An excited Robinson commits to Florida

The energy was running high on the Florida Gators’ campus on Friday as Jim McElwain and the Florida coaching staff got camp underway and it didn’t take long for the Gators to find some playmakers.

Soon after camp ended McElwain and company offered cornerback Aaron Robinson (6-1, 185, Deerfield Beach, FL High) who shined during the 7-on-7 portion of camp on Friday night.

“It was very big to get the offer from coach McElwain,” Robinson said. “This an offer that I’ve been wanting for a long time. It’s very, very big to have the offer and the opportunity.”

Robinson didn’t waste much time after getting the offer to decide he wanted to be commitment No. 15 for the Florida Gators class’ of 2016 and it was a dream come true for the cornerback.

“I’ve been a fan my whole life and this is something I’ve wanted for a long time,” Robinson said after committing. “Coach Mac said welcome to the family and to the Gator family when I committed. I told him that I was glad to be a member of the Gator family.”

Heading into the spring Robinson was a guy that was largely unknown due to some injuries as a junior, but Robinson says that he’s ready to play in the Swamp in 2016.

“I’m bringing everything I can do to DBU,” Robinson said. “I’m bringing the big hits, I’m bringing the whole show. I’m going to be a hard worker for the team so be ready for Aaron Robinson because I’m here.”

One person that Robinson looks up to is Florida receiver Brandon Powell, who is a Deerfield alum himself, and Robinson says he has learned a lot from watching Powell.

“His intensity and being able to see him play hard and how hard he works makes me look up to him and want to work like him,” Robinson said. “He does a lot of good things on the field and I just want to work hard like him and have success on the field.”

Deerfield coach Jevon Glenn was on hand Friday night coaching his team throughout the 7-on-7 tournament and he wasn’t a bit surprised that Robinson landed the offer.

“I’ve been telling people since we started working out in December that Aaron was one of the best cornerbacks,” Glenn said. “That’s why we wanted to get out to these camps so that they could get maximum exposure.”

When Robinson says he’s bringing the hits to Gainesville he isn’t lying, according to Glenn, who believes that Robinson is a guy that can hang on his own.

“He’s a lockdown  and physical cornerback, we feel comfortable that we put him on a receiver and he can lock him down,” Glenn said of Robinson. “Without a doubt we can put him on island and we believe he’s going to lock them down.

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Robinson is a very good athlete that flips his hips very well and is able to play on an island by himself. He drew the attention of the coaching staff most of the night on Friday night. 

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.

5 COMMENTS

  1. Another recruit that has NR beside his name. I thought UF was gaining steam with Hammond’s commitment, but it appears that UF is still very happy to accept commitments from second tier prospects. Guys like Robinson, and many more, of UF’s current commits formerly were guys that UF would take only after the top players on their board fell off and were taken close to signing day. Either UF is not getting any traction with the type of recruits that usually come to Florida or this new staff has different standards. Hopefully UF will get the commitment of Binjimen Victor in the next couple of weeks and the quarterback from Texas, that would help. But right now, UF’s commitment list has far too many players like Robinson, sleepers that may pan out, but a far highr percentage of them making up the class than normally seen at UF. Maybe that’s fine for Colorado State and Mississippi State, schools that the current staff have come from, but I don’t know if it will translate to victories on the field against teams like Georgia and FSU, whose current lists of commitments look far superior to UF’s. There are stil a lot of slots to be filled, but if UF is going to have a class that resembles what UF usually gets, UF needs to stop accepting commitments from guys like Robinson. Maybe the paradigm has changed and this is the best UF can do right now.

    • Just take a look at which programs are recruiting a kid. A kid with 2-3 Stars but is being recruited by Ohio State, Clemson, FSU, Alabama, etc. is good!! A kid with 2-3 Stars and is being recruited by FAU, Temple, Troy and Wake Forest is today a ‘Gator Recruiting Target’ with thanks to four years of Foley-Muschamp. Realistically, the Gators cannot compete in recruiting against the top-trier programs. And, early playing time is not something that is going to attract the 4-and 5-Stars kids. The Gators are recruiting a lot of ‘warm bodies’ because (1) the best go to FSU, Clemson, OSU, etc. and (2) the Gators need bodies for what some prefer to call ‘depth’. On the ‘depth’ matter will someone explain how a kid who is not good enough to play QB at Vanderbilt and is moved to WR is some how ‘adding depth’ at QB for the Gators. A couple of years from now many of these guys will still be ‘providing depth’ or will have transferred to Dayton or Northern Colorado.

    • Dude, give it a break. A lot of the top players are on wait and see mode with UF. Mac is taking the best strategical route by taking a lot of solid underrated players who can help sway a QB or other top players to come play with these guys. Also if you read the article or know much, this kid is a 6-1 corner with fluid hips who turned heads on 7 on 7 play. If you know much of anything about football 7 on 7 is a big advantage to the offense so if he came to UF and turned the coaches heads enough to recieve a scholarship while playing defense, I’m pretty sure he’s good. Also Driskel and Debose were great 5 stars right, those scouts really know everything! Also as I recall Muschump always had highly ranked and you saw how that turned out… just chill, let the recruiting board shake out and then freak out if need be.

  2. Urban Meyer and OSU do not understand. OSU has 15 commits with 11 ranked as 4 or 5 Stars. Stars mean nothing!! Jimbo Fisher and FSU do not understand. Po’ FSU has 17 commits with 11 ranked as 4 or 5 Stars. LSU does not understand. LSU has —–look at this!!—–11 commits with 10 as 4 or 5 Stars. Stars mean nothing. Everyone knows that!! And the Gators, well, they have 15 commits with 2 ranked as 4 Stars and, well, that is it folks. I have faith in Coach Mac and his staff. They did well, very well actually, last year and I think they will finish strong this year. But the foregoing do not represent my opinions. These are currently ‘the facts’. Reality does not change simply because some people cannot accept that reality. I think Ben Franklin said that. Or, was it Jack Nicholson? Lighten up, guys!!

    • I don’t think you’re understanding what I’m trying to say. Obviously stars have merit, the more you have the higher chance of becoming a good player you have, but the most important part is and always will be coaching. Hargreaves and Fowler were great because they got the coaching they needed. Debose, Driskel, Humphries etc did not. Most of our flops came from where our coaching was weak. We had some down years because of that and now the 5 stars and others are going elsewhere and waiting to see how we do. You complaining on every post about how we’re not getting 5 stars will not change anything. Mac knows this and is recruiting as necessary and will hopefully land the 5 stars if we seem improved. That’s the way it is, if Mac proves himself those numbers will shift our way, until then live with the players who have potential and hope for the best. Also rankings change all the time, some of these 3 stars and NR may move up