Breakdown: Florida commits most to least likely to stick
It has been eerily quiet on the recruiting front in the 15 days since Florida parted ways with Jim McElwain. Last week the Gators suffered their first – and only – decommitment to date when Rivals100 wide out Ja'Marr Chase decided to open things back up.
Normally, you see much more movement.
For example Tennessee suffered four decommitments in a matter of hours when they announced the firing of Butch Jones on Sunday.
Today, Inside the Gators takes a closer look at Florida's remaining 18 commitments and ranks them in order of most likely to least likely to remain committed to the Gators.
The ranking is assuming Florida hires a well known coach in the next 3-4 weeks, none of the current assistant coaches are retained and that the new staff will actually honor each current commitment.
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* Recruiting Wire: Florida commit taking visit
* Thamel: Florida focused on three candidates
* Florida head coaching candidates weekend wrap-up
* Sunday 3-2-1: Thoughts on Florida's latest loss
* Notebook: Shannon saw more fight in Gators, emotional Zaire pushed to play
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The Skinny: Here is the definition of a player who committed to a school, not a coach. Burney wants to attend and play football for the University of Florida. This is recruiting and a strange things happen, but it would be shocking if he didn't sign with the Orange & Blue.
The Skinny: He has been one of the two most active players in recruiting for Florida before and after the coaching change. Much like Burney above, Russell wants to play for Florida. However, in his case it wouldn't hurt the Gators chances if they retained some sort of South Florida presence on their current coaching or support staff.
The Skinny: Yes, he recently took an official visit to Arkansas and others could be on the way. However, Dunlap grew up a Florida fan in Jacksonville and despite the Gators being hot and cold on him up until he pledged, he remained hoping that he could suit up for the Orange & Blue. Combine that with how badly linemen are needed and the fact that there aren't many linemen committed, you have to like the chances of Florida retaining Dunlap.
The Skinny: The fact that he committed after McElwain departed tells you that he isn't concerned with who is and isn't the head coach of the Florida Gators. With UF being his only major committable offer, it is hard to phantom him passing up the Gators on his own.
The Skinny: We were set to get an update with him on Friday night after his opening round playoff victory. However, when presented with the questions, focused mostly on his commitment status and recruiting, he declined to be interviewed. He would only say, in a non-interview answer, that he is firmly committed to the Gators. That makes perfect sense. With his brother at Mississippi State, he understands that coaches can come and go. Plus, he also sees what a huge need UF has at linebacker.
The Skinny: He hasn't said a thing since the coaching change, but this weekend he did request that top Florida offensive line target Nick Petit-Frere add and direct message him on Twitter. Without knowing exactly the reason, I would take that as a sign of him attempting to recruit him. He likes Florida, and the opportunity, but I do think that how the coaching staff shake-up plays out will impact his decision. History tells us that the further away a young man is in a time like this, the more likely he is to open things back up.
The Skinny: At first I was going to put him above Clement as being more solid, but then again, it feels like he is more closely tied to Ja'Juan Seider. Each time he visits, they are attached at the hip. Florida has proximity and opportunity in their favor, but it may also depend on Seider being retained here. Another factor in Florida's favor is that all of his other favorites (Georgia, Florida State, Auburn and Alabama) have big time backs already committed. That may limit his options if he wants to stay relatively close to home.
The Skinny: He has programs such as Michigan and Oregon in his ear, but he didn't sound like he was quite ready to jump ship just yet. If Clemson tried to re-enter the picture, there might be more for the Gator Nation to worry about. For now, it feels like Upshaw is playing a waiting game.
RELATED: Three programs pursuing Upshaw
The Skinny: At one time when it was questioned whether or not he would be in the class it was because Florida was picking up steam along the recruiting trail and it was thought that perhaps the Gators could jettison a couple of wide out commits to replace them with other receivers. When Williams talked to ITG last month he said he was going to take some visits, but was 100-percent solid. He, like many in the class, has eschewed doing interviews. So, where he currently stands is mostly speculation.
RELATED: Williams says he is 100-percent
The Skinny: When he committed to Florida the Gators had already lost two in a row, but McElwain's seat wasn't all that hot at that time. He isn't talking, but if there is good news for the Gators it is that he was down to a final two of Florida and Clemson and this past weekend the Tigers hosted a huge visitor weekend, and he wasn't there.
The Skinny: It was surprising when Florida took his commitment over the summer. At one time he was committed to the Gators out of high school, then he was committed to Georgia before signing with Ohio, but not qualifying. He sat out last year with an injury, but recovered to play in all 10 games this year, recording 26 tackles, 2 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions. Originally from Jacksonville, you would think that if Florida wants him, he will be a Gator. Being a JUCO though does impact his timeline as far a the search goes.
The Skinny: When the McElwain news first broke Corral was the biggest recruiting asset for the Florida Gators. He - along with Randy Russell - started the group chat with all of the commits, telling them to stand firm. He has said (or more like tweeted) all the right things, but who knows. There are signs that point to both good and bad outcomes for the Gators. First, even while he was committed to Southern Cal he was interested in Georgia. He wanted to play in the southeast. When it didn't happen with the Bulldogs, he immediately jumped at the opportunity with Florida. That shows that perhaps the school, location and conference are more important than the coaches. However, he also has a very good relationship with Doug Nussmeier. There is all but zero chance that he is retained by the new staff (unless they pull the trick where they keep him through Signing Day). It is hard to get kids to come across country in the first place, but would a sexy, offensive minded, hire be enough to seal the deal here?
The Skinny: Here is another player that could have been moved up a couple of slots, but he hasn't given an indication of where he stands. He had a ton of offers when he committed, but how many are still out there now that classes have really started filling up? It is hard to imagine he committed based on the tight ends coach (Greg Nord), thus, his departure may not matter. Being in Boca, that is Seider territory, how close are they? Florida's big need at tight end could be a deciding factor.
The Skinny: He was kind of wishy-washy even before the coaching change. He has a young child he would like to stay near. So, what may work in Florida's favor here is that with as well as Miami is doing, they may think that they can do better than Thornton at this time. Thus, leaving him pretty much short of instate options.
The Skinny: He hasn't said a thing yet, but his father said he is solid to the Gators. He has pretty good offers closer to home. It will be interesting to see if Virginia Tech makes a move here.
The Skinny: Wilson, who officially visited South Carolina two weeks ago, will head to Alabama this weekend on an official visit. That may or may not be concerning. Since pledging to Florida, he has said all along that he planned to take all his official visits. So this isn't a reaction to the coaching shake-up. The one to Columbia isn't all that worrisome. However, going to Tuscaloosa though should be something that concerns the Gators staff.
The Skinny: He is a bit harder to slot, because to be frank, he loves attention - so little tweets or comments are hard to read as being real or attention grabbing troll attempts. He has been flirting with Alabama since before his commitment to Florida and has still visited Tuscaloosa more this season than he has Gainesville.
The Skinny: When ITG interviewed Gammage the Friday night before McElwain was relieved of his duties, though he said he remained committed to Florida, it didn't seem like there was much of a connection. He said that he hadn't visited Gainesville for a game this season and wasn't sure if he would.
RELATED: Gammage talks commitment status
Then he decommitted via Twitter the night that McElwain was relieved of his duties, but promptly deleted the decommitment tweet.
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