GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida football won three big recruiting battles on the national stage on Wednesday.

In front of ESPN cameras, Lakeland four-star teammates, Deyavie Hammond, Lloyd Summerall and Keon Zipperer all chose the Gators.

The last time UF signed a handful of players from Lakeland, the Gators won a BCS national championship the following year. It is safe to say that Dan Mullen and company may have mentioned the 2007 class a time or two during their recruitments.

“They were guys that were young and growing up and looking up to guys like Chris Rainey and the Pouncey brothers and Ahmad Black and all the success those guys have,” Mullen said. “And now they are carrying on the tradition to come here to Florida and hopefully they get the opportunity to win a national championship here, as well.”

Miami was also in the mix with both Zipperer and Summerall. Prior to the duo's official visit to Florida two weeks ago, some inked the Hurricanes as the favorite. Mullen thought otherwise.

"I felt pretty good about it," said Mullen. "I really appreciate those guys. Those guys were nothing but straightforward with me, and everything they talked about and said they were going to do, they did right from the beginning all the way through the end. Now, personally for them, did it ever waiver and what was going through their mind and how they were getting through everything, possibly. But all I can go off of from them is all the conversations we had and all through the process, they were pretty steady in how the whole thing played out from -- from beginning to the end."

According to the Lakeland players, they committed to Florida over other programs because of the family feel around the program. Something that Mullen, his wife and his coaches have tried to create.

“Hopefully it’s real,” said Mullen about creating the family culture in Gainesville. “That’s one that’s important to me and guys within our program. That’s a big thing for me hiring coaches and as we put a staff together and that’s one thing we talk about, we want you to treat players like you would treat your own son.

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“We want coaches’ families around, wives around the program as much as possible and not just recruiting, but around all of our players on the team.”

Winning a recruiting battle over in-state rivals and heavy hitters like Alabama with millions of eyes watching is huge, however, there is a larger victory for UF.

Florida has made in-roads at creating a pipeline into one of the state's best high school programs.

"You look at the whole central Florida area is major Gator country," said Mullen. "Not just Lakeland, the whole part of the state, there's a lot of tradition, a lot of great players that have been here and that's really important for us to have -- to get the best players in the State of Florida from that area"

But it's not just taking back central Florida for Mullen. The Gators head coach wants to control the five, six hour radius surrounding the Swamp.

"I guess, that really encompasses the entire state of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, even starting to touch on Mississippi, and parts of Tennessee and South Carolina and you get that radius of guys," explained Mullen. "That's where you'll build and where we'll recruit players. We'll recruit top players from all around the country but generally speaking that's your local area. It's easier for players to come to campus, easier for them to come visit and they can get in a car and parents can get in a car and drive and come to all the games."

Florida secured signatures from several players that reside in that area, including four-star linebacker Tyron Hopper and four-star defensive tackle Jaelin Humphries - taking one step closer into securing several pipelines.

"I think we're talking to these guys over the next three years, the freshmen class, it's something like we play something like 25 of 36 games in the State of Florida in their first three years. In that area, parents are not having to travel all around the country to see their son play, so you know, in that area, I think there's a big plus, but you know, it's important that you be strong in your local area, and then you can go and recruit -- then recruit the best national players outside of that area"