Florida Gators recruiting mailbag for September 24th

The Florida Gators are doing well on the recruiting trail and this week’s recruiting mailbag had a lot of great questions about how prospects liked the Florida Gators game against the Kentucky Wildcats and also if the momentum is changing for the Florida Gators recruiting efforts.

As you have noticed Gator Country and Andrew Spivey have mixed things up and we have takeen our recruiting mailbag to podcast form as well as continuing the written of version of the mailbag.

Make sure to listen as Andrew answers everyone’s questions from this mailbag and don’t forget to get your questions in every week so he can answer your question next time on all things Florida Gators recruiting.

Here’s the written version of this week’s Florida Gators recruiting mailbag:

Scbeerman: I have said that the team Florida needs to shut down in recruiting in the Jax/Orlando/Tampa corridor is Clemson. Is the offense being played by UF this year helping in that area? Are the Gators battling Clemson for any elite prospects?

AS: The Clemson Tigers only have one commit from Florida and that’s WR T.J. Chase, who Florida isn’t even recruiting. He got in some trouble and had to leave IMG Academy so Florida moved on. McElwain is doing a good job of getting on kids early enough to stop Clemson’s run somewhat.

Ol2ange: This isn’t necessarily a recruiting question, but it’s kind of related to recruiting: How many CURRENT UF players do you think will transfer after this season? (You don’t have to share the names specifically, just a number guess).

AS: I think you will see several guys leave the team, especially at the receiver position, as McElwain wants to improve that position. There will be several other guys leave as well in my opinion.

Ol2ange: How does that transfer number affect our class size for 2016? Are we going to take more than allowed because of expected transfers? And how many players do you think we finish with in 2016?

AS: 27-28 is likely the number that Florida takes in 2017 after guys leave early for the NFL and transfer away from the team.

Macbgator: Who in your opinion are our next commits?

AS: Tough to say, honestly, because anyone could decide to do it unexpectedly but I will say that offensive lineman Marcus Tatum is the next guy on the board but that could be a little bit longer before that happens.

AG111: Give me % on

Bruce
NCM
Victor (if NCM goes elsewhere)
Victor (if NCM is a Gate)
Bruce J
Shaver
JR
Jemarcus King

AS: Sam Bruce- I like Florida’s chances a lot here and I would say over a 60% chance here.

Nate Craig-Myers- Florida is on the uphill here and I would say it’s 60-40 Florida over Florida State.

Victor- The Ohio State Buckeyes are the team on the uptrend because  people around him want him in Columbus.

Bruce Judson- I really like the Florida Gators recruiting chances here a lot.

Shavar Manuel- I think Florida has a better shot over Auburn and LSU early on.

Wesstump: Could you or someone set up a stat sheet so we can keep up how well we are doing. Examples would be QB…number of passes, number of completions, total yards, Td’s, interceptions. The same for wo’s, and rb’s. Stats for defense the same way. It would make it interesting to be able to see how well the team fairs
through to season. Thanks.

AS: Are you talking about the commit’s stats or the current team’s stats?

Lilro: What is your feeling on recruiting?

AS: I think Florida has the momentum in its favor right now and they have done a great job of getting prospects on campus for the early games. Also, Florida has done a great job of keeping official visits until after the season, which is huge as well.

Lilro: Does Issac Nauta have legit interest in UF?

AS: I think Nauta does have legit interest in the Florida Gators and the tight ends play so far this year has helped that interest a lot. Nauta has visited Florida a good amount of times but the Georgia Bulldogs will be tough to beat.

Lilro: Mack Wilson starting to like UF?

AS: He likes the Florida Gators but the Alabama Crimson Tide are the team to beat right now. Florida is continuing to work hard here.

MrB-Gator: Do we have a shot at Juco LB Horton?

AS: Academics are a huge concern here and the Florida Gators recruiting efforts have stopped on Horton right now.

Happygator: What is your take on all the cheating going on in college recruiting? For example, Ole Miss and Hugh Freeze and the smoke around the illegal payments, including Laremy Tunsil.

AS: It happens everywhere but it’s all about who gets caught and who doesn’t. I think the NCAA has to do a better job here of recognizing these signs early on. It sucks, but it happens.

Happygator: What are the chances of signing both Terrell Hall and Hansford from the D.C. area? They are both stud recruits and positions of need for the Gators, and attend the same high school.

AS: I think they are moving in the right direction with these kids heading into their visits but Hall is leaning towards Alabama right now. Hansford has to get more comfortable with the staff, but he does like Randy Shannon, so good visits will help with both.

Macbgator: Are we ever going to get a visit from Dexter Lawrence

AS: Lawrence has visited Alabama several times, which concerns me because he could’ve easily visited Florida those times. I do think that Lawrence takes an official visit to Florida but when is unknown right now.

 

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.