Orange and Blue Hue » National Signing Day Has Come and Gone

National Signing Day Has Come and Gone

Debose We here at O&B Hue are not recruitniks by any stretch of the imagination. (In fact, placing an image of a runny-nosed high school kid — that’s Andre Debose, actually — right here on the front page feels vaguely creepy.) So you’ll have to bear with us as we ‘evaluate’ Florida’s class of 2009.

The haul. 16 signees. Rivals avg. star rating was 3.94 (three 5-stars, 9 4-stars), ranked #10. Scout avg. star rating: 3.81 (four 5-stars, five 4-stars, seven 3-stars), ranked #21.

A word about recruiting rankings. The popular notion is that they really don’t matter, but for some reason we all seem to care a great deal about signing the top-ranked class in the nation. Without question, many top-ranked recruits turn out to be busts; sometimes it’s the lowly 3-star (Sam Bradford anyone?) who rises up to become a Heisman Trophy winner. That being said, I have learned to have total confidence in Urban Meyer’s recruiting as evidenced by the two crystal footballs he’s brought to Gainesville in his first four years on the job.

Who we got. Obviously the headliners are WR Andre Debose (6-0, 170), who played his high-school ball right down the street from yours truly in Sanford, FL, and OT Xavier Nixon (6-6, 285), who is one of the most highly-celebrated players in the history of North Carolina high-school football. The other five stars are LB Jelani Jenkins (6-1, 200) and DT Gary Brown (6-4, 275). For the full list, check Scout and Rivals.

Urban Meyer can’t stop raving about Debose, who he says is the best football player in America (we can only assume he means ‘high school player’) and Nixon, who wants to start on the O-line as a freshman, but needs to gain at least 30 pounds first. They look good. We’ll see.

Also of interest:

1) The lone quarterback signed by UF in ‘09 is 4-star Jordan Reed (6-3, 225), who has been a Florida commit since August of ‘08. Reed has the frame and ability to play quarterback in Meyer’s spread-option offense and will benefit from the tutelage of Tim Tebow and Johnny Brantley, who projects to be the starter in 2010 after Tebow’s eligibility has been exhausted. Initial word on the street is that Reed will prepare to be available immediately, although in the role of 3rd-string quarterback he will likely be able to redshirt his freshman year, protecting four additional years of eligibility starting in 2010.

2) S Dee Finley (6-1, 193), who wasn’t able to qualify academically the last go-around, is now a member of the 2009 class. Finley brings some additional depth to Florida’s defensive backfield, which is shaping up to be one of the best in the nation.

Initial reactions: First of all, this is a nice class. However, going from back-to-back Top 3 classes these last two years to a #10 (Rivals) and #21 (Scout) ranking is a bit (not a lot; just a bit) disappointing. Also, Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin snagged WR Nu’Keese Richardson (5-9, 165) and CB Marsalis Teague (5-10, 170) right out from under Florida’s nose, on signing day no less, which is more than a little bit irritating. It’s also a small group: with only 16 signees, 2012 promises to be a senior-light year with the inevitable attrition that occurs throughout the lifespan of a recruiting class. Florida was clearly expecting to get a few more that slipped away.

And of course, we can’t finish the conversation without discussing Mr. Greg Reid. As everyone knows, Reid was a Florida commit one year ago but after a powerful showing at the Under Armour hame, signed with FSU. It blows my mind that any recruit would choose FSU over any other school given their sorry state of existence, coaching limbo, record of awful player development and looming NCAA sanctions. And Urban Meyer was none too thrilled:

“[He] was pretty upset,” Reid said. “He asked ‘Where were all these other schools before the Under Armour game? Did they even know who Greg Reid was as a sophomore and junior like we [Florida] did?’ [Meyer] spoke in a very powerful [tone].”

Powerful tone. Ha. Mr. Reid, you made a terrible decision. We will see you at Florida Field next season.

But, overall, this is a very good (not great, but very good) haul for the Gators, which, if sandwiched with another great class in ‘10, will help keep Florida competing for SEC and national championships without skipping a beat. Kudos to the coaching staff on a job well done.

Another note to consider, when it comes to those damnable rankings anyhow, is that ESPN’s Scouting Division, which according to Gatorcountry.com is “the only scouting service staffed by former football coaches and players who really know what they’re doing rather than some geeks with keyboards” ranks this class as #5 overall (LSU #1, Bama #2, Texas #3, USC #4).

In any case, the SEC has another amazing class of student-athletes. Clearly, the best players in the nation want to play in the SEC, and that’s a good thing. The better our conference recruits, the better chance we have of winning the SEC’s fourth national championship in as many years. Of course, that may make life difficult for the Gators as LSU and Bama are doing their best to rise to ‘perennial power’ status, but as long as we have Urban Meyer I like our chances to win this conference each and every year.

Also, Lane Kiffin is rapidly rising through the ranks to become the most obnoxious coach in the SEC, hands down. Talk about all hat, no cattle…

15 Comments so far
Leave a comment

I Hope Kiffin is prepared to back up all his talk in the SEC this year. This is from a scout.com article:

“The new coach couldn’t help gloating a bit about prying Richardson (Pahokee, Fla.) and Teague (Paris, Tenn.) away from the Gators. He noted that Florida was Richardson’s only official visit until his recent tour of UT and recalled that Teague told Vol coaches he was “100 percent committed to Florida” at one time.”

When the Dubose commitment rolled in the writing was on the wall. Neither of these players(Richardson or Teague) saw themselves as role players but rather thought they were the obvious successor to Percy.

I haven’t been paying attention to recruiting much due to a serious post-celebratory hangover that I am just getting out of. Am I disappointed? Not really. With a full complement of starters coming back for next season should we have expected a blockbuster class of recruits? I personally don’t think so.
Does anyone know if we have any recruits that graduated this year to enroll in this semester? After seeing the Pouncey twins’ affect after their early enrollment, I see that as a harbinger to the upcoming success of a signing class.

Misspelling on Debose. Not Dubose. Content of the article was good.

And the early enrollment list is on the rivals link in the article Burrito. I think there are 6 early enrollments.

I think we pulled a good class. Of course a class isn’t going to be ranked high when you only get 16 recruits. The truth is that we are laden with sophomores and juniors. All these kids care about is “me” and instant playing time, case in point Greg Reid. Dude has one good game and thinks he’s God. I’ll look forward to him looking at the scoreboard the next 4 years.

That’s not the way UF rolls. We tell them that you will have to earn your starting spot as it’s not given to you. I really think other schools operate under the “come to us and your on the field day one” concept. 4 years of stats as compared to 2 or 3 equals better shot at the NFL which is the only thing these kids care about. Our kids care about getting it done and bringing home the hardware. With that comes good pub and the NFL.

BBS : Of our class, 6 enrolled early and have already been hitting it hard.

Nick Alajajian
Jon Bostic
Dee Finley
Jonotthan Harrison
Edwin Herbert
Desmond Parks

I’ll echo the general sentiment - it would have been nice to get a couple of more players, but this was never going to be a big class, given our astonishing depth at the moment. And since the insta-ratings are based on aggregate points, a small class equals a less highly-rated one. (Besides, several of the classes notionally ahead of UF’s are over-stuffed; by the time they get around to actually handing out the scholarships they’ll have had to cut guys loose. Seven SEC schools signed extras - Ole Miss literally has a class-and-a-half.)

The priorities looked to be finding a Percy-ish player and restocking the O-line, the one unit that really suffered attrition, and both appear to have been met.

Also, Kiffin has been running his mouth again, this time accusing Meyer of breaking recruiting rules (regarding a player he poached from us, no less)… I’m really going to enjoy pounding Tennessee next year. Kiffin has grabbed the ‘most obnoxious coach in the SEC’ title with astounding speed.

I like this recruiting class. Its hard to get top tier talent to come join you after you’ve had the recent run of success Florida has had. Kids know the depth chart is filled, and why come in and compete when (FSU) will just give you the job, along with whatever else in violation of NCAA rules.

The kids who are coming to Florida are better off by simply challenging themselves to step to the elite of college football at UF. Not only that, Urban made it a point to reload with a smaller class in numbers this year. I also notice him targeting higher character kids.

Gentlemen, have no fear, Urban’s still our head coach.

Seriously, I despised Tuberville greatly but Kiffy has stepped in nicely as being the biggest jackass in the SEC. I can’t understand why a storied foundation, rich in history would have some young Southern Cali coach spouting off at the mouth embarrassing the university and himself. I respected Fulmer and what he did at UT but Kiffy has done nothing but bring discredit to the Vols. He’s placed a bulls-eye on his back and the Vols bigger than Nashville and now every coach will be taking pot shots at him to smack him from that pedestals he’s perched on. Overall, great class Debose will make an impact almost immediately.

Anyone else that chose to go elsewhere this NSD……well as far as I’m concerned you’re a fool and GATORBAIT!!!! Reid and Nuke we’re gunnin for ya!!!

GO GATORS!!!!

If you’re the type that likes to see the SEC succeed, then seeing nine (yes, nine) league schools in the top 25 is a sight to behold.

Also, I’m not fretting a lot about the ranking of the class. UF just had arguably the youngest team ever to win the national championship, and at first glance, the overall quality of the class is the highest in the Meyer era (including 2006)

Overall, it’s a great class to fill positions of need.

How many of the recruits, who are not EEs, academically qualified? Are all ten going to make it in? What about the ones who went elsewhere? where do they stand in terms of academics? I know Urban does not waste time on recruits he think will not qualify. Where do ours stand and whee do the ones we lost stand?

I made this statement yesterday in the Orlando-Slantinel; “A great recruiting class does not necessarily transpose itself to a great team. After you get them onto your practice field, you then have to “coach them up.”

Meyer has proven that he can “coach them up” (one year after he gets to Gainesville, he wins a National Championship, and 3 years after — including a new class of recruits — he wins another), whereas the Miami’s, the Tallahassee’s, the Athens’, et-al, all having had so-called “great recruiting classes,” have not.

Many things in life are subject to interpretation. Success is not!

Great comment, Bull Gator.

I hope to not hear a Gator fan even whisper Greg Reid’s name again until we shut him down in the FSU game next year. It made me ill to see him Gator chomping opponents while still in high school and seeing SO MANY Viking fans wearing Gator t-shirts to their high school games. Unless someone babysits him constantly, he will fall into “Criminole” history very quickly. Good luck, Bobby and Jimbo, as you hold your breath on this kid. I do hope you don’t get that middle of the night call. This kid has talent, no doubt, and he should go where he can play as a freshman. However, I am SO glad he is not a Gator!Let it go, Gator Nation!

Lots of high school “commits” change their mind and go to FSU. It’s free shoes, man… and plus, if you get caught with drugs, no big deal. Bowden is above college football law because he’s been alive for a century and coaching half as long. The allure of Tallahasee (whatever the hell that is) pulls them away from the swamp.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>

That's right folks! It's football betting time at BetUS.com and we're back with the biggest bonuses in the industry! BetUS.com is Amerca's leading sportsbook providing latest football lines on all games. Come on down to BetUS.com and start betting on your favorite sport!