Mullen’s first recruiting class looking good
Despite late start, Gators have lured talented group — with hope for more.
GAINESVILLE — Eventually, Dan Mullen will be judged on Saturdays by what happens on the field, on how he improves Florida’s offense and develops its quarterbacks. But for now, all he can do is win the offseason, and so far, so good.
Pumping energy back into the program by his sheer force of personality, upgrading the offseason strength and conditioning program and winning over fans with talk of getting the Gators back to the pinnacle of college football are all good ways to win over a fan base. The most important task of Mullen’s first two-plus months on the job, though, has been pulling together Florida’s recruiting class, a process that underwent a major reboot as previous commits backed out during the prolonged
coaching change.
That process wraps up today, as the Gators await some key final decisions on national signing day. But if fans were to objectively look at the challenge ahead of Mullen when he took the job in late November, probably even the most ambitious recruiting expectations at that time have been met.
■ Florida got its hopeful quarterback of the future, landing Emory Jones — a four-star prospect and the No. 5-ranked dual-threat QB in the class, according to the 247Sports composite.
■ Mullen also landed what he hopes will be two immediate impact playmakers at wide receiver: transfers Van Jefferson (Ole Miss) and Trevon Grimes (Ohio State), who are still waiting for NCAA waivers to play right away. He has another four-star WR committed in Justin Watkins.
■ In general, the Gators have restocked the offensive skill positions, also adding four-star running backs Dameon Pierce (the No. 8 RB in this class) and Iverson Clement (the No. 16 “athlete”), four-star tight end Kyle Pitts (the No. 5 TE in the class) and three-star tight end Dante Lang. Pierce, Clement and Pitts had committed to the previous staff, but Mullen kept them in the fold.
■ They’ve at the least boosted their numbers on the offensive line with threestar signees Noah Banks (a junior-college prospect) and Chris Bleich and three-star commit Griffin McDowell, while aggressively pursuing five-star prospect Nicholas Petit-Frere and four-star commit Richard Gouraige.
■ The Gators still need to close strong on the defensive side, but they started to address key needs at safety and outside linebacker with four-star prospects Amari Burney (either position), Trey Dean (S) and David Reese (OLB) and three-star prospect John Huggins (S).
■ And they added the No. 2-ranked kicker in this class, Evan McPherson, to replace standout Eddy Pineiro.
Compare that to the transitional class in 2015 after Jim McElwain was hired. The Gators ranked No. 21 on the 247Sports recruiting rankings that year.
If Florida is able to beat out Alabama, Florida State and Tennessee for four-star wide receiver Jacob Copeland (a top 70 national recruit on the 247Sports composite), keep Gouraige on board, maybe land four-star cornerback Noah Boykin and otherwise fill out this class with the ability to sign up to nine players today, this will really look like a success for the new coaching staff.