The Gators are trying hard to land a top-rated quarterback for the Class of 2015 and on Thursday Florida sent two coaches to watch one of its top targets.
That quarterback is Deondre Francois (6-1, 192, Bradenton, FL IMG Academy) who had his spring game on Thursday but didn’t do as well as he thought he would.
“Coach [Kurt] Roper and Coach [Mike] Summers came by my spring game,” Francois said. “It went pretty good but I didn’t feel like I did too well in the game. I mean, I’m playing with a whole team of new players and it’s tough.”
Five schools have started recruiting Francois harder than the others and one team in particular has pulled back a little in their recruitment of Francois.
“Tennessee, LSU, Florida State, Auburn and Ohio State are recruiting me the hardest right now,” Francois said. “Florida is still recruiting me but not as hard as they were. Coach White and Coach Roper are still talking to me.”
Despite pulling back slightly, the Florida coaching staff has not stopped recruiting Francois entirely. They are, however, growing impatient with the prospect, according to him.
“Coach Muschamp and Coach Roper communicate with me very often,” Francois said. “They just tell me to keeping grinding and that they want me to commit but I tell them I’m not ready to do that. Coach Muschamp just says to stay in touch.”
Florida is not the only school starting to pressure Francois into a commitment but the quarterback is not moving his timetable for anyone.
“Florida and Ohio State are trying to get me to commit now but I’m not going too,” Francois said. “I don’t care what anyone says I’m going to take my time. I may commit at the Opening or I may wait longer I’m not sure.”
This summer three schools will receive visits from Francois but the instate Gators aren’t one of them.
“I’m going to visit Tennessee, Ohio State and Auburn this summer,” Francois said. “I may go out to Oregon but I’m not sure. I don’t need to go back to Florida because I’ve already been there for a visit.”
Buh Bye. I hate it when a player says he doesn’t need to come back. He in fact does need to come back if he wants to become a Gator. In this case, he doesn’t so UF is moving on to other targets.
With two QB’s in the fold in the 14 class and Driskel playing as a junior, I don’t know that we need another QB until the 16 class. Let’s go for some beef or other skill players.
I do think it is important that we sign a QB in 2015 class. It doesn’t have to be Francois, there are several more viable options that we are working. As well as the unknown gems (see Blake Bortales) , that many of us Gators are searching Spring games in FL for.
There are too many unknowns about our current QB situation, although I do think we have one that will prove to be very successfull. I think we need to add another in each of the next two years, so as not to end up with a walk on forced to play due to attrition. Let’s say Harris ends up with some successful packages this year & feels he should start next year, yet the hype around Grier gives him the nod, or Driskel has great season, coaches makes Grier the back up in 2015 & Harris transfers Maybe Grier can’t throw against the faster competition & transfers. To a D2 School. All hypothetical, and hopefully Coach Muschamp has recruited more team minded people, but it could happen & has before. Therefore we need to look for a quality QB until we see one on Saturdays in the fall.
. The kid in Cali seems like a viable option & there are 1 or 2 more. Jury’s still out on Gibson as far as I’m concerned. But we’ll see.
Of course the Gator’s need a quarterback. Driskel has been a big disappointment so far. If the light doesn’t come on this year, he should be benched to give someone else a chance. If Driskel does play well, then he’ll turn pro and be gone. Driskel has all the physical attributes of an NFL quarterback but is not accurate throwing downfield and his decision making leaves a lot to be desired. Since there is no way to know if Grier or Harris will pan out, a quarterback needed. UF, of all schools, should not feel comfortable with how many stars a quarterback had coming out of high school, Brantley and Driskel are evidence of that fact. I don’t understand why coaches are pressuring guys to commit in May, as seen last year, early pledges are not very meaningful. I know UF is struggling on the recruiting front right now, but that is to be expected when you finish 4-8 and recruits know that the coaching staff has one foot out the door. The only cure for that is winning on the field in the Fall. If that happens, UF will get some guys to commit. The encouraging news is that there are a lot of highly rated players that are holding off their pledge and may be just waiting to see if UF turns it around on the field. In that light, I think it’s not smart to pressure anyone into committing now because how can any recruit feel confident that any of these coaches will be around in 2015? If you don’t realize that Muschamp is sitting on the hottest seat in America, you haven’t been paying attention.