Ad Disclosure
We’re inside of 24 hours until ink hits paper in college football, the most important day of the offseason in the SEC as touted prep seniors sign binding letters of intent. National Signing Day has become a February spectacle we’re all interested in as football fiends, one that breeds anticipation at every major program in the country.
Jim McElwain more than held his own with a 2015 recruiting class that was secured just two short months after he took over at Florida for Will Muschamp following the 2014 regular season.
It wasn’t a banner class, but McElwain wasn’t in front of the proverbial canvas painting the entire picture for the entire time leading into Signing Day last year.
Now, it’s a blank canvas for McElwain. It was his canvas — from the very start.
And after a stunning run to the SEC Championship Game last fall, McElwain looks to follow up a magical first season on the field with some magic off it. He is about to bring in his first full recruiting class at Florida, and all signs for Signing Day 2016 are pointing up.
McElwain might just have the man who could solve Florida’s quarterback nightmares from 2015 in four-star signal-caller Feleipe Franks, an in-state 6-5 pro-style QB from Crawfordville. Franks is one of 12 early enrollees, a list that includes Texas’ Kyle Trask, a three-star pro-style quarterback.
Franks is a gem in a class of headliners that was ranked sixth nationally and third in the SEC coming into Signing Day. Half of those dozen early enrollees are four-star talents, including two other in-state finds, cornerback Chauncey Gardner out of Cocoa and wide receiver Freddie Swain of Citra. Throw in four-star wideout Joshua Hammond of Hallandale, just north of Miami, and four-star running back Mark Thompson of Dodge City, Kansas, and McElwain is making sure he adds weapons to an offense that sorely lacked them last season.
Seven of UF’s early enrollees are from the Sunshine State, as are eight of the Gators’ 14 hard commits, so McElwain’s first full class in Gainesville will clearly be dominated by in-state talent. The four-star headliners among the hard commits are all on defense, including defensive end Antonneous Clayton of Vienna, Ga., defensive tackle Shavar Manuel of Brandenton, Fla., and linebacker Jeremiah Moon of Birmingham, Ala. So McElwain appears to have a nice mix of four-star firepower on both sides of the ball.
Interestingly, four of the Gators’ 26 total commits are from Alabama, including three defensive players. So it appears McElwain has done an effective job dipping into the state where two of his chief rivals reside, including the defending national champion.
The one thing missing from Florida’s talent haul, at least going into the big day, is a five-star player, according to 247Sports. Despite that, it looks like McElwain has painted a rosy picture on that first blank canvas in Gainesville.
FLORIDA 2016 RECRUITING CLASS
National rank: 6
SEC rank: 3
Commitments: 26
Commitments by rating: 9 four-stars, 17 three-stars
Top incoming offensive players: Four-star quarterback Feleipe Franks, four-star wide receiver Freddie Swain, four-star running back Mark Thompson, four-star wide receiver Joshua Hammond.
Top incoming defensive players: Four-star cornerback Chauncey Gardner, four-star defensive end Jordan Smith, four-star defensive end Antonneous Clayton, four-star defensive tackle Shavar Manuel, four-star linebacker Jeremiah Moon.
Primary remaining target: Five-star cornerback Kristian Fulton.
Landing Fulton, an out-of-state prize from Metairie, La., would be the proverbial cherry on the cake to what looks like an already solid class. Getting Fulton would also take him away from SEC rivals LSU and Arkansas.
The Gators were dealt a blow last week when five-star linebacker Lyndell Wilson of Montgomery, Ala., canceled his scheduled weekend visit. Wilson said the reason he called off the trip was a miscommunication between the UF coaching staff and his mother. Many thought Wilson would stay in state anyway and go to Alabama, but the Gators thought they had a fighting chance to get the country’s No. 15 prospect. Still, the fact that UF’s class as constituted ranks third in the SEC is telling to its depth and strength on both sides of the ball.
VERBAL COMMITS
- Antonneous Clayton, DE, four-star
- Shavar Manuel, DT, four-star
- Jeremiah Moon, LB, four-star
- Jeawon Taylor, S, three-star
- Rick Wells, WR, three-star
- Lamical Perine, RB, three-star
- Brett Heggie, OC, three-star
- Quincy Lenton, S, three-star
- Vosean Joseph, LB, three-star
- Aaron Robinson, CB, three-star
- Jachai Polite, DE, three-star
- Jawaan Taylor, OG, three-star
- Antonio Nelson, CB, three-star
- Christopher McWilliams, CB, three-star
CURRENT CLASS
- Chauncey Gardner, CB, four-star (early enrollee)
- Feleipe Franks, QB, four-star (early enrollee)
- Freddie Swain, WR, four-star (early enrollee)
- Mark Thompson, RB, four-star (early enrollee)
- Joshua Hammond, WR, four-star (early enrollee)
- Jordan Smith, DE, four-star (early enrollee)
- Dre Massey, WR, three-star (early enrollee)
- David Reese, LB, three-star (early enrollee)
- McArthur Burnett, APB, three-star (early enrollee)
- Stone Forsythe, OT, three-star (early enrollee)
- Eddy Pineiro, K, three-star (early enrollee)
- Kyle Trask, QB, three-star (early enrollee)
Editor’s note: Saturday Down South’s references to recruiting rankings are to the 247Sports.com industry composite ranking.
Cory Nightingale, a sports copy editor at the Miami Herald, lives for Saturdays. He especially enjoys the pageantry, tradition and history of SEC football.
