The National Signing Day Thread

[Marianna-FL_Gator]

Just read in the Louisiana paper that the early signing date is in effect for the 2018 class. Is that correct? LOI day may be in December rather than February.

Yes

 

[Marianna-FL_Gator]

The Florida Gators are searching for a second running back to join commit Iverson Clement in the 2018 class. Right now, Dameon Pierce (5-11, 205, Bainbridge, Ga., Bainbridge) is priority number one.

“They say I’m perfect,” said Pierce. “I’m the guy they want.”

The No. 9 running back in the nation visited Florida for the second time this weekend for Friday Night Lights, and while he didn’t compete in the camp, he got just what he wanted out of his visit—more time with running backs coach JuJuan Seider.
wasn’t different at all,” he said. “You know, same old same old. Me and Coach Seider kicked it all day. Also, I got to see him coach a little, just got more acquainted with him.”

Since he wasn’t working out, he got a chance to follow Seider around the whole night and study him while he coached. Anyone who watched Seider from the sidelines on Friday could feel the passion oozing out of him, including Pierce.

“He’s passionate about it,” Pierce said. “When a player’s got passion, the coach has got passion, those two together can make great things.”

Seider wasn’t the only one who impressed Pierce on his visit, he felt that same passion coming from the entire staff.

"It’s an awesome coaching staff,” he said. “You now they love their players and they’re passionate about the game. They’re passionate, man.”

Pierce even observed a great vibe from current Gators players at camp. There were players roaming the field and helping coach at camp all night, which stood out to him as something special.

“You know if they’re up there, the coaches are doing something right,” said Pierce. “They’ve gotta love their coaches. Most players wouldn’t be up there, but it takes a special coach to have players out there on the field incorporating them into the whole camp, and just seeing it was a great thing.”

Pierce is buying the message the Gators are selling, and he can see himself fitting in perfectly in Florida’s offense.

“I think I’d be a great fit,” he said. “Most of the schools I’m talking about, if I’m talking to them, I see myself there. Florida’s one of those schools.”

As of right now, there are four other schools on that list with Florida, including Alabama, the school he decommitted from back in May.

“Top five right now would be Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn and Florida State,” said Pierce. “Those are all the schools I’m talking to right now.”

While all five schools are recruiting him hard and he has interest in all of them, he was willing to boost Florida into the top tier of that list after his visit
Pierce even observed a great vibe from current Gators players at camp. There were players roaming the field and helping coach at camp all night, which stood out to him as something special.

“You know if they’re up there, the coaches are doing something right,” said Pierce. “They’ve gotta love their coaches. Most players wouldn’t be up there, but it takes a special coach to have players out there on the field incorporating them into the whole camp, and just seeing it was a great thing.”

Pierce is buying the message the Gators are selling, and he can see himself fitting in perfectly in Florida’s offense.

“I think I’d be a great fit,” he said. “Most of the schools I’m talking about, if I’m talking to them, I see myself there. Florida’s one of those schools.”

As of right now, there are four other schools on that list with Florida, including Alabama, the school he decommitted from back in May.

“Top five right now would be Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn and Florida State,” said Pierce. “Those are all the schools I’m talking to right now.”

While all five schools are recruiting him hard and he has interest in all of them, he was willing to boost Florida into the top tier of that list after his visit. The Gators continued to stay on him even during his commitment to Alabama, and that is something that set them apart.

“Top three at least,” Pierce said. “At least top three.”

Pierce said he is not in a hurry at all to make a decision, but he is not against committing to a school if the feeling is right.

“Whenever I feel like it,” he said. “If I feel I need to commit, I’ll commit. No doubt about it.”

Following his high school season, Pierce plans to make visits to all of the schools mentioned above. Those visits will be a key in his decision.

He is on track to early enroll at whichever school he chooses, but it will depend on if he commits in that time frame or not. Pierce wants to be sure his decision is right this time, so until that time comes, he is willing to wait it out, but Florida gave him a lot to think about after this weekend.

http://www.gatorcountry.com/feature...c&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork

We need this dude...he's a downhill power back

 

[GatorJ]

Matt Corral commitment more proof that Jim McElwain is an elite recruiter

https://www.seccountry.com/florida/matt-corral-jim-mcelwain-recruiting-florida

And the commitment came during McElwain’s biggest recruiting weekend, one in which he had 11 top-200 prospects on campus for Florida’s annual Friday Night Lights recruiting showcase. The Gators received seven commitments over the prior four days — five from the Class of 2018 and two for the Class of 2019. Florida’s 2018 recruiting class, in turn, skyrocketed from 40th in the country to 12th in the 247Sports composite rankings. They went from the eighth-best class in the SEC to third, behind just Tennessee (fifth) and LSU (sixth). Alabama, for the moment, is 45th nationally and 11th in the SEC.

McElwain has done this before.

When he was hired as Florida coach in December 2014, he had less than two months to make sure the Gators’ recruiting class stayed intact and attempt to haul in a few big-name players at the finish.


In that time, McElwain lifted the recruiting class from as low as 96th to 21st in the country. Fifteen of UF’s 22 recruits in that class committed in the final two weeks. Seven of those 15 — including offensive lineman Martez Ivey, defensive end CeCe Jefferson and wide receiver Antonio Callaway — committed on signing day.

His next two recruiting classes finished 12th in 2016 and 10th in 2017, with the latter moving up in the national rankings thanks to the 11th-hour signings of some top prospects — T.J. Slaton, James Robinson, and C.J. Henderson among others.

Now, McElwain and his coaching staff is ready to do it again.

The Gators have set themselves up well in the recruiting circle with more than sixth months to go until signing day.

And yet they are still targeting a slew of top prospects that could only continue to push the class higher up the rankings. Among them:

• 4-star wide receiver Jacob Copeland, the No. 9 receiver in the class.
• 4-star wide receiver Anthony Schwartz, the No. 29 receiver in the class.
• 4-star running back Dameon Pierce, the No. 9 running back in the class.
• 4-star offensive lineman Richard Gouraige, the No. 10 offensive tackle in the class.
• 4-star offensive lineman William Barnes, the No. 5 offensive tackle in the class.
• 5-star defensive end Micah Parsons, the No. 1 weakside defensive end and No. 5 overall prospect in the class.
• 4-star linebacker Channing Tindall, the No. 6 outside linebacker in the class.
• 4-star safety Tyreke Johnson, the No. 4 safety in the class.
• 4-star safety Amari Burney, the No. 11 safety in the class.

The list keeps going.


And with the Gators landing their star quarterback for the class, the snowball effect should be in motion on offense.

In one sense, it already is.

One day after Corral committed, 4-star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase announced his commitment to Florida. Copeland, a top-100 prospect who has been high on the Gators for some time now, said at Friday Night Lights that he plans to move up his commitment date. Schwartz, one of the fastest receivers in the class, named Florida as one of his top-6 schools on Sunday night.

Coincidence? Possibly.

But finally having a quarterback to build a recruiting class around certainly helps. Now, McElwain can turn his focus to the rest of the class.

Amari is already a commit. I assume that this comes from the Bowl.

 

[T REX]

Mac is an elite recruiter? I bet the pumpers won't even say that. Hell, Corral recruited us. It was UGA and UF...and they already have two 5 stars. Yes, thank god Mac closed the deal. Steak and lobster baby! I am thankful.

 

[BMF]

Mac is an elite recruiter? I bet the pumpers won't even say that. Hell, Corral recruited us. It was UGA and UF...and they already have two 5 stars. Yes, thank god Mac closed the deal. Steak and lobster baby! I am thankful.

I agree, if he was an "elite" recruiter we'd already have a 5-star QB (like Smart got his first year)....I think that article is jumping the shark (no pun intended, Sorry Mac!!). But if he keeps up this last week he's on his way there. I'm happy to see some spark and UF being "talked about" again!

 

[Sundaysunday]

We get you're not comparing an SEC title and a National championship to two East division titles.

It's not interesting either though bud.

The difference is that Meyer didn't inherit the turd sandwich Mac did. Not saying Mac will win a championship but worse coaches have.

 

[URGatorBait]

Mac is an elite recruiter? I bet the pumpers won't even say that. Hell, Corral recruited us. It was UGA and UF...and they already have two 5 stars. Yes, thank god Mac closed the deal. Steak and lobster baby! I am thankful.

I heard it was Hungry Howies that sold Matty Ice ;)

 

[T REX]

The difference is that Meyer didn't inherit the turd sandwich Mac did. Not saying Mac will win a championship but worse coaches have.

15 NFL draft picks is a turd sandwich or is that excusing away the blowouts to FSU and Bammer?

 

[T REX]

I heard it was Hungry Howies that sold Matty Ice ;)

Everyone has flavored crust these days.

 

[URGatorBait]

Everyone has flavored crust these days.

 

[Sundaysunday]

15 NFL draft picks is a turd sandwich or is that excusing away the blowouts to FSU and Bammer?

No excuses for the ass kickings we have taken but there is a desparity in talent from the teams you listed above and the UF program Mac inherited. Are you trying to say that Bama or FSU only has talent on one side of the ball? I'm pretty sure you realize those teams are stacked on both sides of the ball and to have real success you can't be a one trick pony.

 

[Marine1]

It's getting a bit awkward for some of these negative folks. Future is bright.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

It's getting a bit awkward for some of these negative folks. Future is bright.

What will be a bit ackward is when Nuuschump rolls out his fourth straight 100 plus offense.

 

[Sundaysunday]

What will be a bit ackward is when Nuuschump rolls out his fourth straight 100 plus offense.

I really hope you're wrong.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

I really hope you're wrong.

I do too, but Ive seen no evidence that he has the talent to do otherwise

 

[Gator2222]

Most of the dumpers won't acknowledge the true shape of the program when Mac arrived because it doesn't fit the narrative.

The truth is that when Muschamp finally walked away he left scorched earth behind him.

He left wide receivers that did not have a position coach in two of the years under the tyranny of Muschamp. Without a coach the wide receivers never developed and were infamously caught blocking each other. Muschamp left a dearth of OL and the ones still standing weren't good enough to beat out incoming freshmen. The QB position had become nationally known as a black hole that swallowed up highly touted recruits.

Muschamp had realized his life long goal and had utterly destroyed an offense. No high school senior or junior in their right mind wanted to go play offense at the University of Florida. The flagship university in the most talent rich state could no longer recruit itself. In fact, it was just the opposite. It was toxic.

This is the truth of what Mac inherited. The situation was vastly different at Georgia and other places. The dumpers won't acknowledge this simple truth. They spin about draft picks while avoiding the truth that the offense had been utterly destroyed.

 

[Gator2222]

What will be a bit ackward is when Nuuschump rolls out his fourth straight 100 plus offense.

Sometimes it seems as though you want us to suck.

 

[Sundaysunday]

I do too, but Ive seen no evidence that he has the talent to do otherwise

I don't hate Nuss yet but he has to show something this season. There are several things that make me think he is suspect but the thing that bothers me the most is his cute play calling in the red zone. Some of the plays he calls leave me dumbfounded.

 

[GR8 2B]

Most of the dumpers won't acknowledge the true shape of the program when Mac arrived because it doesn't fit the narrative.

The truth is that when Muschamp finally walked away he left scorched earth behind him.

He left wide receivers that did not have a position coach in two of the years under the tyranny of Muschamp. Without a coach the wide receivers never developed and were infamously caught blocking each other. Muschamp left a dearth of OL and the ones still standing weren't good enough to beat out incoming freshmen. The QB position had become nationally known as a black hole that swallowed up highly touted recruits.

Muschamp had realized his life long goal and had utterly destroyed an offense. No high school senior or junior in their right mind wanted to go play offense at the University of Florida. The flagship university in the most talent rich state could no longer recruit itself. In fact, it was just the opposite. It was toxic.

This is the truth of what Mac inherited. The situation was vastly different at Georgia and other places. The dumpers won't acknowledge this simple truth. They spin about draft picks while avoiding the truth that the offense had been utterly destroyed.

I gave you a "like" after reading the first sentence.

Edit: Then I read the rest of your post. No evaluation of Mac's performance so far is complete, fair, or credible without incorporating this information. Well put!

 

[T REX]

Most of the dumpers won't acknowledge the true shape of the program when Mac arrived because it doesn't fit the narrative.

The truth is that when Muschamp finally walked away he left scorched earth behind him.

He left wide receivers that did not have a position coach in two of the years under the tyranny of Muschamp. Without a coach the wide receivers never developed and were infamously caught blocking each other. Muschamp left a dearth of OL and the ones still standing weren't good enough to beat out incoming freshmen. The QB position had become nationally known as a black hole that swallowed up highly touted recruits.

Muschamp had realized his life long goal and had utterly destroyed an offense. No high school senior or junior in their right mind wanted to go play offense at the University of Florida. The flagship university in the most talent rich state could no longer recruit itself. In fact, it was just the opposite. It was toxic.

This is the truth of what Mac inherited. The situation was vastly different at Georgia and other places. The dumpers won't acknowledge this simple truth. They spin about draft picks while avoiding the truth that the offense had been utterly destroyed.

So it's your contention that we were on par with UMASS or North Texas talent wise? You're so full of ****. I'd rather you admit Nuss has done less with more than trot out "scorched earth" baloney.