Behind every recruiting class there are stories that usually include a few twists and turns along the road. Some choices are made because it’s a family situation, while others struggle with their decision down to the last minute. The 2010 class was no different. These are a few of the stories of the recruiting class of 2010.
Ronald Powell’s recruitment began with a trip to attend Florida’s summer camp. It ended with whispers behind the scenes that the Gators might actually have a chance to land the top player in the country even though his home was 90 miles from the Southern California campus.
“He came to camp this summer and Friday Night Lights,” Meyer said Wednesday afternoon at his National Signing Day Press Conference. “We actually had our hands on him and worked with him. He can be an All-American as a tremendous tight end or defensive end. We plan to use him on both, but mostly at defensive end. He’ll catch some passes her at Florida.”
The frequency of Powell’s visits to the Florida campus allowed him to create a bond with Coach Meyer that couldn’t be erased. When rumors were swirling about Meyer following his resignation and subsequent decision to take a leave of absence, Powell never wavered because of the personal relationship with Meyer.
“Ron Powell has been here many times,” Meyer said. “I talk to Ron Powell every week, almost every day. You can end rumors like that (snaps fingers) because you have a relationship with the kid.”
Powell remained a silent commitment to Florida for months before solidifying it at the Army All-American Game in January. His commitment set the Gators with the top defensive line class in America, and according to Meyer, “one of the top defensive lines that I can remember.”
Powell’s commitment also signified the Gators moving into California. The Gators signed a player from California for the fourth straight year, but never before was it an truly elite player like Powell.
“That’s something that has not been that strong in the past,” Meyer said. “To pull two of the top players from California, (tight ends coach) Brian White did a great job based on past relationships.”
It might not have happened without Brian White’s relationship with Rancho Verde High School coach Pete Duffy.
“I told Brian White that I didn’t want to recruit California,” Meyer said. “I’m not anxious about getting on that plane for however many hours. I don’t want to be known as a national recruiting school. He’s the best player in the country. I challenged Brian if he could really get it done. Ron actually has a lot of family from the south. He loves every aspect of our program and became good friends with some of our players.”
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Meyer’s unique approach recruiting had plenty to do with the Gators holding onto their elite players even during those days of turmoil prior to the Sugar Bowl. Florida’s coaches recruit as a group. One coach does indeed make the initial contact but it’s always several coaches who get involved to help reel in the commitments.
In the case of Sharrif Floyd (6-3, 309, Philadelphia, PA George Washington #25 ESPNU 150), it was the combined efforts of Steve Addazio (offensive coordinator/offensive line/interim head coach), Brian White (tight ends/fullbacks), Dan McCarney (defensive line) and Meyer who created a comfort zone for the top nose tackle in the country.
“When you take a player like Sharrif Floyd, who is one of the best players in the country, it wasn’t just one guy,” Meyer said. “There was four people and we smothered him. When you have great recruiting stories like that was where we were behind for most of the year and come back to get it is because it’s group recruiting. I think we’re somewhat unique in that.”
The Florida staff strengthened its existing relationship with George Washington High School head coach Ron Cohen and forged relationships with other important people in Floyd’s life.
One of Floyd’s mentors, a former George Washington player named Andre, was a key piece to the puzzle. The coaching staff grew close with Andre, and it wasn’t the usual experience with mentors that usually causes Meyer to ask himself, “you’re the mentor, huh?”
The relationships are important because Floyd comes from difficult circumstances.
“That’s a great story,” Meyer said. “If not my favorite, he’s [Floyd] one of my favorites. He gets up every morning and he’s on a bus for an hour and a half to get to school. He’s a 3.0 student who lives right and takes care of himself. He’s a great football player.”
Throughout the early recruiting process there were questions about Florida’s chances, and when Meyer and two coaches went up for an in-home visit before the Sugar Bowl, they knew that they trailed “a certain school” (which Meyer wouldn’t name, but almost assuredly was Ohio State). Meyer didn’t think the Gators had a shot to get him.
“Next thing you know, an hour visit turned into a three-hour visit and we felt that door start to open,” Meyer said. “Then he committed to us that day.”
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The Matt Elam (6-0, 202, Palm Beach Gardens, FL Dwyer #9 ESPNU 150) story started out simple — he was the Gators’ fourth commitment and it was a full year before signing day — but it got complicated all because he wanted to take a few visits and see the college world. There was a familiarity with Meyer dating back to Meyer’s days at Notre Dame, when he recruited Elam’s older brother Abram but even so, Elam felt the need to look around.
Elam took a couple of visits in the fall, but at the state championships announced he was solidly in Florida’s camp. Then came Meyer’s resignation and change to a leave of absence the next day. That triggered Elam to switch his commitment to Florida State on the spot.
Elam was in San Antonio participating in the Army All-American Game in the days after Florida’s Sugar Bowl game with Cincinnati. Elam had no intention of switching his commitment from FSU when he got a call from Meyer. What was intended to be a short conversation stretched for more than an hour and when it was over, Elam was back in the Florida camp.
“I’ve known Matt Elam for ten years and he had some concerns,” Meyer said. “I talked to him on the phone for an hour and that was it. He can hear all the rumors he wants, but he heard it from someone he knows.”
Some of Elam’s anxieties might have been sparked by publicity or lack of. Recruits who were slower to commit than Elam got far more attention from the media.
“Matt is a young man like a lot of young men who like a lot of publicity,” Meyer said. “The best thing about it now is he’s on our campus. Coach (Mickey) Marotti is getting some of that stuff out of him right now.”
Elam will play safety at Florida, but Meyer confirmed that they have discussed some wildcat options because of his versatility with the ball in his hands.
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It’s no secret to Gator fans that Venice quarterback Trey Burton (6-3, 220, Nokmis, FL Venice) was the voice of the Florida recruiting class for more than a year. He was the second player to commit to the Gators (offensive tackle Ian Silberman was the first) and he had no doubt about the school he wanted to attend. Once he committed to Florida, he did his best to bring others along.
“I knew Trey Burton was kind of the pied piper of the class,” Meyer said. “I knew that from watching him during summer camps.”
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Like Burton, Lynden Trail (6-7, 220, Miami, FL Booker T. Washington) was a true pied piper. When Coach Meyer announced his resignation, Trail and Burton both got on the phone with each other and then they turned their attention to other recruits who were committed to Florida, encouraging them to stay on board.
Meyer didn’t know it was happening at the time, but it didn’t surprise him when he found out. Meyer and Trail forged a strong enough relationship to pull Trail out of Dade County from a school that has long been in the hip pocket of the University of Miami.
“Lynden Trail was a guy that we’re really close with and I’m personally really close with,” Meyer said. “I didn’t realize that was going on until I read it the other day and talked to him about it, how he was making calls and keeping that class together. It’s amazing.”
Trail and Burton were the most visible class communicators, but it turns out the entire Florida recruiting class stayed in touch before and after the Meyer glitch, something that held the class together in the long run.
“The way these kids communicate, it’s a little like ’06 when those kids went and tried to put a good team together and they did,” Trail said. “I found this group was always talking. They’re a close-knit group of players.”
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Perhaps the most under the radar part of this signing class is the Gators finding an every down back in Mack Brown (5-11, 190, Lithonia, GA Martin Luther King #34 ESPNU 150). There were rumors all the way up to signing day that Brown was waffling on his Florida commitment and thinking about Florida State.
It sounded good to the Seminoles but the Florida coaching staff knew better due to the type of family they were working with. Meyer had a close relationship with Brown’s mother and sister but it was with the dad that the true connection was made.
“I love Mack Brown,” Meyer said. “I think he might be the highest rated back we’ve got here. He’s got to get healthy. You watch him on tape and it kind of confirms it. He’s tremendous and we need to have him ready to go. He’s got the size to be a 210-pound back which we really need.”
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Cornerback Joshua Shaw (6-1, 183, Palmdale, CA #28 ESPNU 150) wouldn’t have been a Gator except for a 20-year friendship between Meyer and Palmdale head coach Jeff Williams. That got Meyer in the door with Shaw and the rest was history. Landing Shaw will help future recruiting endeavors with California kids in Florida.
“When you start flipping on Josh Shaw on video, and then he comes to visit and he loves it, (recruiting California is easier),” Meyer said.
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Chaz Green (6-5, 297, Palm Harbour, FL Tampa Catholic #52 ESPNU 150) is a Gator due to persistence. Early on, Green looked like a lock to attend Florida but his parents are Tennessee grads. Eventually, the Vols occupied Green’s thoughts about the future but Florida defensive line coach Dan McCarney wouldn’t give up even when there was a long period of silence.
“McCarney honed in there when it looked like Chaz Green wasn’t coming to Florida,” Meyer said. “He just honed in there and closed it.”
Green is from a pro-Gator area in Tampa, plus he was at a position in need for the team. The Gators wanted to add a second offensive tackle to a class that already included Ian Silberman, and they liked the quality they saw.
“Coach Addazio ID’d him during his junior year as one of the top offensive linemen in America,” Meyer said. “We had him in camp two years.”
When Meyer announced his leave of absence, most experts felt that was the end of any chances the Gators had to land Green. However, McCarney never gave up.
“We felt it started to slip, and Coach McCarney just stayed on it,” Meyer said. “There was a month when Chaz didn’t pick up my phone calls, and then he started answers the calls. When communication ceases, you have a problem. Give credit to Coach McCarney because he stayed alive with it. They love Coach Addazio and the way he coaches, because he’s had him hands on a few times. When he told us he was coming, that was a great day for us because we worked awful hard for that one.”
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The Florida coaches first saw film of Tyler Murphy (6-1, 190, Wethersfield, CT) about two or three weeks ago. They were looking for another coach because it is becoming more and more likely that Jordan Reed will become a full-time tight end. Moving Reed made signing another quarterback imperative for 2010. Having only starter John Brantley and a single backup quarterback in Trey Burton created what Meyer called “a little problem.”
“We went out to find the best dual athlete that was still available,” Meyer said. “I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to watch it, but he’s [Murphy] a freakish athlete with the ball in his hands, and he can throw it.”
It turned out there was a connection between the Gators and Murphy. Addazio actually went to grade school with Murphy’s father, plus had an ongoing relationship with Wethersfield High School coach John Campanello.
Murphy became a Florida target because his video stood out among several other quarterbacks the Gators were considering.
“We watched 15 quarterbacks one right after another, and then everybody says ‘wow, run that one back,’” Meyer said. “We got a feel for him as a player.”
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It wasn’t until Michael Taylor (6-1, 205, Atlanta, GA Westlake #123 ESPNU 150) turned in a breakout performance the week of the Under Armour All-American Game that the Gators came into his picture. Once Taylor came to Gainesville on a visit he was hooked from the moment he stepped on campus.
“We weren’t on his radar and he wasn’t on ours,” Meyer said. “That’s a great high school in Westlake, one of the top high schools in America. That was our error not to be in the middle of that one.”
That visit was all it took for Taylor to decommit Tennessee and choose the Gators.
“He came down and was a terrific kid,” Meyer said. “He was the MVP of the Under Armour Game, and even before there was transition on their staff, he made a decision he wanted to come to Florida. We’re very proud to have him. Good kid, good family.”
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The lowest ranked player in the class committed on Wednesday morning, when linebacker Darrin Kitchens (6-2, 205, Homestead, FL) announced for the Gators. Kitchens played high school football for Bobby McCray, Sr., father of the former Gator tight end and one of Meyer’s good friends.
“He [McCray Sr.] has been telling me about Darrin Kitchens for a long time,” Meyer said. “Obviously he’s going to run a sub-11.0 100 meters. That’s difficult for a linebacker type athlete.”
It wasn’t the player that Kitchens is that made the Florida coaches want him. It was the person he was off the field.
“He came up on our visit and kind of stole our heart,” Meyer said. “He’s just a tremendous young man.”