“Coach Muschamp is all of those things and more.”

Remember this?

… The timing of the hire could prove critical, too. Florida has 17 verbal commitments in this year’s recruiting class, but Meyer’s resignation caught all of them off-guard and put into question whether the Gators could hang on to a group that currently rates among the top classes in the nation.

While it’s too early to tell how Muschamp’s hiring will resonate with those players, it’s clear Foley believes he’s found a coach that will continue to bring high-caliber recruits to Florida.

“We wanted a candidate who was a relentless recruiter and was familiar with recruiting in the state of Florida,” Foley said.

Bearing in mind that all the usual “it’s early” caveats apply, I still find this to be an interesting development.

18 Comments

Filed under Gators, Gators..., Recruiting

18 responses to ““Coach Muschamp is all of those things and more.”

  1. UFTimmy

    First classes are never great. Meyer’s and Zook’s first classes were ranked in the 20s and they did just fine at recruiting in subsequent years.

    It’s not going to be a great class, especially along the lines, where we need it. It will hurt in a couple of years. But I don’t think it means anything going forward for the staff’s ability to recruit in future years.

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  2. Go Dawgs!

    I was in Tallahassee two weeks ago, and Doak Campbell was all lit up for a recruiting weekend. I fully expect FSU to be back on top soon. They’re getting these recruits now, and they’re in position to take a big step forward after improving in 2010. If you look at the way the mediocrity of the ACC in the last few years, there’s really no reason FSU can’t get back to being a year-in, year-out super power in that league. Who is going to stop them? Maybe VA Tech? Not Clemson or Georgia Tech. If FSU handles business in the next couple of years, they can keep Miami down, too.

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  3. Mike

    In both Zook’s and Meyer’s first year, the recruiting classes were not all that good. And Miami and FSU both supposedly cleaned up those two years.

    Didn’t hurt Florida overmuch nor help UM and FSU much either.

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  4. Brad

    Will is just letting Jimbo share the top recruits in Florida, just like their beach house. They are bffs

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  5. Will Trane

    This time of the year college football is all about the numbers of recruits, the number of 4 and 5 star players a school has, the national ranking of those list by some so-called expert on players’ potential [that is why those guys get to buy a ticket rather than coach]. A lot of factors goes into the recruitment of a player and the timing of commitments. Much is said about how the failure to recruit and sign a player will hurt a program.
    Since he left UF, the one coach and his team I have watched is Mullen and MSU. They have about 24 commitments. Kindly look at their list, count the number of 4 and 5 stars and the “NRs”in 2010 and 2011. MSU is going to be the team to beat in the SEC west. Mullen knows what a player looks likes and what he can do with him once he has him in his system. How much of UF’s success was attributable to Mullen [and Strong]?
    What is the recruit rankings vs the championships or national ranking for most of these schools?

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    • W Cobb Dawg

      Like the State of Georgia, Florida is getting raided by recruiters this year. Coaches like Mullen, Strong, Spurrier, Saban, etc. have lots of name recognition throughout the state. Fisher has had some time to build up relationships. I imagine Muschamp & new staff, and Miami’s Golden are more like the new guys on the block.

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    • AthensHomerDawg

      OK I looked. #36 They got 2 four stars and 22 three stars. That is if you believe what rivals has to say about them. Don’t know if I see them winning the West. New coaching staff there more energy. I seem to recall Ole Miss beating Florida not long ago. Don’t think they repeat that anytime soon.

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  6. Russ

    Dang, 50 prospects in FL and our name doesn’t show up on any of them.

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    • David

      No kidding. We’re not even in the running on a single uncommitted recruit. Out of the top 50 players at a neighboring state that just so happens to produce more talent than any state in the country that says a lot. Can you imagine Alabama or Florida or Tennessee not even being in the running for a single kid from the state of Georgia?

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      • W Cobb Dawg

        I could end up being wrong, but it doesn’t appear florida is going to get any major (top 30 or so) Georgia commit this year. And the pundits say GA is loaded. I think this is a good year for Dawgs to concentrate on GA. But we better finish strong on the D front 7. Only a few verbals there so far.

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      • hailtogeorgia

        Is this a knock on Richt/UGA? If so, why? All we’ve heard is how Richt lost out on too many players from Georgia, and if he’d just get all of the prime talent from his own state, Georgia wouldn’t have to worry. Well, here he is doing a pretty good job of that (Rome, Mitchell, Swann, Dantzler, Marshall, Scott-Wesley, possibly Crowell and Drew) and he’s getting knocked for not picking up top recruits from Florida? Does not compute.

        It’s a simple study of geography and supply and demand. The state of Florida has five major universities that can offer the opportunity to play close to home, while at the same time playing on tv (FSU, UF, Miami, USF, UCF), not to mention the plethora of smaller schools with decent football programs (FAU, FIU, etc.). Georgia, on the other hand, has UGA and Tech. Take into account the fact that many cities in Georgia are geographically closer to major campuses in Gainesville, Tallahassee, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Knoxville, Clemson, and Columbia than they are to Athens, and it’s no wonder that UGA struggles to lock down all of the talented in-state kids.

        Rather than focus on arbitrary lines such as state borders, it would probably be more prudent to decide upon a set radius of influence around a major university and look at how the university performs in keeping that talent at home. Georgia is, after all, the largest state east of the Mississippi River.

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        • Mayor of Dawgtown

          UGA is doing fine in recruiting so far this year. If everyone who is committed stays committed there are only 5 spots open for further signees. I for one want to see a little oversigning this year (won’t happen though).

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        • PatinDC

          +1. Can’t win can they.

          Looks like the coaches are expected to sign the top 10 from GA. FL. AL SC and TN combined. Not sure how that works unless your are Alabama;-)

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  7. Drew

    The reason you’re not seeing UGA as a finalist for the Florida talent this year is because we decided to concentrate on all of the instate kids and sell the Dream Team concept. This was smart considering how loaded the state of GA was this year. However, next year, we are already in the top two for arguably the state of Florida’s top prospects John Theus and Keith Marshall. So we will continue to recruit the state. And a healthy FSU and Miami only helps us.

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    • Russ

      I’m fine with that assuming we seal the deal. I realize that there are only so many places you can focus the effort. I was just surprised to not see UGA listed on any of the 50. Heck, you’d think at least one of those guys would “self recruit” to the point of listing UGA as one of their 3-4 possible schools.

      Eh, I’m not going to worry about it. Just comment on it. 🙂

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  8. Sassybritches

    Georgia men taking care of GEORGIA business —-appears t0 be a great year to recruit our own.

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  9. BMan

    All will be fine with the Gators now that the Florida Way has been enacted:
    http://www.ajc.com/sports/floridas-jenkins-arrested-on-814309.html

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  10. tdawgjenkins

    fla. had a huge class last year so this year they do not have room for another,just like ga. last year already had a lot of returning players so recruiting looked down

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