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Review of the 2021 Florida Gators Recruiting Class, Transfers, and Recent 5-star Recruits

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
The Florida Gators 2021 recruiting class is ranked #13 using traditional ranking services, or #8 using a composite ranking that accounts for the transfers.
  1. OLB Diwun Black 6-4 226. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College by way of Osceola High School, Kissimmee, Florida. Perkinson, Mississippi. 4-star. 8.2.2018 commitment. Did not academically qualify. JUCO transfer 2021.
  2. DE Tyreak Sapp 6-2 255. St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 4-star. 12.24.2018 Commitment.
  3. QB Carlos Del Rio. 6-3 202. McEarchen High School. Powder Springs, Georgia. 4-star. 7.26.2019 Commitment.
  4. DT Christopher Thomas 6-5 280. Dunbar High School. Fort Myers, Florida. 3-star. 9.23.2019 Commitment.
  5. OLB Chief Borders 6-3 231. McEachern High School. Powder Springs, Georgia. 4-star. 11.8.2019 Commitment.
  6. WR DaeJon Reynolds (6-2, 195, Loganville, GA. Grayson) 4-star. 2.3.21 Commitment.
  7. DE Justus Boone 6-5 250. Sumter High School. Sumter, South Carolina. 3-star. 2.26.2020 Commitment.
  8. TE Gage Wilcox 6-4 228. Jefferson High School. Tampa, Florida. 4-star. 2.28.2020 Commitment.
  9. TE Nick Elksnis 6-6 220. Episcopal High School. Jacksonville, Florida. 3-star. 3.7.2020 Commitment.
  10. OT Adrein Strickland 6-6 330. A. Crawford Mosley High School. Lynn Haven, Florida. 3-star. 5.12.2020 Commitment.
  11. QB Jalen Kitna 6-4 200. Burleson High School. Burleson, Texas. 3-star. 5.26.2020 Commitment.
  12. S Dakota Mitchell 6-0 184. Winter Park High School. Winter Park, Florida. 3-star. 6.18.2020 Commitment.
  13. CB Jordan Young 6-0 185 of Gaither High School. Tampa, Florida. 4-star. 6.21.2020 Commitment.
  14. S Donovan McMillon 6-2 194. Peters Township High School. Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. 3-star
    7.18.2020 Commitment.
  15. WR Markus Burke 6-3 180 of Trinity Christian Academy. Jacksonville, Florida, 4-star. 7.20.2020 Commitment.
  16. OC Jake Slaughter 6-4 300 of Ocala Trinity Catholic. Ocala, Florida. 3-star. 7.24.2020 Commitment.
  17. DT Desmond Watson 6-5 350 of Armwood High School. Seffner, Florida. 3-star. 7.30.2020 Commitment.
  18. CB Jason Marshall 6-2 180 of Palmetto High School. Miami, FL. 5-star. 8.8.2020 Commitment.
  19. S Corey Collier 6-2 170 of Palmetto High School. Miami, FL. 4-star. 8.10.2020 Commitment.
  20. WDE Jeremiah "Scooby" Williams 6-3 224, Ramsay, Birmingham, AL, 4-star. 10.26.2020 Commitment.
  21. OT Yousef Mugharbill 6-5 330 of Murphy High School, Murphy, NC. 4-star. 11.6.2020 Commitment.
  22. OT Austin Barner 6-7 300 of Trinity Christian Academy, Jacksonville, FL. 3-star. 12.17.2020 Signed NSD.
Transfers
  • RB Demarkus Bowman 5-10 190 of Clemson by way of Lakeland High School, Lakeland, FL. 5-star.
  • DT Daquan Newkirk 6-3 282 of Auburn University by way of The First Academy, Orlando, FL. 4-star.
  • DT Antonio Shelton 6-3 280 of Penn State University by way of Westerville North High School, Westerville, OH. 3-star.
Preferred Walk-on
  • LS/TE Rocco Underwood 6-4 220 of Lake Mary High School. Lake Mary, FL. 3*/5*. 7.24.2020. Commitment.
  • PK Jace Christmann 6-0 195 of Mississippi State University by way of Houston, TX.
  • WDE Dylan Meeks 6-2 235 of Akron University by way of Dr. Philips High School, Orlando, FL. 3-star.
Did not qualify
  • TE Arik Gilbert 6-5 253 of LSU by way of Marietta High School, Marietta, GA. 5-star.

This class will be the first to have at least three 5-star recruits since 2012 (and the first since 2009 to have 5-star athletes on offense and defense): CB Jason Marshall, TE Arik Gilbert, and RB Demarkus Bowman. Two of the transfers are ranked among the top-ten rated athletes in Gator recruiting history:

  • 1. 2010 WDE Ronald Powell (0.9999)
  • 2. 2000 QB Brock Berlin (0.9998)
  • 3. 2006 WR Percy Harvin (0.9990)
  • 4. 2013 CB Vernon Hargreaves III (0.9980)
  • 5. 2012 OT DJ Humphries (0.9980)
  • 6. 2015 OT Martez Ivey (0.9991)
  • 7. 2008 S Will Hill (0.9979)
  • 8. 2010 DT Dominque Easley (0.9978)
  • 9. 2009 OLB Jelani Jenkins (0.9972) (would have been tied with TE Arik Gilbert 2021)
  • 10. 2018 WR Justin Shorter (0.9962)
The Gator Nation will likely focus on the official ranking of this class being outside of the top ten. If we consider Dan Mullen's mastery of the transfer portal, and his mastery of JUCO transfers before there was a transfer portal, this class is ranked between #6 Oregon and #7 Texas A&M. The complete rankings:
  1. Alabama 327.91
  2. Ohio State 309.49
  3. Georgia 294.55
  4. LSU 291.37
  5. Clemson 291.20
  6. Oregon 287.38
  7. Texas A&M 285.35
  8. USC 280.72
  9. Notre Dame 269.15
  10. Michigan 268.77
  11. Oklahoma 267.92
  12. Miami (FL) 263.12
  13. Florida 261.62 (285.49 adjusted composite)
  14. North Carolina
  15. Wisconsin
  16. Tennessee
  17. Texas
  18. Ole Miss
  19. Maryland
  20. Nebraska
If the transfers were factored into this class, the Gators would be a few points behind Texas A&M. To help understand how the rankings work, assume each 5-star is worth about 10 points and each 4-star is worth about 5 points. This puts the Gators six 5-star athletes or twelve 4-star athletes behind #1 Alabama. Alabama is still three 5-star athletes ahead of Ohio State. Georgia, LSU, Clemson, Oregon, and Texas A&M are all within a few points of one another in the next tier. USC, Notre Dame, Michigan, Oklahoma, Miami (FL), and Florida are all in the next tier within a few points of one another, with Florida being the only one in this tier that actively replaced its entire National Signing Day with transfer portal athletes in order to round out a "top ten class". Granted, other universities are also adding transfer portal athletes, but only Florida and maybe Ohio State have been successful at replacing 5-star recruits out of high school with 5-star athletes from another major university--and only Florida has this many blue chip transfers.

Gator fans should watch the success of the following 5-star transfers before making a final judgement on Dan Mullen's recruiting strategy:
  • WR Justin Shorter 0.9962
  • RB Demarkus Bowman 0.9909
  • WDE Brenton Cox 0.9867
For reference, the highest rated 5-stars that Dan Mullen's staff has recruited without the transfer portal are 2020 DT Gervon Dexter (0.9946) and 2021 CB Jason Marshall (0.9856). Here are all the 5-stars recruited by the Gators over the past 20 years:
  • 2021 CB Jason Marshall (0.9856)
  • 2020 DT Gervon Dexter (0.9946)
  • 2020 RB Demarkus Bowman (0.9909)
  • 2019 N/A
  • 2018 N/A
  • 2018 WDE Brenton Cox (0.9867)
  • 2018 WR Justin Shorter (0.9962)
  • 2017 N/A
  • 2016 N/A
  • 2015 OT Martez Ivey (0.9991)
  • 2014 CB Teez Tabor (0.9925)
  • 2013 CB Vernon Hargreaves III (0.9980)
  • 2013 RB Kelvin Taylor (0.9897)
  • 2012 OT DJ Humphries (0.9980)
  • 2012 SDE Jonathan Bullard (0.9924)
  • 2012 WDE Dante Fowler (0.9842)
  • 2011 QB Jeff Driskel (0.9916)
  • 2010 WDE Ronald Powell (0.9999)
  • 2010 DT Dominque Easley (0.9978)
  • 2010 SDE Shariff Floyd (0.9970)
  • 2010 S Matt Elam (0.9924)
  • 2010 CB Josh Shaw (0.9867)
  • 2009 OLB Jelani Jenkins (0.9971)
  • 2009 DT Gary Brown (0.9935)
  • 2009 WR Andre Debose (0.9917)
  • 2009 OT Xavier Nixon (0.9892)
  • 2008 S Will Hill (0.9979)
  • 2008 DT Omar Hunter (0.9904)
  • 2007 SDE Carlos Dunlap (0.9935)
  • 2007 OT James Wilson (0.9896)
  • 2007 DT Torrey Davis (0.9878)
  • 2007 WR Deonte Thompson (0.9872)
  • 2007 QB Cam Newton (0.9850)
  • 2007 QB John Brantley (0.9842)
  • 2006 WR Percy Harvin (0.9990)
  • 2006 QB Tim Tebow (0.9919)
  • 2006 OG Carl Johnson (0.9887)
  • 2005 N/A
  • 2004 WDE Derrick Harvey (0.9956)
  • 2004 OLB Brandon Siler (0.9867)
  • 2003 WR Andre Calwell (0.9960)
  • 2003 QB Chris Leak (0.9940)
  • 2003 WDE Jarvis Moss (0.9928)
  • 2003 SDE Joe Cohen (0.9916)
  • 2003 CB Dee Web (0.9912)
  • 2003 WR Chad Jackson (0.9904)
  • 2002 RB Ciatrick Fason (0.9970)
  • 2001 N/A
  • 2000 QB Brock Berlin (0.9998)
  • 2000 WDE Darrell Lee (0.9940)
  • 2000 S Cory Bailey (0.9880)
In summary, the Gator Nation should be optimistic about Dan Mullen's ability to grab 5-stars from any source right now. Prior to Mullen's arrival, there was a sharp decline in the Gators' ability to attract 5-star talent. By being creative, it looks like Mullen found a way to attract 5-star athletes to Hogtown, and attack 3-star as walk-ons.
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
After further research, it appears that only Florida and FSU are leaning on the transfer portal to replace large numbers of commitments on the national signing days. Time will tell if this bold strategy pans out. Furthermore, it does appear that Mullen is attracting more talent to Gainesville from offense and defense than Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain. Here is where Mullen's recruits from his time as Florida offensive coordinator 2005-2008 and as head coach from 2018 to now:
  1. 2010 WDE Ronald Powell (0.9999)
  2. 2000 QB Brock Berlin (0.9998)
  3. 2015 OT Martez Ivey (0.9991)
  4. 2006 WR Percy Harvin (0.9990)
  5. 2013 CB Vernon Hargreaves III (0.9980)
  6. 2012 OT DJ Humphries (0.9980)
  7. 2015 OT Martez Ivey (0.9991)
  8. 2008 S Will Hill (0.9979)
  9. 2010 DT Dominque Easley (0.9978)
  10. 2020 TE Arik Gilbert (0.9972)
  11. 2009 OLB Jelani Jenkins (0.9972)
  12. 2018 WR Justin Shorter (0.9962)
  13. 2020 DT Gervon Dexter (0.9946)
  14. 2006 QB Tim Tebow (0.9919)
  15. 2009 WR Andre Debose (0.9917)
  16. 2011 QB Jeff Driskel (0.9916)
  17. 2003 SDE Joe Cohen (0.9916)
  18. 2003 CB Dee Web (0.9912)
  19. 2020 RB Demarkus Bowman (0.9909)
  20. 2003 WR Chad Jackson (0.9904)
  21. 2008 DT Omar Hunter (0.9904)
  22. 2013 RB Kelvin Taylor (0.9897)
  23. 2007 OT James Wilson (0.9896)
  24. 2009 OT Xavier Nixon (0.9892)
  25. 2006 OG Carl Johnson (0.9887)
  26. 2000 S Cory Bailey (0.9880)
  27. 2007 DT Torrey Davis (0.9878)
  28. 2007 WR Deonte Thompson (0.9872)
  29. 2018 WDE Brenton Cox (0.9867)
  30. 2010 CB Josh Shaw (0.9867)
  31. 2004 OLB Brandon Siler (0.9867)
  32. 2021 CB Jason Marshall (0.9856)
  33. 2007 QB Cam Newton (0.9850)
  34. 2012 WDE Dante Fowler (0.9842)
  35. 2007 QB John Brantley (0.9842)
Now look at the history of Gator recruiting going back to the end of Ron Zook's tenure. Although Zook did recruit well, he was not able to translate that to on-field success. Urban Meyer increased the in-state and overall blue-chip ratios by at least 5 points and was more consistent with bringing in 5-star talent on both sides of the ball. Meyer's last recruiting class at Florida was a masterpiece--the highest ranked class in history until 2021 Alabama. Will Muschamp was able to haul in blue chips athletes and 5-star athletes on defense, but the offense was largely 3-stars. Jim McElwain was horrible all around at recruiting, but he did strike gold on occasion. Under Muschamp and McElwain, the Gators lost a lot of ground in recruiting the state. Only now does it appear that Dan Mullen is turning that around using a mix of traditional recruiting and skillful hacking of the transfer portal. The interesting aspect of Mullen's recruiting is that he is bringing back Sunshine State talent that strayed elsewhere. This goes back to my main point: success at Florida does depend on making the Gators a national brand, but the staff needs to win the Sunshine State first. Mullen is beating out Kirby Smart with Florida kids and some Georgia kids, and is getting pretty good at grabbing in-state kids from Clemson and Georgia while pulling blue chip transfers out of Penn State and Ohio State.
  • 2021 Florida 14 total, 7 blue chips, 1 5-star (2 5-star transfer from Clemson 2020 and LSU 2020) #13
  • 2020 Florida 15 total, 9 blue chips, 1 5-star (1 5-star transfer from Penn State 2018) #9
  • 2019 Florida 15 total, 6 blue chips, 0 5-star (1 5-star transfer from Georgia 2018) #9
  • 2018 Florida 10 total, 6 blue chips, 0 5-star, #14
  • 2017 Florida 17 total, 8 blue chips, 0 5-star, #11
  • 2016 Florida 13 total, 4 blue chips, 0 5-star, #12
  • 2015 Florida 15 total, 4 blue chips, 2 5-star, #21
  • 2014 Florida 15 total, 5 blue chips, 0 in-state 5-stars, #9
  • 2013 Florida 18 total, 13 blue chips, 2 5-star, #3
  • 2012 Florida 11 total, 9 blue chips, 2 in-state 5-stars, #3
  • 2011 Florida 14 total, 8 blue chips, 1 5-star, #11
  • 2010 Florida 16 total, 11 blue chips, 1 in-state 5-star, #1
  • 2009 Florida 8 total, 6 blue chips, 2 in-state 5-star, #7
  • 2008 Florida 10 total, 8 blue chips, 0 in-state 5-star, #5
  • 2007 Florida 20 total, 12 blue chips, 4 5-star, #1
  • 2006 Florida 15 total, 11 blue chips, 1 in-state 5-star, #2
  • 2005 Florida 11 total, 7 blue chips, 0 5-star, #12
  • 2004 Florida 15 total, 9 blue chips, 1 5-star, #5
  • 2003 Florida 15 total, 7 blue chips, 2 in-state 5-star, #1
 

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
After further research, it appears that only Florida and FSU are leaning on the transfer portal to replace large numbers of commitments on the national signing days. Time will tell if this bold strategy pans out. Furthermore, it does appear that Mullen is attracting more talent to Gainesville from offense and defense than Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain. Here is where Mullen's recruits from his time as Florida offensive coordinator 2005-2008 and as head coach from 2018 to now:
  1. 2010 WDE Ronald Powell (0.9999)
  2. 2000 QB Brock Berlin (0.9998)
  3. 2015 OT Martez Ivey (0.9991)
  4. 2006 WR Percy Harvin (0.9990)
  5. 2013 CB Vernon Hargreaves III (0.9980)
  6. 2012 OT DJ Humphries (0.9980)
  7. 2015 OT Martez Ivey (0.9991)
  8. 2008 S Will Hill (0.9979)
  9. 2010 DT Dominque Easley (0.9978)
  10. 2020 TE Arik Gilbert (0.9972)
  11. 2009 OLB Jelani Jenkins (0.9972)
  12. 2018 WR Justin Shorter (0.9962)
  13. 2020 DT Gervon Dexter (0.9946)
  14. 2006 QB Tim Tebow (0.9919)
  15. 2009 WR Andre Debose (0.9917)
  16. 2011 QB Jeff Driskel (0.9916)
  17. 2003 SDE Joe Cohen (0.9916)
  18. 2003 CB Dee Web (0.9912)
  19. 2020 RB Demarkus Bowman (0.9909)
  20. 2003 WR Chad Jackson (0.9904)
  21. 2008 DT Omar Hunter (0.9904)
  22. 2013 RB Kelvin Taylor (0.9897)
  23. 2007 OT James Wilson (0.9896)
  24. 2009 OT Xavier Nixon (0.9892)
  25. 2006 OG Carl Johnson (0.9887)
  26. 2000 S Cory Bailey (0.9880)
  27. 2007 DT Torrey Davis (0.9878)
  28. 2007 WR Deonte Thompson (0.9872)
  29. 2018 WDE Brenton Cox (0.9867)
  30. 2010 CB Josh Shaw (0.9867)
  31. 2004 OLB Brandon Siler (0.9867)
  32. 2021 CB Jason Marshall (0.9856)
  33. 2007 QB Cam Newton (0.9850)
  34. 2012 WDE Dante Fowler (0.9842)
  35. 2007 QB John Brantley (0.9842)
Now look at the history of Gator recruiting going back to the end of Ron Zook's tenure. Although Zook did recruit well, he was not able to translate that to on-field success. Urban Meyer increased the in-state and overall blue-chip ratios by at least 5 points and was more consistent with bringing in 5-star talent on both sides of the ball. Meyer's last recruiting class at Florida was a masterpiece--the highest ranked class in history until 2021 Alabama. Will Muschamp was able to haul in blue chips athletes and 5-star athletes on defense, but the offense was largely 3-stars. Jim McElwain was horrible all around at recruiting, but he did strike gold on occasion. Under Muschamp and McElwain, the Gators lost a lot of ground in recruiting the state. Only now does it appear that Dan Mullen is turning that around using a mix of traditional recruiting and skillful hacking of the transfer portal. The interesting aspect of Mullen's recruiting is that he is bringing back Sunshine State talent that strayed elsewhere. This goes back to my main point: success at Florida does depend on making the Gators a national brand, but the staff needs to win the Sunshine State first. Mullen is beating out Kirby Smart with Florida kids and some Georgia kids, and is getting pretty good at grabbing in-state kids from Clemson and Georgia while pulling blue chip transfers out of Penn State and Ohio State.

  • 2021 Florida 14 total, 7 blue chips, 1 5-star (2 5-star transfer from Clemson 2020 and LSU 2020) #13
  • 2020 Florida 15 total, 9 blue chips, 1 5-star (1 5-star transfer from Penn State 2018) #9
  • 2019 Florida 15 total, 6 blue chips, 0 5-star (1 5-star transfer from Georgia 2018) #9
  • 2018 Florida 10 total, 6 blue chips, 0 5-star, #14
  • 2017 Florida 17 total, 8 blue chips, 0 5-star, #11
  • 2016 Florida 13 total, 4 blue chips, 0 5-star, #12
  • 2015 Florida 15 total, 4 blue chips, 2 5-star, #21
  • 2014 Florida 15 total, 5 blue chips, 0 in-state 5-stars, #9
  • 2013 Florida 18 total, 13 blue chips, 2 5-star, #3
  • 2012 Florida 11 total, 9 blue chips, 2 in-state 5-stars, #3
  • 2011 Florida 14 total, 8 blue chips, 1 5-star, #11
  • 2010 Florida 16 total, 11 blue chips, 1 in-state 5-star, #1
  • 2009 Florida 8 total, 6 blue chips, 2 in-state 5-star, #7
  • 2008 Florida 10 total, 8 blue chips, 0 in-state 5-star, #5
  • 2007 Florida 20 total, 12 blue chips, 4 5-star, #1
  • 2006 Florida 15 total, 11 blue chips, 1 in-state 5-star, #2
  • 2005 Florida 11 total, 7 blue chips, 0 5-star, #12
  • 2004 Florida 15 total, 9 blue chips, 1 5-star, #5
  • 2003 Florida 15 total, 7 blue chips, 2 in-state 5-star, #1
SOUNDS as encouraging as HELL!
Just hope the net results are all we continue to envision under Mullen (though with various conditional reservations of late, at least in some circles)...me, I’M torn between the stark, bottom line “staring-us-in-the-FACE” problems that keep cropping up (like, “what ABOUT that D?”, and/or “what to make of general player-attitude?”, as reflected in various aspects of the way our season turned radically south at the end—though one could argue that last is far from unique to UF!).
If these latter kinds of questions are anomalies, circumstantial to a series of existential crises affecting all aspects of personality, social interaction and institutional realities, all the potential GOOD you note may indeed bode WELL for our future after all.
Truth is, it’s hard to say. I continue to vascillate between hope and dread.
The coming year will spell the difference, show the way between “turning for home” and “plunging into darkness” after all, I think. Like for our nation and the larger world, one way or another,
QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED.
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
SOUNDS as encouraging as HELL!
Just hope the net results are all we continue to envision under Mullen (though with various conditional reservations of late, at least in some circles)...me, I’M torn between the stark, bottom line “staring-us-in-the-FACE” problems that keep cropping up (like, “what ABOUT that D?”, and/or “what to make of general player-attitude?”, as reflected in various aspects of the way our season turned radically south at the end—though one could argue that last is far from unique to UF!).
If these latter kinds of questions are anomalies, circumstantial to a series of existential crises affecting all aspects of personality, social interaction and institutional realities, all the potential GOOD you note may indeed bode WELL for our future after all.
Truth is, it’s hard to say. I continue to vascillate between hope and dread.
The coming year will spell the difference, show the way between “turning for home” and “plunging into darkness” after all, I think. Like for our nation and the larger world, one way or another,
QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED.

Note that my write-up might be seen as sunshine pumping, but my observations on Gator success have been the following:
  1. Win the recruiting battle in the Sunshine State and establish enduring pipelines to key high schools and coaching academies.
  2. Recruit for speed, talent, and character.
  3. Outpace opponents in current trends across the football landscape.
Recruiting
Dan Mullen is showing that although he is not better than Will Muschamp at recruiting, he is better than him and Jim McElwain at balancing all three of those success factors. He is following the plan that Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer found success with, but with a few twists.

Mullen does deserve some criticism for letting Manny Diaz out-recruit him for in-state talent in 2021, so it is fair to be critical if Mullen does not fix that in 2022. I doubt the transfer portal hack will work for more than a couple years, so now is the time to get into those critical high schools:
  • Miami Central
  • St Thomas Aquinas
  • Booker T. Washington
  • Armwood
  • Northwestern
  • Trinity Christian
  • Plant
  • Apopka
  • Manatee
  • Madison County
  • Cocoa
  • Carol City
  • Chaminade-Hollywoood
  • Lakeland
  • Columbus
  • University (Fort Lauderdale)
  • Bolles
  • Jefferson (Tampa)
  • IMG Academy
Speed, Talent, and Character
Under Dan Mullen discipline has improved on the field (fewer penalties) and off the field (fewer arrests, suspensions, and expulsions), and talent has not only improved from a recruiting perspective, but from a personal growth and improvement perspective. As fast as Kadarius Toney was, he would have always been compared to a raw, untamed talent like Percy Harvin if KT had not worked on route running on his own time (possibly with a personal trainer). Kyle Pitts was on the scout team with Kyle Trask until he made some gains in the gym and in training camp. One of the biggest frustrations with Gator athletes is that too many of them smoked pot or were arrested in the offseason rather than buckling down and refining their talent.

Outpace Opponents
I did an article a while back showing that the college recruiters who win those high schools tend to win the most 5-star athletes in the Sunshine State because that is where the athletes tend to win state championships, attend high profile camps:
  • All Eyes DB Camp
  • 6 Points
  • TB12 QB College
  • Elite 11
  • QB Epic
  • National Football Academies
  • Offensive-Defensive Football Camps
  • Football University
  • Manning Passing Academy
Alabama (and to some point, Georgia) has become better at recruiting some of the aforementioned high schools than Florida. Alabama has also been pulling Sunshine State kids from the same academies. Emory Jones, Anthony Richardson, and Carlos Del Rio have all spent time at those academies facing off against Mac Jones (Alabama), Carson Beck (Georgia), Brock Vandagriff (Georgia), Caleb Williams (Oklahoma), JJ McArthy (Michigan, via IMG Academy), Tyler Buchner (Notre Dame), Drake Maye (North Carolina), Kyle McChord (Ohio State), Miller Moss (USC), Dematrius Davis (Auburn), Kaidon Salter (Texas), Garrett Nussmeier (LSU), Christian Veilleux (Penn State), Ty Thompson (undecided) and others that we will start learning about. The new trend is that quarterbacks are spending offseasons at camps and with personal trainers, so they can arrive at campus QB camps focusing on implementing the playbook rather than working on fundamentals. This strategy worked wonders for both Kyle Trask and Da'riq King, especially during the COVID restrictions. It also worked for Feleipe Franks before COVID. Denny Thompson of 6 Points stated that he saw vast improvements in Carson Beck, Mac Jones, and Anthony Richardson at his camps. These are some of the fads that Florida needs to get ahead of so that Dan Mullen can quickly get to work hacking SEC defenses.
 

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Fact/bottom line remains: We won’t really have anything but “theory, analysis and supposition” until the 2021 season gets under way, right?
No blame in that: So it goes, so it has always been. I appreciate (and for now, find solace IN) your reasoning and supporting evidence, E—.
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
EDIT: The one knock against Mullen or the University of Florida at large is that academic requirements continue making recruiting a challenge. The problem with some JUCOs and transfers is that they tend to have lower grade point averages, so that will be a weakness for Mullen if he continues recruiting off the portal.

TE Arik Gilbert would have been the highest-ranked recruit to sign with Florida, but a mix of academic and personal issues has prevented him from signing with Florida.
 

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
EDIT: The one knock against Mullen or the University of Florida at large is that academic requirements continue making recruiting a challenge. The problem with some JUCOs and transfers is that they tend to have lower grade point averages, so that will be a weakness for Mullen if he continues recruiting off the portal.

TE Arik Gilbert would have been the highest-ranked recruit to sign with Florida, but a mix of academic and personal issues has prevented him from signing with Florida.
There’s another point worth considering here—even more of course on the part of potential scholarship athletes and their professional hopes and dreams, but in a better world MIGHT be given more priority by ALL young people at a similar crossroad, not to mention among those who are paid to evaluate them (admittedly as unlikely as EITHER is likely to suddenly be):
And that is the LIFE value attached not just to the quality of education you are embarking upon, but how including the striving for excellence IN ALL EFFORTS is a habit that pays enormous and widely applicable dividends.
“You can’t coach ‘speed’...” they say—or to a lesser extent a host of PHYSICAL attributes we could list that play into “God-given talent” and its impact on eventual potential and/or “recruitability”—but “SMARTS” definitely fits there as well, and perhaps it should be more a factor, in ALL its manifestations, in evaluating a young athlete’s possible future success.
Just saying: Maybe it is another unrealistic “pipe dream” in a world of “quick fix” and “shallow materialism”, but then again: no matter what, IT IS A FACTOR.
 

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