Early signing day has turned into the most important day of the year for recruiting. Nothing is official until pen meets paper.
The Florida Gators signed 20 of their 21 high school commits on Wednesday’s early period of National Signing Day, with the odd one out being Saint Petersburg product Isaiah Nixon. Gator Country reported that Nixon wouldn’t sign with the Gators as the staff and the outside linebacker agreed to part ways in a mutual decision.
The Gators added two more players to the class in transfer Caleb Banks and gray shirt Tony Livingston. That brings Florida’s total to 22 signees.
Florida signed 16 recruits inside the ESPN top 300, ranking the third most in the SEC and tied for fourth in the country. ESPN ranks UF’s class No. 9.
The class is made up of 13 defensive and nine offensive players. 15 of them are from the state of Florida.
“National Signing Day, culmination of a lot of hard work certainly,” Billy Napier said during his early signing day press conference. “What a group of recruits here and families. Just that shows the University of Florida and all the things that come with that. A ton of respect for the belief that they have in what we’re building here. Certainly, a blessing to welcome such a talented group but also a group that’s got character. Really thankful for this group.”
Napier noted that this class currently has 20 early enrollees, which is significant news considering Florida has many positions to fill entering the 2023 season.
“The other thing that’s going to help is you’re going to have 20 players that start in January, and I think that translates to more reps and more teaching and more opportunity to get orientated to the university and just life in general in college,” Napier says.
“But I do think that there will be a number of this group, they’re going to have to earn it. I think very competitive group that looks forward to trying to do just that.”
The majority of Florida’s class is finished, and there aren’t many names on the radar as of now, but that isn’t going to stop this staff from looking to add more players.
“I think we’re going to continue to be aggressive,” Napier said. “ We’ll evaluate every player that’s leftover. Typically about 85 percent of the players will sign early. Last year we were able to add a handful of players in February. Certainly the portal presents some opportunities between now and school starting. So we’ve got a number of spots left here, and we’ll continue to add players.”
Gator Country will continue to monitor Florida’s recruiting in the high school and college ranks.
Here’s the full list of signees.
QB Jaden Rashada
DL Kelby Collins
WR Aidan Mizell
DB Dijon Johnson
WR Eugene Wilson
OL Roderick Kearney
DB Ja’Keem Jackson
DL Kamran James
DB Jordan Castell
DL TJ Searcy
DL Will Norman
DB Sharif Denson
DL Gavin Hill
DB Aaron Gates
DB Bryce Thornton
LB Jaden Robinson
OL Knijeah Harris
OL Bryce Lovett
DL Caleb Banks
TE Tony Livingston
Livingston?