With the dead period coming to an end, the Florida coaching staff will be hitting the recruiting trail hard on Thursday. The entire staff, including head coach Jim McElwain, will be out on the road seeing many of the top recruiting targets on the board.
Here's a look at some of the names the staff is expected to see on Thursday.
------
* Florida Gators Recruiting Big Board
* Looking at the likely replacements for the early entry players
* Early Entry Profile: Kyree Campbell
* Early Entry Profile: Shawn Davis
------
* Florida head coach Jim McElwain will be in the Tampa along with defensive line coach Chris Rumph. The duo are expected to see running back commit Malik Davis, wide receiver commit DaQuon Green, as well as 2018 offensive lineman Richard Gouraige and Nicholas Petit-Frere.
* While in the Tampa area Rumph is also expected to see Rivals100 defensive end commit Zachary Carter as well.
* Wide receivers coach Kerry Dixon is expected to join McElwain on the visit to wide receiver commit Green. He will also see Rivals100 wide receiver James Robinson on Thursday. The Gators will host Robinson on campus this coming weekend for an official visit. Dixon is also slated to visit 2018 prospects Warren Thompson, Malcolm Lamar, and Jerome Ford.
* Offensive line coach Mike Summers is will see 2018 defensive lineman Rick Sandidge on Thursday. He is also expected to see wide receiver Ryan Jones as well as conduct an in-home visit with offensive line commit TJ Moore. The Gators will host Moore on campus for an official visit the weekend of January 20th.
* Defensive backs coach Torrian Gray will be in the Tampa and Polk County area on Thursday. He is slated to visit with Southern Cal commit Juwan Burgess at Plant High School, Florida linebackers commit Ventrell Miller, and will be joining Dixon on his in-home visit with wide receiver target James Robinson. Both Miller and Robinson will be on campus this weekend for official visits.
* Running backs coach Tim Skipper will see Rivals250 defensive back Brad Stewart on Thursday. The Gators have been seen as the team to beat for his services and will host him on campus the weekend of January 27th. Skipper will see 2018 prospect Ja’Marr Chase as well.
* Newly appointed defensive coordinator Randy Shannon will be in South Florida. He will see cornerback commit Marco Wilson, Michigan offensive tackle commit Kai-Leon Herbert, and defensive tackle target Tedarrell Slaton. The Gators, who are trending for both Herbert and Slaton, will host the duo on campus before signing day. Where things stand now the Gators have a great chance of bringing both Herbert and Slaton into the fold as we hit the final stretch run.
* Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier will be in the South Florida area on Thursday. He is expected to see Oklahoma defensive end commit K’jakre Daley, quarterback commit Jake Allen, as well as 2018 targets Gurvan Hall and Keidron Smith.
* With Florida missing an assistant, Director of Player Personnel Drew Hughes will be on the recruiting trail for the Orange and Blue, and probably has the most impressive list out of all coaches out on the trail Thursday. Hughes is expected to see Rivals100 linebacker Jacob Phillips, an Oklahoma commit, who had a strong performance during Army All-American week. Phillips has already taken all five of his official visits, so if a visit to UF transpired it would have to be an unofficial visit. Hughes will also be out to see many of the Gators top targets in the state of Alabama, with Rivals100 defensive end LaBryan Ray, four-star offensive tackle Kendall Randolph, Auburn commit TD Moultry, and wide receiver Henry Ruggs.
* Tight ends coach Greg Nord will see Florida State defensive tackle commit Cory Durden, Georgia wide receiver Tamorrian Terry, Auburn commit Alec Jackson, and tight end commit Zech Byrd. Outside of Byrd, the Gators aren’t major players in any of these recruitments.
