GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida football had a mixed Early Signing Day, but a solid signing class.
Dan Mullen was happy with the results of the first signing day of the 2020 class.
"Real excited. Good guys," said the Gators head coach on Wednesday. "You look at it, not a lot of shocks. Not a lot of surprises, but I think that goes to the character of the players that we recruit and the job, the relationship our coaches form with these guys and how they work."
In the first hour, the Gators opened up by receiving four of the nation's top defenders in the 2020 class with five-star linebacker Derek Wingo, four-star defensive tackle Gervon Dexter, four-star defensive end Antwaun Powell and four-star corner Ethan Pouncey all officially becoming Gators on Wednesday.
“Our goal is to win the SEC East and move to the SEC Championship game," defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said on Wednesday. "I think with the class we’re signing we’re moving in that direction. Now it’s just a matter of getting them here and developing them.”
"Defensive line, obviously the last couple of years it hasn't been great. We've made some changes on our recruiting and our coaching staff to address that," said Mullen. "I think you see that with the success we have with some of the D line that we've recruited this year. And really excited about those guys.You want to be a great team, you want to compete for championships, you've got to be able to control the line of scrimmage."
Wingo and Dexter highlight the defenders in the 2020 class. Wingo was awarded the Gatorade Player of the Year in Florida after recording 52 tackles this season, including 14 sacks. Meanwhile, Dexter put up some impressive numbers amassing 103 solo tackles, including 35 for loss - 18 of them sacks.
"He's a really good player," Mullen said about Dexter. " He has size and athleticism. There's not many -- he walks in a room and you can say this guy has been blessed with certain athletic skills.But he reminds me a lot of Chris Jones. Reminds me a lot of Chris Jones, who I had at Mississippi State. I hate comparing guys to each other until we go see how they work. But just as a physical, just like tall, long and really athletic.
The Gators also needed to bring in numbers in the secondary, which they did.
At safety they were able to secure the signatures from four-stars Mordecai McDaniel, Rashad Torrence and Tre'Vez Johnson - although Johnson is more of a STAR/nickel. They were also able to add a few corners to the roster with the additions of Pouncey, four-star Jahari Rogers, four-star Fenley Graham, three-star Tre'Vez Johnson, and three-star Avery Helm.
"It would be the second straight year we're losing guys early to the NFL within the secondary," said Mullen. "You've had a little bit of attrition and dealt with some significant injuries and some career-ending injuries. And it was a position we were short on last year. And when you take that, with attrition, with injuries and with everything, there's going to be an opportunity for a lot of these guys to come in and play right away, get on the field right away. Really excited about the DBs in this class."
Florida is expected to add Marc Britt in February, when the South Florida native is set to sign.
UF strengthened the defensive line by adding four tackles and a defensive end in this cycle, while also shoring up the trenches on the other side of the ball by bringing in four-stars Richie Leonard and Josh Braun early and adding in Gerald Mincey - Issaiah Walker has not been officially announced - with Jovens Janvier expected to sign in February.
"I think that was huge for us," Mullen said about strengthening the trenches both offensively and defensively. "Obviously you've going to be great at the line of scrimmage. I think this is the second year we've addressed the future with the offensive line, which I'm happy with how we're building it for the future."
However, it's the misses that stole a few headlines on Wednesday.
Yes, the Gators failed to flip four-star defensive tackle Tim Smith away from Alabama on Early Signing Day, however, thats not the issue. Florida has struggled to secure and fill holes at running back and wide receiver so far this cycle.
Four-star wide receiver Jaquavion Fraziars is the only signature Florida inked on Early Signing Day at both positions.
"It's a position that we're looking at the balance of the roster, we knew this was going to come. So we were heavy, "said Mullen about the wide receiver room. "We over-signed. So as you balance a roster, we were plus one at the receiver position -- this season, on how we balance our roster out. And so we lose -- so we really lose four, but off the roster depth you're down three and we signed two. So there's still another spot that we'd look to address that moving forward.
Four-star receiver Leonard Manuel is set to sign on National Signing Day.
According to Mullen, they hope to have 10 wide receivers on the roster, they currently have nine with Fraziars commitment.
"Thats what we have slotted," said Mullen. "Then you throw in the curve ball with the transfer portal and guys leaving early for the NFL Draft. You're always trying to balance it, but we have set numbers we like to be at every position. Then there's always fluctuation with that."
The Gators failed to sign one running back, missing on Gators legacy running back EJ Smith on Wednesday, when Emmitt Smith's son chose to sign with Stanford over UF.
"No," said Mullen when asked if he was disappointed at not signing a running back. "Recruiting is not over. This is just the early signing period. We have six weeks from now, we do it all again.
"We already have a bunch of official visits already set for guys in January that we had set, I mean early, that have been set for quite a while. So it's hard to say with the totality of the class because it's just kind of the first part of it done."
At running back, Florida will continue to recruit Jahmyr Gibbs, Henry Parrish and evaluate Jalen White the next month and a half until February's signing day.
When asked if Mullen will change his approach for the next signing period, like tag-teaming certain running back targets since they are dealing with a smaller pool of athletes, the head coach said, "we're going to keep recruiting those guys the same way we've been recruiting them all along."
Stay with Gators Territory for more of our Signing Day coverage.
