Five-star cornerback Chris Steele joins forces with the Florida Gators
Fresh off a commitment from Arjei Henderson, a Rivals100 wide receiver, Dan Mullen and the Florida Gators just hit the jackpot for the second time this week after reeling in a commitment from Chris Steele, the nation's third-ranked cornerback.
The five-star prospect had also been considering Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina and USC, but UF's rich tradition in the secondary, mixed with his familiarity and comfort level in Gainesville, simply made the Gators too appetizing to pass up.
A product of Belleflower (Cali.) St. John Bosco, Steele is labeled as the nation's 13th-ranked player overall on Rivals.
Thirteen of the Gators' 23 commitments are tagged with four stars, but Dan Mullen now truly has his headliner for the class of 2019 in Steele, who models his game after Quincy Wilson.
"To me, it's just the fact that they produce DBs," Steele told GatorsTerritory earlier this week in San Antonio. "I saw stability at Mississippi State. Coach Mullen gave me his word that he's not leaving Florida, so I'm big on stability and development.
"I saw what him, (defensive coordinator) coach (Todd) Grantham and the rest of the staff did at Mississippi State from bringing a pretty good Mississippi State team to having one of the best. The difference from last year to this year is tremendous.
"Feleipe (Franks) looks like a whole new player, man. That dude is a winner and that's the type of people I want to be around."
Speaking of comfort and the home-like feel at Florida, Steele says the majority of its defensive staff played a pivotal role in Saturday's decision on NBC. Ron English, the safeties coach in Gainesville, is a California native himself, while Dan Mullen pushes all the right buttons on a weekly basis as well.
"Probably coach Mullen," Steele said of which coach he speaks with the most. "Me and coach Mullen talk on the phone quite often, maybe once or twice a week. I talk to coach English a lot too just 'cause he's a California dude and relates to me real well.
"Coach Warren, it's pretty balanced and they all talk to me about different things. Coach English, if I were to go there, he would be a dude to take care of me if I were to be that far from home. At the same time, coach Warren sort of had a similiar experience as me, so it's not really about Florida with him and it's more the fact that it's going to be a hard transition, but (he'll) obviously be there for me."
For Steele and the Gators, the mutual interest really catapulted to another level after the West Coast native attended UF's inaugural "Gator Grill Out" back in May. The five-star prospect relished the family-like atmosphere, and says everything he soaked in from the staff was music to his years.
In fact, Steele ended up returning to the Swamp just a couple of weeks later for his official visit, so the Gators have been going all in for nearly a year. Now throw in the fact Florida conducted multiple in-home visits featuring four staff members and you will understand why Steele has no problem relocating across the map to SEC Country.
“That’s DBU,” Steele told Rivals National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney. “With Chauncey (Gardner-Johnson) leaving especially and the lack of depth, I feel I could come in and play right away. That’s where I am with them. I grew up liking Florida. A really rich program, really rich history.
"Regardless of who the coach is, Florida is always going to be Florida. They’re never going to bring in a coach who’s going to ruin the reputation of the school.”
Steele is the first five-star prospect to sign with the Gators since Antonneous Clayton in 2016. He is also the highest-ranked defensive back commit since Jalen Tabor, a former five-star prospect himself who graduated in 2014.
As a senior, Steele racked up 32 tackles (22 solo), 11 pass deflections, two blocked field goals and an interception for the 13-1 Braves.
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