Head Coach Jim McElwain had his opening press conference on Saturday morning for the Florida Gators and he plans to waste no time in getting on the recruiting trail as he lives by a simple moto, “Recruit daily or die.”
McElwain will meet with the coaching staff and recruiting coordinator Drew Hughes throughout the weekend about potential recruits and on Monday he plans on hitting the road to visit prospects.
“I’m going to hit the road on Monday morning, get to as many places as humanly possible,” McElwain said. When McElwain goes into a school or into a home next week he says he will deliver one simple message to prospects.
“Number one, you got an opportunity to win a national championship,” he said. “But first and foremost, it’s about what that is going to do for the rest of your life, what being a Gator is, then adjusting to that and understanding, look, we’re here to make sure that your experience is going to do nothing but set you apart for the rest of your life. That’s what it is to be a Gator.”
Due to NCAA regulations McElwain could not name current commits that the Gators have but he did mention the group as a whole. However, on Saturday afternoon the Florida Gators lost quarterback Sheriron Jones who decided to decommit from Florida.
That’s puts McElwain and the Gators coaching staff in a position where they have to go out and find a quarterback for the Class of 2015 but that may be a little difficult because most quarterbacks are already committed to other schools.
Not only is that a tough task but you also have two stud freshmen quarterback that could scare off a potential recruit but I have faith that McElwain will find his man and here are a few guys to keep an eye on.
Louisville quarterback commit Lamar Jackson (6-2, 185, Boynton Beach, FL High)- Florida offered him late but the Gators were talking to him for quite some time prior to the offer. Jackson is committed to Louisville but has never visited them so the Florida Gators have a shot here if they decide to go that route.
Miami quarterback commit Dwayne Lawson (6-6, 215, Tampa, FL Hillsborough) was very interested in Florida before the Gators took Sheriron Jones and after that Lawson committed to Miami. If Florida starts to show interest in Lawson then things are very likely to get interesting.
Florida State quarterback commit Deondre Francois (6-0, 191, Bradenton, FL IMG Academy) is one of three quarterbacks committed to Florida State and before the Florida Gators offense became atrocious he was very interested in Florida. I’m not sure if Francois would consider Florida or not but he’s someone that Florida is likely to check on.
More names are surely to come up but these are just three names to watch as Jim McElwain hits the road recruiting for the Florida Gators on Monday.