Which five Florida football recruits are likely to sign with the Gators?
Will this be the recruiting class where Florida football surpasses Georgia football?
Well, as we enter the last few days of July 2020, the Florida Gators are beating the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2021 recruiting class rankings. Florida has the No. 10 class in the country and No. 4 in the SEC, Georgia comes in at No. 16 in the nation and a spot back of the Gators in the SEC rankings. This is where Florida has to beat Georgia going forward: On the recruiting trail.
Though the Gators might have a way to go to catch programs like the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Alabama Crimson Tide towards the top of the recruiting rankings, Florida could potentially add a pair of five-stars from the same high school who could get them over the top. Frankly, if Florida does a fantastic job of selling itself to one high school team, they can beat Georgia in recruiting.
This is an area of major concern for Florida head coach Dan Mullen. We know he can coach up seemingly any player on his roster, especially at the quarterback position. However, he’s not known to be the best recruiter as a head coach. He can turn three-stars into first-round prospects every day and twice on Sunday, but will he emerge as a dominating recruiter back in Florida?
While there was a great deal of talent in-state in Mississippi when Mullen was leading the Mississippi State Bulldogs, the talent in-state in Florida is upper echelon. Though he’ll have to fight for this top talent with the likes of the Florida State Seminoles and the Miami Hurricanes among others, Mullen has the players within his state’s borders to win big in Gainesville.
Here are the five players most likely to sign with Florida football.
Florida will have to hustle, but the Gators do have a pretty good shot of landing four-star outside linebacker/athlete Xavian Sorey in this recruiting cycle. Sorey is the No. 5 outside linebacker in his class, the No. 11 player from Florida and the No. 63 player in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite. The Graceville, Florida native has 22 offers, but is looking at four teams.
Along with Florida, the three other SEC schools vying for Sorey’s commitment are the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Auburn Tigers and the Georgia Bulldogs. While Georgia feels like a distant fourth here, Alabama is his presumptive leader. There’s also a chance Sorey could play some running back, as Auburn’s legendary running back Cadillac Williams is his primary recruiter over there.
Sorey’s primary recruiter to Florida is linebackers coach Christian Robinson. Though he is very green into his coaching career, Robinson played linebacker for Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham while at the University of Georgia. Robinson is seen as one of Grantham’s top proteges. There’s a decent chance Robinson can keep in-state as opposed to heading north of the border.
If staying in-state is important to Sorey, then Florida has this in the bag. Should he want to play something besides linebacker, then Auburn might have a leg up. Again, Florida will need to work extremely hard to keep Sorey in-state, as Alabama is putting together one hell of a class thus far. Florida isn’t the favorite here, Sorey could definitely end up playing his college ball in Gainesville.