Friday Night Lights at The Swamp: The Big Takeaways From UF’s Annual Event
Whether you were there in person or keeping up with the happenings on Twitter, Friday Night Lights at the University of Florida was a flurry of activity.
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The annual event featured numerous members of the Gators program on hand, as well as possible future alumni as well, including several high profile recruits.
There were impossible catches made, scholarship offers being thrown about and verbal commitments to announce.
At times it was exhausting trying to keep up with the latest breaking news and trust me, there were lots of it to sift through.
There were a few key news flashes that occurred at FNL 2015 that every Gators fan probably noticed.
Jim McElwain’s staff is trying to catch up on the 2016 class
If Friday Night Lights proved one thing, it’s that there are still a big number of 5-star recruits in the 2016 class that are at least still interested in hearing what Florida has to offer.
Apr 11, 2015; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain during the first half at the Orange and Blue Debut at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Jim McElwain managed to lure the talented Nate Craig-Myers to campus for his second visit this month. Craig-Myers, who was committed to Auburn until early this year, has continuously been linked as a possible Florida State commit.
Related: Nate Craig-Myers should commit to the Gators
These last few weeks have shown, however, that the Gators are certainly more than just in the running for his commitment.
The Gators also hosted 5-star athlete Demetris Robertson and DE Shavar Manuel last night, with Manuel dropping possibly the biggest bit of news.
247 Sports currently predicts Manuel will commit to Florida State with 89 percent certainty; however, the IMG Academy product said that he’s “an SEC guy,” effectively narrowing his choices down to Alabama, LSU and Florida.
Don’t forget about 5-star DT Dexter Lawrence, who also has been a strong Florida lean. Lawrence is rated as the best high school player in the country by Rivals.com, so nailing down his commitment would be huge for McElwain and his program.
The Gators are set to have a talented 2017 class
Friday wasn’t just about the 2016 class, as the Gators hosted an abundance of talented 2017 players too, which included a commitment from 2017 WR Daquon Green.
Dexter Lawrence is rated as the best high school player in the country by Rivals.com. Nailing down his commitment would be huge for Jim McElwain
Rivals top 100 2017 receiver James Robinson was also out on the field on Friday, as was 2017 QB Gators commit, Jake Allen.
Besides just Allen’s natural talent on the field, the 4-star recruit has been hard at work recruiting other talented players off the field, which included a Florida flirtation from now Ohio State commit, DE Nick Bosa.
Florida even had prized 4-star OT Kai-Leon Herbert out on the field, who firmly has the Gators as his number school thus far.
While McElwain and his staff got off to a delayed start in recruiting the 2016 class, they have definitely worked hard on nailing down 2017 targets.
The program is recruiting as a collective team
Nov 15, 2014; Gainesville, FL, USA;Florida Gators defensive lineman Joey Ivie (91) during the first quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Finally, there seems to be a collective effort on behalf of everyone currently involved in the Florida program to recruit targeted players.
Led by McElwain, you obviously have the various position coaches like defensive line coach Chris Rumph and defensive coordinator Geoff Collins recruiting several key players for the Gators.
There was also a large contingent of current Gator players who were attending Friday Night Lights to help entice recruits to pull the trigger on their Gator commitments, like Joey Ivie and the aforementioned Craig-Myers.
What’s even more interesting is verbally committed recruits are working hard to get other players to join UF, even before signing their national letters of intent.
Allen is one of the more notable Gator commits leading this charge but so is 4-star DB Chauncey Gardner, who also has been hitting the recruiting trail hard with some his own buddies like Craig-Myers and others.
There’s a collective excitement around the program that can even be felt by the media and fans alike because of the teamwork and unity being displayed, something I hope will continue to be stressed.
In all, the Gators received three commitments on Friday Night Lights (3-star center Brett Heggie, 3-star Quincy Lenton, 3-star Laquon Green) with 4-star LB Jeremiah Moon committing early on Saturday.
Realistically, all of these “commitments” don’t mean anything until signed letters of intent are faxed in, but it’s nice to see the energy and excitement for a Gators program revived again, especially with the past few seasons being more than disappointing.