It seems like we really struggle getting early commits. We are way behind again as we were last year. I understood last year because of Napier’s uncertainty but why again this year? https://247sports.com/Season/2026-Football/RecruitRankings/?institutiongroup=highschool
I believe I saw a post from a recruiting analyst, follower, or whatever, that four guys were CB'd to us recently. Any commits are great, but would really like to see us loading up on the lines of scrimmage this cycle. 5 OL, 3 big DT types sound good to me.
Yeah, I think of it the same way I do STs. If STs are mediocre or in disarray, you will lose an additional(or unnecessary) two games a season. If your lines are suspect, or weak even, you'll lose another two(or more?). Feels like we are going to have, or likely will, great lines this season. But we need to restock.
Speaking of early commitments, what happened to Will Griffin's national ranking? He was ranked pretty high just a few months ago, now he's in the 220+ range? At least ESPN has him as the #70 overall rated player in the 2026 class. https://247sports.com/Player/will-griffin-46134943/ Will Griffin Quarterback: Pocket Passer Recruiting Profile - ESPN
Good question. He was definitely ranked in the 140 range last time I looked. He must have fallen after that last all-star camp.
Billy’s evaluation process takes a little longer. A little late on some kids. We had more position coaching staff turnover which hurts as well. Some programs have had coaches talking to these kids since 10th grade.
While it may make Gator Nation "squirm" not having 10 - 12 early commits, I'm not so sure that means much anymore, other than to make the fan base feel good when looking at the recruiting services rankings. Remember in the 23-24 cycle when UF had quite a few "early" commits and that disintegrated? Contrast that with what happened in the 24-25 cycle when Napier put together a rather amazing close and numerous "flips". Perhaps the staff has been significantly influenced by the results of the last two years. I have no clue what the real strategy is and I will acknowledge that the strong close UF put together probably had a lot to do with things. It is nice to see early commits, but if they don't stick, it really does not mean much. We shall see. I am encouraged by what Candy has posted, it looks like UF is emphasizing "Big Uglies" on both sides of the line this cycle (out of necessity). It would be great if the Gators tag a few big names on the offensive and defensive lines. I suspect how the season goes along will have a big effect on how the Gators close it out this cycle.
The counter argument to this is a lot of Alabama and Georgia’s early commits do stick. I think we have to change this to consistently recruit at an elite level.
I think it’s a bit early to say this with a ‘best’ record of 8-5 and a ‘best’ recruiting class rated favorably at 7th. We are all hoping he succeeds but he has a ways to go. Also, I’ve heard from others on here that NIL is just for name, likeness and appearance. If I just give money to buy players, isn’t that pay for play?
We have a large staff and the people behind the scenes have already identified, contacted, and created good will so that if a newer assistant visits, the groundwork has been done. Plus, we are not the only school that has lost Assistants. Napier, his core Assistants, and back office staff have been here for a while. Every JR/SR we would want should be well acquainted and trust our staff by now. Maybe a better than expected season will get us there.
True but that was because the in-game execution and win/loss was not good. True. Especially if we think we have a position filled, lose contact frequency with other recruits that didn't commit, then find ourselves scrambling to get a commit or flip. Yes, we had to. To some, we should have had at least one more big DT last cycle and for me, regardless of how stacked our OL is this season, needed a couple more last cycle.
What does the contract say on it? This isn’t that hard to understand. Unless you’re doing contracts on your own, you’d be giving money to the collective, which signs NIL contracts with the players. This contract will have no language regarding play. It will likely have language about where they live, being available to make appearances, possibly being enrolled in an unnamed school, maybe maintaining a certain gpa. If you setup a contract yourself and put language in it about play or performance, you’d be in violation of both state law (in FL) and ncaa rules.
Do you really believe the players are being paid to sign autographs and not being paid to perform on the field? That is pay for play as most people understand it. I think you are being naive and intentionally playing with semantics.
