Mullen wanted quality over quantity
Recruiting never sleeps, especially on National Signing Day.
Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen spent the annual frenzy with one eye on the athletes committing today and one on the future, as in the near future.
“Today kinda wraps up the 2018 recruiting class but recruiting is a 24/7 365 deal. I think I probably even spent more time with 2019, on the phone with 2019’s today than I did with 2018 guys.”
The Gators ended the day ranked No. 17 on Rivals and a composite No. 14 nationally for their 2018 class. Mullen added six new letters of intent to the 12 players who inked with Florida during the early signing period.
That is in addition to the two transfers who are still awaiting word from the NCAA Clearinghouse.
By the time the fax machine was turned off, this is what the Gators class looked like.
Noah Banks (OL)—Early Enrollee
Chris Bleich (OL)—Early Enrollee
Amari Burney (ATH)—Early Enrollee
Andrew Chatfield, Jr. (LB)—Signed
Iverson Clement (RB)—Early Enrollee
Jacob Copeland (WR)—Signed
Trey Dean (DB)—Early Enrollee
Richard Gouraige (OL)—Signed
John Huggins (DB)—Signed
Emory Jones (QB)—Early Enrollee
Dante Lang (TE)—Signed
Malik Langham (DL)—Signed
Griffin McDowell (OL)—Signed
Evan McPherson (K)—Signed
Dameon Pierce (RB)—Early Enrollee
Kyle Pitts (TE)—Signed
David Reese (DB)—Signed
Randy Russell (DB)—Early Enrollee who has been medically disqualified
Justin Watkins (ATH)—Signed
Van Jefferson (WR)—Transfer
Trevon Grimes (WR)—Transfer
Offensive and Defensive Line
One area of need in particular was high on Mullen’s list, as he looked to add depth along the line on each side of the ball.
“One of the things that is important, with the offensive line and defensive line to me, is one of the things I've learned as a head coach. You never want to fall behind in that position. I mean, you want to make sure you're going to succeed in this league, you have got to have depth on both sides of the line of scrimmage. And so, you know, one of the things that guys will see to and you'll see as we move forward, we play a lot of guys. So to be able to play a lot of guys, you've got to have a lot of guys. So it was important to get those guys."
Andrew Chatfield is now listed at 6-foot-2, 226-pounds and comes to Gainesville having finished his high school career 220 tackles, 41 sacks, two interceptions, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Malik Langham is 6-foot-6, 269-pounds and the four-star has a career 208 tackles, 19 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
On the offensive line the Gators added Noah Banks, Chris Bleich, Richard Gouraige and Griffin McDowell this cycle.
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Offensive Playmakers
Mullen got his quarterback back, Emory Jones, in December during the early signing day and now on the traditional day he added some playmakers.
At wide receiver the Gators picked up Jacob Copeland, a four-star out of Pensacola who recorded 2,261 yards and 19 touchdowns on 104 receptions through his high school career.
Copeland also brought the drama to signing day when his mother left upset, before returning with a hug, after Jacob picked Florida over Alabama and Tennessee.
Mullen says he sensed tension in Copeland’s decision the past few days but it ecstatic with the end result.
“You know, over the last 72 hours in talking to him every time, I think he's had a lot of stress put on him, a lot of people trying to pull him in different directions, and you know, the one thing I always told him is just say, hey, you know, you've got to block that out. You've got to see and know what's best for you and your future.
"Early on -- we had a great relationship. He called and said, hey, Coach, I'm going to decommit and take visits, and I appreciated that, and we had a great conversation. He said, I still love Florida, I can't wait to come visit Florida, get to know you, get to know everybody in the new staff. Everything was handled right. We've communicated with him the whole time. I think obviously there was comfort with the University, there was comfort in coming and representing his home state, there was comfort in he got to go to the Under Armour All-American game and go to go play with several of our commitments that are already enrolled in school. I think there was comfort when he showed up on his visit that he could sit down with those guys and say, hey, you've been here for three weeks, what's it like now. I know you just got here, what's it like to be new here.
Mullen and crew were also landed Justin Watkins.
He’s listed as an athlete and don’t be surprised to see him start out trying out both sides of the ball.
“Justin Watkins is somebody that he's electric. He's an electric guy with the ball in his hands, and you watch this year, any time they go put him at corner, he's a lock-down cover corner. They put him at running back, makes things happen with the ball in his hand. Put the ball in his hands in the slot, in the kicking game, everything. He's the type of player we expect to have in our program.”
Transition Class
Mullen took a less is more approach with his transition class. Though Florida signed only 18 prospects, the Gators finished No. 7 in the nation in average star ranking per signee.
He informed reporters that the roster would not be full at 85 come fall but that was “partly by design” as he didn’t want his staff simply plugging holes. Instead he’ll spend this next year searching for the guys to build off of his first 2018 haul.
“We were looking at our roster spots, but also, like I said, it wasn't about, okay, we want to recruit this many guys at this position. Hey, there's a spot here, but we're not going to take somebody unless we feel they fit the program. And so when we made guys -- we kind of singled guys out of how important they are, that they fit our program, we identified, this is a guy that we want, we went, our coaches worked their tail off to have them come be part of our family and understand what it is to be a Florida Gator. And so there was that strategy. I mean, there are guys that we didn't get today. I'm much more concerned about the guys we got. As I sit there, and I go to sleep tonight, I just hope every one of these kids made decisions for the right reasons, because if they did, they're going to have the opportunity wherever they want then to be successful in their lives. That's important. I'm excited about the guys we got and excited about the research we were able to do and the decisions we make. As you said, we're very strategic of how we planned it out, especially with this second signing day. You know, the first signing day, the benefit of having the two signing days, you actually can take a breath in between and look and say, okay, now we have these spots, but again, who's going to fit where and who are we going to take to fill those spots. You know, and try to put it all together.”
Transfers
Transfers Van Jefferson from Ole Miss and Trevon Grimes from Ohio State are still in a limbo period as they await word from the NCAA.
“They're in. They're working out with the team. And so I want to see -- their adjustment is going to be maybe a little bit different than the high school guys coming in because you have Tre and Van, a little bit older, have been through it before, within the program, and so expect them to really kind of pick up as college players. You know, it's not all new with the introductory teaching. We'll see. I don't have any updates on where they are eligibility wise for us, but we're excited they're working their tail off with the rest of the team right now.”
Jefferson finished second on the Rebels team in 2017 with 456 receiving yards and one touchdown on 42 catches.
Grimes, a Florida native who played at powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas, saw less action under Urban Meyer with three receptions for 20 yards in just two games. He ran track while in high school, speed that will be appreciated in Gainesville.
Notes
Mullen mentioned that former Gator great Percy Harvin is back in town.
“He was over in the office during the Christmas break, in the dead period I got to see him, and my wife sees him now because we just rented a house, and she sees him walking the dogs every morning after she brings the kids to school. My wife sees him more than I do, but he's back here in town and living in Gainesville, so it's great to have him back around. Hopefully we're going to get him back in school and finish his degree.”
During the recruiting period Mullen made a splash when he arrived for a visit in a helicopter, something most only relate to Nick Saban.
However the Gators head coach says he’s done this for years as it makes sense logistically. And more importantly, it’s something Florida recruits of the future can expect to see.
“I'm sure it makes a splash, but I mean, it's getting around recruiting. I mean, as you said, there's such a small window for me as a head coach to get around to see everybody, and you want to get from one place and jump around from place to place. You know, it's something I imagine in the future that we'll continue doing, probably do even more, especially you get into -- especially around the state. If you're in a metropolitan area, I'd rather be visiting with high school coaches than sitting in traffic, and I'd probably rather be visiting with high school coaches than driving 45 minutes to an hour through the country to get from one school to the next. You know, it's something that we'll continue to do. I mean, we use the plane -- we use planes and fly around from city to city to see guys, and it's something we'll continue to do in the future.”
Now that the gauntlet is run and Mullen won’t be allowed back on the recruiting trail until September, he’s ready to get to know the guys he’s been tasked with coaching.
“I’m excited for this next phase, wrapping up recruiting and having the opportunity to be back around [Gainesville] and getting to know our players.”
The Orange and Blue Debut Spring game is set for April 14 with spring ball beginning the end of March.
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