Maybe he's about to land a dozen elite recruits and these comments will look silly in hindsight, but the early trends are ones that should make Dawg fans smile (along with any other rival of UF).
So far, 18 of the 42 prospects in the state of Florida who are rated 4-5 stars have made public commitments. Only 1 of those players has chosen the Gators. The other 17 have all chosen to go elsewhere. Also, the state of Florida has 6 players rated 5 stars this year. 4 of them have made commitments already yet none have chosen the Gators and the remaining two certainly don't appear to be considering UF. Shavar Manuel is heavily leaning to FSU and considered by many to be a silent commit whereas Nick Bosa, brother of Joey Bosa, is considered a lock to Ohio State. So, it looks like they'll go 0-6 on the 5-star studs from their home state.
Also, Rivals did an article last week where they projected where each of the nation's top 20 recruits would land. None of them were projected to UF. Of UF's 7 early commitments so far, all 7 are from their home state, yet only 1 of them is rated 4 stars while the other 6 are all 3-star recruits. Clearly, they appear to be settling for everyone else's leftovers.
This follows a cycle where the state of Florida produced 54 players rated 4 stars or better and UF landed only 5 of them, including only 2 of their state's top 30. There were out-of-state schools that out-recruited the Gators in Florida last year.
Because their brand is so strong and their state is so loaded with talent, they will still sign a top 20 class regardless. But Jim McElwain's early recruiting trends have been a pretty big decline from the consistent string of top 5 classes they were accumulating under Spurrier, Zook, Meyer, and Muschamp, including multiple #1 classes. Heck, Muschamp landed a #8 class when he was rated the #1 coach on the hotseat. For 2 1/2 decades, recruiting was like shooting fish in a barrel at UF. Now, they are getting passed over left and right by the top talent in their own backyard.
I love it and hope it continues.
So far, 18 of the 42 prospects in the state of Florida who are rated 4-5 stars have made public commitments. Only 1 of those players has chosen the Gators. The other 17 have all chosen to go elsewhere. Also, the state of Florida has 6 players rated 5 stars this year. 4 of them have made commitments already yet none have chosen the Gators and the remaining two certainly don't appear to be considering UF. Shavar Manuel is heavily leaning to FSU and considered by many to be a silent commit whereas Nick Bosa, brother of Joey Bosa, is considered a lock to Ohio State. So, it looks like they'll go 0-6 on the 5-star studs from their home state.
Also, Rivals did an article last week where they projected where each of the nation's top 20 recruits would land. None of them were projected to UF. Of UF's 7 early commitments so far, all 7 are from their home state, yet only 1 of them is rated 4 stars while the other 6 are all 3-star recruits. Clearly, they appear to be settling for everyone else's leftovers.
This follows a cycle where the state of Florida produced 54 players rated 4 stars or better and UF landed only 5 of them, including only 2 of their state's top 30. There were out-of-state schools that out-recruited the Gators in Florida last year.
Because their brand is so strong and their state is so loaded with talent, they will still sign a top 20 class regardless. But Jim McElwain's early recruiting trends have been a pretty big decline from the consistent string of top 5 classes they were accumulating under Spurrier, Zook, Meyer, and Muschamp, including multiple #1 classes. Heck, Muschamp landed a #8 class when he was rated the #1 coach on the hotseat. For 2 1/2 decades, recruiting was like shooting fish in a barrel at UF. Now, they are getting passed over left and right by the top talent in their own backyard.
I love it and hope it continues.
