Detailing Billy Napier’s “Inside Out” Recruiting Strategy
By Will Thomas
![Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier thanks his team for a good scrimmage after Blue beat Orange 34-0 as the Florida Gators scrimmaged themselves during the annual Orange and Blue spring game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL, Thursday afternoon, April 14, 2022. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner]2022Oca Orangeandbluegame](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fca8ce4358f6019f70bdf0996e10314f4033332a7c2944932518d99b1de92af51.jpg "Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier thanks his team for a good scrimmage after Blue beat Orange 34-0 as the Florida Gators scrimmaged themselves during the annual Orange and Blue spring game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL, Thursday afternoon, April 14, 2022. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner]2022Oca Orangeandbluegame")
During his first year as the Florida Gators head coach, Billy Napier has been tasked with putting UF back on the map, and getting them back to the elite level of football that they used to play.
A large part of bringing the Gators back is recruiting. The state of Florida is crawling with elite talent, and as the flagship university in the state, Gainesville should be the premier destination for high level recruits.
Although he’s missed on a few top targets, Napier is executing his plan perfectly on the trail.
What is “Inside Out” Recruiting?
When he and his staff got to Gainesville, they wanted to take an “inside out” approach to recruiting. This means that they wanted to prioritize landing players out of Florida, before reaching across the country for top tier guys.
To this point, all 9 of UF’s commits in the 2023 class go to high school within 350 miles of Gainesville. This does include one player from Georgia (Aaron Gates) but still shows how Napier has successfully implemented his plan.
Why Is This Valuable?
Being able to lock down the state of Florida is the first step to re-establishing the Gators’ prominence on the recruiting trail. In the past few years, schools like Alabama, Georgia, Ohio St, and others have been poaching top Florida talent from the in-state schools.
No out of state recruit is going to see UF as a respectable school unless we prove that we can grab the top in-state talent as well.
Having a consistent presence in the state of Florida may be enough to make a great recruiting class by itself, given how much 4 and 5 star talent there is in the Sunshine State.
We Know It’s Working
Like I said before, all 9 of the current commits in the 2023 class are within 350 miles of Gainesville. Despite people trying to push the idea that UF is struggling in recruiting right now, in the past week Napier has gotten three 4 star players out of Florida to commit to the Florida Gators.
Just because every 5 star in the country isn’t flocking to Gainesville, doesn’t mean that Napier and co aren’t doing a good job on the trail.
Keep up with Florida Gators football here.