Last week, the Florida Gators coaching staff spent most of the bye week out on the road recruiting and seeing prospects in person.
For some of these prospects, it was the first time for them to see the Gator logo on a coach’s chest since the summer time and as Jim McElwain said on Monday that was a big thing for the Gators.
“It was big (for) recruiting as well as we look forward to early signing day,” McElwain said of recruiting during the bye week. “So those things go in every bye week, and you’ve got kind of those mapped out.”
The week turned out to be a success as the Gators visited offensive lineman Richard Gouraige on Tuesday and he committed to Florida on Friday.
That was big news for the Gators as Florida continues to look for offensive linemen in this class but as McElwain says the entire class sees a chance to contribute early in the Swamp and that has shown in their response to the coaches.
“It’s been great. It’s been really positive,” he said of the reaction from prospects. “A lot of guys see the opportunity they’re going to have and momentum’s been really good with that.”
Fans may argue that they don’t see how the Gators are still succeeding in recruiting but recruits look at the bigger picture of the program instead of just the record the team.
Recruiting is also about relationships and that’s what McElwain credits the Gators success to, plus the direction the program is going.
“I think you hit No. 1, relationships. No. 2, there are opportunities,” he said on what the recruits are seeing from Florida. “Seeing the growth, everything from the facilities to the emphasis put on certain things I think has been really good.”
While many recruits around the country agree with McElwain on the opportunities in Gainesville, coaches at other schools are trying to use Florida’s record against them.
Negative recruiting is nothing new and is something McElwain had to deal with a lot last year but he believes in a different approach.
“Well, it’s, you know, that’s a tactic that a lot of people use. It’s not something we believe in,” McElwain said on negative recruiting. “We’re honest and up front. Let them know the way it’s going to be.”
With a top 10 class on the board already, the Gators coaching staff must now focus on finishing off the season strong on the field but also keep in touch with recruits around the country.
This even more important this year as the NCAA introduced a new signing day in December so the Gators are trying to sign as many guys as they can at that time.
But the verdict remains out there of how many guys will sign then and how this new rule will work but McElwain is interested to see how things work out for Florida then.
“Yeah, you know, it will be interesting to see,” McElwain said on if things change with the early signing period. “Obviously, we’d like to sign all 25 in December. We’ll see. Certain guys are ready earlier, obviously the ones that we can get in here at mid-year. We’ve got a pretty good deal set up as far as that announcement.”