the school began recruiting another quarterback. He also was a commit at Stanford before Jim Harbaugh left for the pros. It seems there are enough people out there who think this student-athlete has a chance to excel at the highest levels of FBS.

Mornhinweg is expected to make his commitment to the Gators official sometime on or before National Signing Day Wednesday Feb. 1st.

Assuming the reports hold true, and there is no reason why they won't, the addition of Mornhinweg is huge on several levels.

It's big because first and foremost he is a student-athlete which could potentially become the starting quarterback at the University of Florida. It's a position with a strong history and the pressure that goes along with that.

The 6-foot-3 "dual-threat" QB isn't the highest rated QB but comes highly regarded if not for anything other than the fact that his dad is Marty Mornhinweg of Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator.

Secondly, he is the first recruit of offensive coordinator Brent Pease who has known the elder Mornhinweg for several years.

Thirdly, it adds pressure on sophomores Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel. It's no longer a two-man race to become the Gators quarterback in 2012 and beyond. Though some feel that Mornhinweg would be a longer term project and won't compete in 2012.

He is the 21st commitment of the 2012 Class. Stayed tuned and we'll have updates this week for National Signing Day.

 

[DRU2012]

It was time for some "clarity" here--thanks travis (...I don't know about anyone else, but this has struck me as a particularly grueling "recruiting homestretch" this time, and I'll be glad for it to END). Two points:
(1) I'm not sure why there has been so much "back and forth" on this, and it worries me sometimes, but as I understand it, and according to the proverbial "sources inside the Gator Athletic Department", Skyler Mornhinweg made a solid verbal commitment to come to the University of Florida about a WEEK ago now--and has more or less dropped out of sight as far as the public and the media are concerned to concentrate on school and the private practical matters of finishing his senior year of highschool.
(2) There are a number of reasons he is rated at only 4- and in some rating-assessments only a 3-star QB-prospect, experience, level-of-coaching-and-competition thus far, and some injuries and growing pains setting him back his late-junior and into early-senior seasons--but these have nothing to do with his natural athletic skills or "potential upside", both of which all agree are "off the scale". As he's gotten healthy and fit again, grown and filled out (something he'll continue to do--he's just 18) he ended up leading in virtually every statistical category at quarterback in the Philadelphia-area this past season. He'll benefit from time, work and patience, not to mention practice and coaching, just being around and going through all the routine experiences at this level.
Let's face it: it'd be a disaster if we need Mornhinweg to start ANY game this season, let alone the first game. We need those two sophomores to really step up, fight it out and one emerge the clear starter. After that, we'll see--you'd hope the other would stay and be ready to step in, come injury or poor performance, and/or to fight it out again NEXT year, but these days, well...Still, even under the most optimistic projection, don't expect to see Mornhinweg vying for that role until HIS sophomore year, maybe 2 years from now, at the earliest.

 

[DRU2012]

Just wanted to add a couple of things here...
My friend on the Gator coaching staff tells me Peace was really excited about this kid--he wanted to bring in another QB anyway, had a "short list" to go after, but always coveted Skyler most of all, just didn't hold out too much hope it could happen at such late, short notice, even with his long-standing relationship with his dad. Coach Muschamp just turned him loose to go and get one he believed in, that he would support his decision--but has come to be enamored of Mornhinweg's talent, potential and above all the "character intangibles" that he has more and more stressed in his overall approach to recruiting. The feeling is that they may well have lucked into their starter of 2 or 3 years hence.
Me, I just have a feeling about this one--like he's one of those kids that's going to get better and better, surpassing all expectations, even those within the program. Time will tell, of course...