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Chauncey Gardner: The Florida Gators Not-So-Secret Recruiting Weapon

By Anthony Garcia

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Recruiting in college football can be a tricky thing to nail and down and get right for many college coaches.

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For the Florida Gators 2016 4-star recruit Chauncey Gardner, recruiting other high-profile athletes to join him in sparking a sudden turnaround of a program that desperately needs it, seems second nature to the talented defensive back.

Gardner, a 5’11 corner back from Cocoa, Florida, is a highly regarded, 4-star recruit who despite having numerous offers from schools like Alabama, LSU and Florida State, decided to commit to the Gators twice.

Related: Gardner impresses at IMG Academy, will enroll early at UF

Initially committing to Florida during the tail end of Will Muschamp’s time at Gainesville, Gardner blamelessly decommited once Muschamp was let go.

After Jim McElwain and his staff were brought to Florida, they went straight to work in prioritizing Gardner as their next great defensive back, something that sealed Gardner’s interest in the Gators.

Ranked the third best corner back in the country by Rivals, Gardner has been lauded for his variety of skills, most of which project him to play safety in college.

Scout National Recruiting Analyst Chad Simmons said that Gardner’s burst and athleticism make him stand out from other prospects.

Simmons also said that, “His ball skills are strong, he really goes and gets the ball, he tracks it well and he plays physical. He spends a lot of time inside box as an outside linebacker now, so he can tackle, but he is best when going after the ball to grab an interception.”

While Gardner’s on-the-field play is what attracts the most attention to the standout Cocoa, Florida native, it’s what he’s doing off of it is most intriguing for the Gators.

Ever since Gardner has recommitted to UF, his Twitter and recruiting game has readily increased.

Gardner has not been shy about bringing in more 2016 talent with him, acting as a pseudo recruiting coordinator for the Gators. In fact, Gardner once claimed that 5-star WR recruit Nate Craig-Myers, his brother and 3-star recruit, Jayvaughn Myers and Gardner himself were a package deal when it comes to choosing a school.

Obviously the veracity of the claim can’t be verified and to be fair, the Meyers brothers have continually been Florida State leans since Nate Meyers decommitted from Auburn.

Still, the fact that the Meyers brothers haven’t shot down Gardner’s claim and the fact that Craig-Meyers recently said Florida is among his top choices for school can be attributed to Gardner.

And it looks like Gardner has been spending a lot of time with fellow Florida native and 4-star WR Binjimen Victor.

Besides the unique spelling of Victor’s name, he’s also a unique athlete.

Standing at 6’4 with a sub-4.60 time, Victor is big target for any quarterback to throw to. He won’t wow you with his speed but once he puts on some extra strength and muscle, his size will be able to block out most opposing defenders from defending any balls thrown his way.

247 Sports predicts there is a more than 80 percent chance that Victor will ultimately commit to Florida; could some of that be attributed to Gardner putting in the recruiting work?

Gardner even seems to be inspiring younger Florida commits to follow in his footsteps and come aboard the recruiting train with 2017 QB and Gator commit Jake Allen joining the fun.

Allen alluded to the next few months as being a big time for the UF program, calling it a “Gator Coalition” which Gardner retweeted on his timeline.

Does that mean more talented players are taking their talents to Gainesville?

We don’t know for sure but it seems like whatever Gardner is doing, it seems to be making an impression on fellow players.

Will the Gators see the dividends of Gardner’s charisma and recruiting talent pay off come National Signing Day with a big-time recruiting class?

Time can only tell.

What do you think? Can Chauncey Gardner pull in more top recruits to join him at Florida? Let us know!

Next: Who Will Start on Defense for the 2015 Florida Gators?

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