Florida Recruiting

[The_Hill]

Does anyone else find it weird that the defending national champs only have 4 recruits commited, and none commited from within the top 25 players in Florida? While both Miami and Florida State have already snatched up a lot of the top in state recruits and are both in the top 10 in team rankings. You would think that Urban Meyer would be taking full advantage of the title...
http://florida.rivals.com/commitlist.asp?Year=2008&School=21&Sport=1

[cbjagman]

Somehow I find it difficult to "cry in my beer" over Florida's apparent slow start. Besides, I have a feeling that before it's all over UF will have come up with another stellar recruiting class. Remember what the great Yogi Berra said; "it ain't over til it's over".

[ceegar]

They are in on a lot of 4 and 5 star guys that have yet to make a decision.  They will end up in the top 10 if not 5 by the time it is over.

[SoTexHog]

I find it surprising to say the least.  If you look at their recruiting position by position most of their top guys have comitted someplace else.  Now that would be something if we had a better class than Florida.  It looks possible.

[piggingout]

They had such a big recruiting class last year, kids probably are wondering if they will get to play there if they go.

[PigWig]

Half of their class is 4* I don't feel bad.

[Brewerfan10]

Well look at USC, they usually dont start picking up committs in bulk till about January and then end up with the top class in the nation. Makes me sick!

[Tomhog™]

The highest rated players high 4* and 5* tend to take all their visits and soak up a lot of limelight during the recruiting process.  A lot of them will wait until after football season to commit.  Florida is in no trouble right now at all...

[TOWNSHOG]

You know as well as I, that both FL and USC are going to be at least in top 10 and probably top 5 in recruiting nationally.  These guys don't have to really turn it on until off season b/c of their name alone.  Also, they can hand pick recruits throughout the season, especially if a palyer blows up his senior year and turns into a blue chip recruit.  Another thing about these big programs is they sometimes have the ability to steal some recruits that committed early to smaller programs. 

[hawgwash]

Well look at USC, they usually dont start picking up committs in bulk till about January and then end up with the top class in the nation. Makes me sick!

USC already has 11 commits, quite a bit more than Florida's 4.  But I won't feel sorry for either of them.  I'm sure they'll manage to fill out a class.

[badbrad]

they'll be fine when it's all said and done.....

[nughaud]

The big difference is when a solid 4* or 5* wants to go to Florida or USC or any other big school.. room will be made at almost anytime in the process.  Those kids can wait almost to the last minute 99% of the time.

[HoopHog]

One thing you need to realize is that in the past several years, the team that has taken the spot of #1 on the recruiting rankings has done so at the very end of the recruiting trail.  USC was firmly on the top of the recruiting heap last season (with several 5 star commits) but the Gators had an awesome signing day.  They snagged a few surprises that caught everyone off guard...and put them on the top of the rankings.

In 2006, Florida State made a push from low in the polls to #3 with a strong closing day. In 2005, Southern Cal finished on top when they surprised the hell out of everyone. They went into Tennessee and snagged the top wide receiver, Patrick Turner right out from under the nose of the Volunteers.  Up to those last few weeks, Tennessee had the top recruiting class only to be passed by Souther Cal, Florida State and Oklahoma.

So, this recruiting season is a two act show.  It is good to be like Texas or USC and jump out with a strong start.  But, doing so does not guarantee a team will close strong.  In fact, Notre Dame (GO IRISH!) rode through the 2007 recruiting season in the top 5 but faded to #8 due to the season end push from other schools.

The season end push is something that is definitely a part of recruiting in Florida too. Many of the prospects through the state of Florida wait to announce their college choice on signing day...and do so with a lot of unnecessary fanfare.  So, Florida is not out of it.  You can count on seeing a very strong finish come February.