I took a look at the portal today and saw a bunch of familiar names.
Former Gators:
OL David Conner - a Hevesy special (committed to the Mullen regime and stayed through the transition) who never saw the field with us and transferred to Colorado. Never saw the field for them either. Maybe non-power five is a good idea.......
S Corey Collier - Per Rivals the highest ranked player in our '21 class (#31 overall) who never quite put it all together here under either regime and transferred to Nebraska. Apparently he never quite put it together there either. Perhaps he should follow my suggestion for Mr. Conner.
Guys we wanted to be Gators but said "no thanks":
S Sam McCall - a Lakeland area product who was a top 100 recruit from the '22 class who chose the Nulls over the good guys (the truth be told, we never even got an OV out of the guy). Eventually, he took a good look around and realized that Tally really is as bad as he had heard and transferred after two seasons to aTm. Apparently he's one of those guys that doesn't listen to others and had to discover on his own that the town he transferred to was actually worse than the one he left. And away back to the portal he goes...........
OT Payton Kirkland - very big (like 350+) guy out of Orlando who seemed to have quite a bit of interest in us in the spring of '22 (lots of unofficials and an OV in June). The interest lasted right up until it didn't. After his OV to us, he took a few others and then committed to Texas without ever visiting. Go figure. The knock on him coming out of HS was his pass pro "needed work." If Texas has given up after two full seasons, I'm guessing it needs more than "work."
S Jacoby Mathews - a Louisiana native who was one of the top recruits in the '22 class and another of aTm's "greatest class ever"...... who also will finish his career somewhere else. This guy took a late OV to us and we probably had a chance; at least until the NIL checkbooks came out. Having watched him a few times, I thought this guy was actually pretty good. For you trivia buffs, he's the 19th aTm player to enter the portal since November. Wow, "since November." I also happened to see an article where he claims he's interested in either Big Ten or ACC schools. Odd for a Louisiana guy, but whatever.
Blast from the past:
DE Josh Griffis - This guy who was either at his first or second HS at the time, actually committed to the Butters regime. He stayed committed through the transition to Cousin Eddie, but somewhere along the way he realized he might not be a good fit for us. He decommitted from us and committed to the Nulls. Apparently, he was the one guy in America who thought WiLLLLLLLie Taggart was a good coach and after WiLLLLLLLie was canned, switched his committment to Louisville. The Nulls, clearly hurt at being thrown over, put on a full court press on that changed his mind and he signed with them after all. After two seasons of nothing to show for his efforts, he transferred to Jackson State to play for Deion Sanders. Sanders, as we all know, left JSU for Colorado; and, in a great display of intelligence, left Griffis behind. Griffis, landed on his feet though and transferred to Tarleton State. For those of you who are unaware (I had to look it up), Tarleton is in Stevenville, Texas, which is near, uh, well, it's not really near anywhere. Anyway, it must not be too much of a great place as Mr. Griffis is now seeking his fourth program; well, sixth actually if you also count the other schools to which he was once committed. I'm sensing a real pattern with this guy.
Last but not least:
WR Seven McGee - This fellow has no connection to UF of which I am aware other than getting an offer when he was coming out of HS as a 4* recruit in the class of '21. He committed and ultimately enrolled at Oregon though he transferred after a season to Jackson State. He's now in the portal again, but I mention him simply because I can't help but wonder if his parents were Seinfeld fans. If he has a sibling named "Soda" we'd know for sure.