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re: 2018 Recruiting Thread: Sprint to NSD.
Posted on 2/7/17 at 7:26 pm to reel_gator8
Posted on 2/7/17 at 7:26 pm to reel_gator8
WR Anthony Schwartz from American Heritage is visiting this weekend.
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Posted on 2/8/17 at 10:35 am to gatordmb89
Recruiting impact of Florida retaining Drew Hughes
Zach Abolverdi ZACH ABOLVERDI
SEC Country Staff
As Jim McElwain tries to rebuild Florida football into a championship program, one of his mottos is “recruit daily or die.” Join us here on SEC Country for a daily recap of the latest UF recruiting news, tales from the trail and perspective on what it all means for the Gators.
McElwain fends off Muschamp
Florida coach Jim McElwain scored another recruiting win Tuesday by retaining director of player personnel Drew Hughes.
He was offered a job by his former boss at UF, South Carolina coach Will Muschamp, but decided to remain with the Gators.
Hughes has been a huge asset for the Florida football program for three-plus years. He’s helped the Gators sign two top-10 recruiting classes as well as the nation’s No. 12 class in 2016.
More importantly, Hughes has actually been on the road recruiting for the Gators in the last three cycles when they were short on assistants and during the transition from McElwain to Muschamp.
When Muschamp was fired in 2014, the coordination and management of UF recruiting fell solely on the shoulders of Hughes. Thanks to his efforts, McElwain was able to salvage a 2015 class that was ranked 92nd nationally and finished in the top 25.
Hughes has also spearheaded Florida’s emergence in Alabama, his home state. He’s been directly involved in the recruitments of Lamical Perine, Jeremiah Moon, Jeawon Taylor and Kadarius Toney.
With those additions, the Gators have signed as many Alabama recruits in the past two years (4) as they had in the previous decade (2005-2015).
Some schools give assistant coaches the title of recruiting coordinator, but the director of player personnel is really the staff member who handles that responsibility. Hughes has shown the ability to handle thrive in his role.
He organizes Florida’s recruiting visits (both on and off campus), schedules the coaches’ weekly phone calls with prospects and manages all aspects of the support staff, from film review to social media promotion.
In a 2014 interview with team reporter Scott Carter, Hughes said his job at UF entails the following:
“Identifying the players that can come in and help us win championships, (developing) the process of doing that … and being a right-hand man to every coach on staff — because ultimately that’s what I’m here to do, to help the coaches. If I can make their jobs easier from a recruiting standpoint, that’s what I’m here to do.”
He excelled in that capacity at UCF and N.C. State, which is why Muschamp hired Hughes in December of 2013 and has tried to rehire him three times since he’s been at South Carolina.
McElwain spent four years at Alabama with Hughes when he worked for Nick Saban as a recruiting specialist. On his first day back from vacation Tuesday, McElwain was able to keep Hughes on staff and that will pay dividends moving forward.
Open season in New Orleans?
In the Class of 2017, Florida signed only its second prep prospect from Louisiana since 2001 in New Orleans 4-star cornerback Brad Stewart.
There could be more recruiting opportunities for the Gators in the future with Tuesday’s news. According to SEC Country’s LSU recruiting reporter Sam Spiegelman, high school coaches in New Orleans are considering a boycott against LSU following the firing of area recruiter Jabbar Juluke by head coach Ed Oregon.
This could the door for Skipper, a New Orleans native, to land more prospects from the talent-rich area. New Florida assistant Brad Davis is also from Louisiana (Baton Rouge) and will presumably recruit the state with Skipper.
Zach Abolverdi ZACH ABOLVERDI
SEC Country Staff
As Jim McElwain tries to rebuild Florida football into a championship program, one of his mottos is “recruit daily or die.” Join us here on SEC Country for a daily recap of the latest UF recruiting news, tales from the trail and perspective on what it all means for the Gators.
McElwain fends off Muschamp
Florida coach Jim McElwain scored another recruiting win Tuesday by retaining director of player personnel Drew Hughes.
He was offered a job by his former boss at UF, South Carolina coach Will Muschamp, but decided to remain with the Gators.
Hughes has been a huge asset for the Florida football program for three-plus years. He’s helped the Gators sign two top-10 recruiting classes as well as the nation’s No. 12 class in 2016.
More importantly, Hughes has actually been on the road recruiting for the Gators in the last three cycles when they were short on assistants and during the transition from McElwain to Muschamp.
When Muschamp was fired in 2014, the coordination and management of UF recruiting fell solely on the shoulders of Hughes. Thanks to his efforts, McElwain was able to salvage a 2015 class that was ranked 92nd nationally and finished in the top 25.
Hughes has also spearheaded Florida’s emergence in Alabama, his home state. He’s been directly involved in the recruitments of Lamical Perine, Jeremiah Moon, Jeawon Taylor and Kadarius Toney.
With those additions, the Gators have signed as many Alabama recruits in the past two years (4) as they had in the previous decade (2005-2015).
Some schools give assistant coaches the title of recruiting coordinator, but the director of player personnel is really the staff member who handles that responsibility. Hughes has shown the ability to handle thrive in his role.
He organizes Florida’s recruiting visits (both on and off campus), schedules the coaches’ weekly phone calls with prospects and manages all aspects of the support staff, from film review to social media promotion.
In a 2014 interview with team reporter Scott Carter, Hughes said his job at UF entails the following:
“Identifying the players that can come in and help us win championships, (developing) the process of doing that … and being a right-hand man to every coach on staff — because ultimately that’s what I’m here to do, to help the coaches. If I can make their jobs easier from a recruiting standpoint, that’s what I’m here to do.”
He excelled in that capacity at UCF and N.C. State, which is why Muschamp hired Hughes in December of 2013 and has tried to rehire him three times since he’s been at South Carolina.
McElwain spent four years at Alabama with Hughes when he worked for Nick Saban as a recruiting specialist. On his first day back from vacation Tuesday, McElwain was able to keep Hughes on staff and that will pay dividends moving forward.
Open season in New Orleans?
In the Class of 2017, Florida signed only its second prep prospect from Louisiana since 2001 in New Orleans 4-star cornerback Brad Stewart.
There could be more recruiting opportunities for the Gators in the future with Tuesday’s news. According to SEC Country’s LSU recruiting reporter Sam Spiegelman, high school coaches in New Orleans are considering a boycott against LSU following the firing of area recruiter Jabbar Juluke by head coach Ed Oregon.
This could the door for Skipper, a New Orleans native, to land more prospects from the talent-rich area. New Florida assistant Brad Davis is also from Louisiana (Baton Rouge) and will presumably recruit the state with Skipper.
Posted on 1/1/18 at 9:26 am to gatordmb89
Jacob Copeland’s bond with Florida QB Emory Jones goes beyond football
January 1, 2018
Join us here on SEC Country for a daily recap of the latest Florida recruiting news, tales from the trail and perspective on what it all means for the Gators.
ORLANDO — Florida quarterback signee Emory Jones decided on the Gators the night before the early signing period.
The first recruit he told?
Top-100 wide receiver Jacob Copeland.
After mulling over his options for two days, Jones said he choose the Gators over Alabama, Florida State and Ohio State around 11 p.m. on Dec. 19. His recruiting efforts began right away.
“The night before signing day, he hit me up and let me know that he was locked into Florida,” Copeland said.
The message from Jones wasn’t his first time communicating with Copeland. They’ve been friends for two years and got to know each other through recruiting.
“He’s a funny dude and cool to be around,” Jones said of Copeland. “We talk about a lot of things off the field that aren’t about football. We’re just friends all together. That translates to the field and that’s a great thing to have between a quarterback and receiver.”
Copeland and Jones visited Alabama together during the process and attended a couple of the same camps, including the Future 50 underclassmen combine on Dec. 31, 2016.
Exactly one year later, Copeland and Jones returned to those same fields at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex as Under Armour All-Americans.
“It was a good experience once again,” Copeland said. “He throw a couple good passes that I caught. He’s a great quarterback and I know he wants me to be one of his go-to guys at Florida.”
Jones threw three touchdown passes to Copeland on Sunday and the top-100 overall recruits hung out all weekend. Their chemistry is evident in the passing game.
“It was a natural connection,” Jones said. “I felt it and hopefully we can keep it going on the next level. Every time I threw the ball to him, he would come back to the huddle and we could dap each other up.”
Jones is the No. 4 dual-threat quarterback and No. 41 overall prospect in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Copeland is excited about the possibility of playing with Jones in college, but not because he’s a big-name QB.
“I like Emory just because of who he is,” Copeland said. “I’ve known him for two years now. He’s a great quarterback, but his personality stands out about him. I can relate to him. We’ve both been on the same grind and now we’re UA All-Americans.”
The question now is will they be Florida Gators. Jones is officially part of the program and will enroll early next month. His top target is Copeland, who de-committed from UF on Nov. 25 after the coaching changes.
The Gators are still one of his finalists along with Alabama and Tennessee. Copeland will officially visit Florida on Feb. 2 before making his signing day decision.
“Adding Emory was a good pickup for them,” Copeland said. “I’m going to chat it up with him, see how everything goes and see how the [Florida] coaches are talking. Just because he committed, that doesn’t mean I’ll end up going there.”
It will certainly help Florida’s chances, though. Jones said he’s “very confident” with Copeland and doesn’t have to force the issue with him.
“I don’t bug him about it. We just have regular conversations,” Jones said. “I know he has to make the best decision for him, his family and his future. But I tell him he needs to bring his talent to Gainesville so we can do it big together.”
January 1, 2018
Join us here on SEC Country for a daily recap of the latest Florida recruiting news, tales from the trail and perspective on what it all means for the Gators.
ORLANDO — Florida quarterback signee Emory Jones decided on the Gators the night before the early signing period.
The first recruit he told?
Top-100 wide receiver Jacob Copeland.
After mulling over his options for two days, Jones said he choose the Gators over Alabama, Florida State and Ohio State around 11 p.m. on Dec. 19. His recruiting efforts began right away.
“The night before signing day, he hit me up and let me know that he was locked into Florida,” Copeland said.
The message from Jones wasn’t his first time communicating with Copeland. They’ve been friends for two years and got to know each other through recruiting.
“He’s a funny dude and cool to be around,” Jones said of Copeland. “We talk about a lot of things off the field that aren’t about football. We’re just friends all together. That translates to the field and that’s a great thing to have between a quarterback and receiver.”
Copeland and Jones visited Alabama together during the process and attended a couple of the same camps, including the Future 50 underclassmen combine on Dec. 31, 2016.
Exactly one year later, Copeland and Jones returned to those same fields at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex as Under Armour All-Americans.
“It was a good experience once again,” Copeland said. “He throw a couple good passes that I caught. He’s a great quarterback and I know he wants me to be one of his go-to guys at Florida.”
Jones threw three touchdown passes to Copeland on Sunday and the top-100 overall recruits hung out all weekend. Their chemistry is evident in the passing game.
“It was a natural connection,” Jones said. “I felt it and hopefully we can keep it going on the next level. Every time I threw the ball to him, he would come back to the huddle and we could dap each other up.”
Jones is the No. 4 dual-threat quarterback and No. 41 overall prospect in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Copeland is excited about the possibility of playing with Jones in college, but not because he’s a big-name QB.
“I like Emory just because of who he is,” Copeland said. “I’ve known him for two years now. He’s a great quarterback, but his personality stands out about him. I can relate to him. We’ve both been on the same grind and now we’re UA All-Americans.”
The question now is will they be Florida Gators. Jones is officially part of the program and will enroll early next month. His top target is Copeland, who de-committed from UF on Nov. 25 after the coaching changes.
The Gators are still one of his finalists along with Alabama and Tennessee. Copeland will officially visit Florida on Feb. 2 before making his signing day decision.
“Adding Emory was a good pickup for them,” Copeland said. “I’m going to chat it up with him, see how everything goes and see how the [Florida] coaches are talking. Just because he committed, that doesn’t mean I’ll end up going there.”
It will certainly help Florida’s chances, though. Jones said he’s “very confident” with Copeland and doesn’t have to force the issue with him.
“I don’t bug him about it. We just have regular conversations,” Jones said. “I know he has to make the best decision for him, his family and his future. But I tell him he needs to bring his talent to Gainesville so we can do it big together.”
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