2025 NON Gator Recruiting thread

Were we ever really in it for him? And where do you think he goes?

 

Lsu recruiting is out of the park. Three 5* and getting a another 5* Saftey shortly.

 

247 class Rankings
2- Ala
3- Uga
4- Lsu
7- ATM
8- Okl
9- Miami
10- Tenn
14- Missouri
15-Aub
16-Texas
18 -Fsu
21- Ky
25- Ucf
57 - UF

 

Might keep Kelly around given this class. Me, I got the Tigers at 8 - 4 this year, including UF getting a bit of payback. Those Cajuns rival us with impatience.
20-7 under Kelly is not bad, certainly better than us, but I see a 3rd year dip. Lets see how they do without the best QB in the nation the last 2 years.
I don't see 10 wins for them this year.

 

Thanks EoW - Sure, not looking so great at the moment. Call me crazy but I think this recruiting cycle is about depth and upgrading positions with what we have. UF is stacked at DB and Wide Reciever and looking good at QB and running backs. My concern is offensive and defensive linemen. Of course the entire narrative now seems to be from the top recruits: "Get something done on the field this season and we will look again". Shane Matthews has stated over and over that it's about wins and losses and recruiting will take care of itself, and Gator Nation needs to relax about recruiting right now.

I don't mean to sound stupid, but I tend to agree. Time, money and emphasis must be about on field performance. Would I like to see UF at 16 commits right now, in the top 10? Of Course, but as we all know, this is the put up or shut up year. Napier got burned a bit last year, we were all high fivin and happy about a class in the top 5 and that got as high as #3 this time last year. No need to reiterate what ultimately happened. Hope Napier can stop the late season swoons in 24. Got to.
If he does, I see some pancake "flippin" back to the O & B this year.

 

These are really early results in the current recruiting environment, but still troubling. That being said, however, this is the problem of a (any) coach selling hopes and dreams and why "5-year plans" don't work in major college football. Eventually the top players are going to want to see actual tangible results before hitching their wagon to a program.

I hate it, but this really is a make or break year for Napier whether he can turn the corner because if recruiting falls off along with poor on field results, then the fat lady will be warming up to perform. For anyone thinking that he can weather those potential results by winning in 2026, we play the same SEC schedule as well as UM and FSU in reverse (H & A) as 2025.

 

I don't necessarily disagree Crusher, and the realities of College Football and the need to satisfy the immediate gratification crowd is intense.
As far as I know, everyone agrees this is the "hinge" season for Napier. Or the "quit talking and start walking crowd". I get it.

Hey, don't think for a second that if Vegas is correct and UF goes 4 - 8 and is near the bottom feeders of the SEC I will be pumping the Napier fist.

But I don't think it's all doom and gloom either. I see signs and potential for improvement. So do the pundits and quite a few in Gator Nation.
Of course the glaring issue that all the pundits are talking about right now is "The Schedule" and what constitutes "Improvement" W-L wise.

Seems from what I read on the board is 7-5 or 8-4 would keep the Gator Nation wolves at bay. For the sake or our sanity and the administration and the
current program, I hope he meets or exceeds that standard. I don't particularily like re-builds and all that entails.

But my position as a fan, this time of year, should be to emphasize the positive, support our boys, coaches and staff. At least give them a shot going
into August 31st. While history suggests a program like UF should show marked improvement in year 2 (Saban and Smart as examples), those guys had NOTHING like what Napier and UF has dealt with in his first two seasons, not even close. So I am willing to cut him some slack going into year 3.

All this speculation will come to an end Aug. 31st, and the pudding will come out either delicous or ...... NOT.

I'm just not ready to write this staff off just yet. Let it play out, we will know soon enough.

 

Liked your post but I don't see this as year three. Wasn't coach Napier hired two weeks before early signing day "year one". His first real recruiting class are sophomores and I consider that year two. Just the way I see it.

 

I believe Napier faces a evaluation at 2 specific points this coming season.The first 5 games and then if he passes that early evaluation after game 5, he'll then face a end of the season evaluation. I see a 4-1 or better record after the 1st five games and Napier is still in a coaches hot seat but safe until the end of the season. A 3-2 record after 5 games, can get Billy through until the end of the season but who those 2 loses (examlpe Miami and UCF) come too as well as how the Gators looked on the field will be determining factors. 3 losses............which includes a game 5 loss to UCF and Napier doesnt make it past the open date before the UGA game, my primary reason for that is recruiting. I just dont see how Napier sells hope to quality recruits, that is capable of over coming the building cresendo of negative recruiting Florida is already facing this cycle. To say nothing of holding the core foundation of talent on the team together at the conclusion of the season.

I can see a Florida 5-7 or 6-6 record at season's end, earnig Napier another season but he'll have to be either 4-1 or 3-2 after five games to see a potential scenario of reaching a of 5-7 or 6-6 record, with the team playing product presenting competitive football that sells hope for the future through the entirety of the season.

Just my own opinion, I see no reason why Florida isnt 5-0 after five games, and then finding another 2-3 wins with the remaining games it has. I see this as a 7-5 or 8-4 Gator team, the talent is there......the question is simply....is Napier capable of coaching this team to that type of season?

 

I think many of those late flips last year had more to do with Cash than losing. Nobody wants to be a loser for sure, but Cash talks. You can’t recruit in the top five without spending top five money

 

I think he meant to write: Dang, Alabama pulled my offer!!

 

To add to that last point, we should have had the recruits (and their families) from other states over in Gainesville for some made-up get-together on that last weekend of recruiting. We were doing nothing that weekend anyway because we didn't make a bowl game. We freaked around and found out the hard way. Let's see if we learned that lesson this year.

 

Something seems amiss. Were it a flip to auburn or lsu might seem like a move, but ucf? Bama currently has only 2 DB commits. Grades? But ucf probably as difficult to qualify as Bama.

 

If you play inferior competition in college conf, harder to make the league. The numbers and stats don’t lie.

 

The leader in sports news???? The kid's ESPN profile even has him from Gainesville, FL.

Four-star defensive end Xavier Griffin commits to USC
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound pass rusher is the No. 21 prospect in the ESPN Junior 300 and the third-ranked defensive end in the 2026 class, per ESPN rankings. Griffin, a standout talent from Gainesville, Florida, is the fourth-ranked recruit from the state of Florida in his class and picks the Trojans from a list of offers that includes Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Oregon, among others.

Xavier Griffin - Football Recruiting - Player Profiles - ESPN

https://247sports.com/player/xavier-griffin-46142592/