Florida aiming to keep recruiting class together

Florida football is at a dangerous crossroad heading into the final two weeks of the 2023 season.

Getting to a bowl game seems doubtful at this point given the new depths the Florida Gators defense sinks to each week. Florida surrendered a programrecord 701 yards on defense in its 52-35 loss to No. 15 LSU, as Jayden Daniels turned Death Valley into his personal playground by becoming the first FBS quarterback to pass for more than 350 yards and rush for more than 200 yards in the same game.

The loss of linebacker Shamar James, UF’s most consistent tackler and team leader, has been too much for UF’s defense to overcome.

At 5-5, Florida could find itself on a five-game losing streak to close the season unless it upsets either No. 11 Missouri on Saturday or No. 4 Florida State in The Swamp on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

What Florida coach Billy Napier has to sell at this point is hope, given the work he and his staff did over the summer to assemble one of the top recruiting classes in the country. But even that took a hit over the weekend. Florida lost four-star edge rusher Jamonta Waller, who flipped to Auburn, and four-star cornerback Wardell Mack, who flipped to Texas.

The de-commitments dropped Florida from No. 3 nationally to No. 4 nationally in the Class of 2024 rankings, per 247Sports composite.

“Losing the cornerback hurts more than the edge rusher, given the number of quality edge rushers that are out there and that they already have,” Florida recruiting analyst Larry Bluestein said. “Two good kids, obviously. You lost them to pretty good schools, though.”

There are rumblings other UF commitments could change their mind before National Signing Day on December 20.

That makes how Florida performs the final two weeks of the season a factor in keeping the class together.

There was a time when the allure of playing for a national title contender was a huge advantage in recruiting. But times have changed. There are more chances than ever to play on national television during the regular season. There’s also more playing time to be had at a struggling school rather than an established blueblood.

“You go to a school like Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, you’re gonna sit,” Bluestein said. “No matter how good you are, you’re gonna sit, because there are guys that are more experienced than you are that they are using because their objective is to win a national title.”

Another game-changer is Name, Image and Likeness, and the money it can provide athletes and their families.

“The crazy thing is it was never meant to be a quote-unquote recruiting tool, but it’s turned out to be the recruiting part of it,” Bluestein said.

Florida football coach Billy Napier remains bullish on direction of program

The Gators haven’t had the on-field success they were anticipating in year two. In fact, Florida could easily end up 5-7, worse than its 6-7 mark in 2022.

But Napier remains bullish on the direction of the program.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Napier said. “Look, I think you have to go into it — you develop a skill set. You’re equipped. These same things I’m talking about relative to our players, I can tell you I wouldn’t be up here without going through a lot of tough stuff to some degree.”