What? The Gators’ 2011 recruiting class wasn’t ranked in the top five? Not even the top 10? All the way down to No. 14?
Calm down.
National Signing Day came and went Wednesday, and Florida was left with its worst recruiting class since 2005, according to Rivals.com.
But before Gators fans start calling for Will Muschamp’s job just two months after he was hired, let’s put this in perspective.
That No. 15-rated recruiting class in 2005 came in an offseason full of transition due to the hiring of a coach named Urban Meyer. See any similarities with the circumstances surrounding this year’s class?
Meyer’s abrupt resignation in December, and a quick shift of power to Muschamp, left many of Florida’s recruits wavering on their oral commitment to become Gators. This uncertainty affected this year’s class.
Meyer spent much of the recruiting period looking for players who fit a spread offense. Muschamp spent the last two months finding new recruits who would suit new offensive coordinator Charlie Weis’ pro-style scheme.
This radical change left Florida uncertain about its class. Things could have gone a lot worse.
Look at Michigan, Stanford and Miami, which also lost their head coaches this offseason. Those three schools finished behind Florida with the No. 21, No. 22 and No. 37 classes, respectively.
Add in the Gators’ lack of success last season, and this year’s class looks even prettier. The last time UF finished with worse a record 7-5 was in 1987.
There is something to be said about that.
Recruits were faced with the prospect of choosing a school coming off a subpar season that had just hired somebody without head coaching experience.
Fans became spoiled with Meyer’s recruiting. In his six-year tenure as Florida’s coach, he brought in four top-three rated classes and 19 five-star recruits.
But, in Meyer’s first offseason on the job, he brought in zero five-star prospects — much like Muschamp did this year.
Still, that class contributed with players like Reggie Nelson, Ryan Stamper and Louis Murphy making names for themselves. However, it wasn’t until the following years that Meyer was able to turn out the No. 2, No. 1 and No. 3 recruiting classes in consecutive seasons.
So, give Muschamp and these new Gators a chance.
This is the start of a new era, and it’s going to take some time for him to make his own imprint on the program. It’s unfair to judge his recruiting based solely on this class. After all, he arrived in Gainesville with only two months before National Signing Day.
But he already made one smart move. Muschamp elected to save some of this year’s scholarships for next offseason due to a small upcoming senior class.
Instead of giving them away to mediocre prospects now, he would rather save them for highly touted recruits in 2012.
That type of patience is one all Gators fans should exhibit with Muschamp and his new staff.
