Ad Disclosure
Florida’s Jim McElwain set to bring the SEC East’s top-ranked recruiting class
By John Hollis
Published:
Playmakers on offense are just Jim McElwain needed most, and that’s just the Florida football coach is poised to get when National Signing Day arrives Wednesday.
After limping into the offseason with three consecutive losses, including a 41-7 beatdown at the hands of Michigan in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, it became painfully clear that the Gators needed major upgrades on offense, especially at quarterback.
McElwain, who earned SEC Coach of the Year accolades after leading UF to the SEC Championship Game for the first time since 2009, and his staff haven’t wasted a moment since in addressing those glaring deficiencies, while adding quality depth at a number of other positions.
With National Signing Day upon us, the Gators already have 25 commitments, 12 of whom are enrolled and will be eligible to participate in Spring Practice and more likely to contribute this fall.
Quarterback Feleipe Franks, a former LSU commitment, is the most high-profile quarterback to decide to call Gainesville home for the next few years, but he’ll be joined by a number of other heralded recruits that figure to entail the highest-rated recruiting class in the SEC East and the seventh-best nationally, one spot ahead of rival Georgia.
LSU boasts the nation’s top recruiting class, according to the latest 247 Sports assessment. Ole Miss and Alabama are fourth and fifth, respectively.
Vienna (Ga.) High defensive end Antonneous Clayton is McElwain’s highest-ranked recruit at No. 26 nationally, according to 247 Sports, but he is just one of the nine four-star recruits set to be a part of the latest Florida recruiting haul.
Franks figures to contend for the starting quarterback job along with incumbent Treon Harris, transfers Luke Del Rio and Austin Appleby and fellow freshman Kyle Trask.
The Gators missed out on a number of potential five-star gets, most recently when Carver (Ala.) High School linebacker Lyndell “Mack” Wilson backed out of a planned official visit last weekend at the last minute. McElwain and his staff, however, are still in the mix for other blue-chip prospects, including four-star wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland, the Houston commitment they hope to flip.
But McElwain might have scored his biggest get with the signing of kicker Eddy Pineiro. He’s shown the ability to hit from 70 yards out, although he’s never kicked in an actual game. He still figures to be an improvement from the dreadful kicking game that plagued the Gators last fall.
Both Franks and Pineiro are enrolled and figure to get every opportunity to be in the mix this fall.
Other soon-to-be Gators who could figure prominently this coming season include Cocoa (Fla.) High cornerback Chauncey Gardner, Lithonia (Ga.) High defensive end Jordan Smith, North Marion (Fla.) High wide receiver Freddie Swain, and former junior college running back Mark Thompson.
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
