GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It might be the Miami Hurricanes’ backyard, but when it comes to recruiting, Jim McElwain has made it his mission to turn South Florida into Gator country.

On Wednesday, Florida signed 23 prospects, a slight decrease from last year’s haul of 25. While the overall class size shrunk, the number of prospects from South Florida (Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties) doubled. Ten of Florida’s 17 in-state recruits came from that tri-county area.

Recruiting in South Florida often means going head-to-head with Miami. Two key prospects out of South Florida — 4-star Columbus (Miami) CB Christopher Henderson (the highest-rated defensive back in UF’s class) and 3-star Miramar CB Brian Edwards — were down to the Gators and ‘Canes on National Signing Day and chose UF, giving Florida’s class a big boost.

McElwain was asked Wednesday about third-year staff member and new defensive coordinator Randy Shannon’s name recognition and reputation in the area as a former Miami player and coach.

“Well, from the time we were able to hire Randy, he’s been a right hand guy of mine,” McElwain said. “Comes with unbelievable credibility from that area as well. We’ve had some other guys down there helping. But his name recognition, (and) more so how he is also a part of wanting to make sure that he affects young men’s lives in a positive way … (a player) knows (Shannon) can be trusted.

“He’s a heck of a ball coach, too, now. That transition into the defensive coordinator spot was something that was pretty simple and we could make in a hurry. We’re excited about that.”

While Shannon cleaned up on the trail, a lesser-known hire with South Florida connections was also making an impact from Gainesville. On June 21, McElwain announced that John Herron was joining the staff as director of on-campus recruiting. Herron’s coaching background is on the hardwood as he coached basketball at South Dade (2002-09) and Southridge (2011-16), but his connections to tri-county high schools paid dividends in this recruiting cycle.

The Gators ended the 2017 recruiting cycle with two openings on staff, and another assistant, defensive backs coach Torrian Gray, departed Saturday. McElwain has already used those openings to to further bolster UF’s South Florida recruiting efforts.

On Friday, Florida announced the addition of West Virginia running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider, an alumnus of Glades Central High (Belle Glade, Fla.).

Recruiting expert Ryan Bartow of 247Sports calls Seider a “mega get” for the Gators. He noted that Seider has strong relationships with the region’s perennial high school powers and has managed to do what sounds impossible: convince South Florida kids to go to West Virginia. The website named Seider the “King of Paradise” in 2015, its award for South Florida Recruiter of the Year.

Bartow paints an exciting picture for Gator recruiting in the area with Seider on staff:

His relationships and ties run deep at the programs in Florida that always have the talent: Dwyer, Lakeland, Miami/Central, Miami/Southridge, Miami/Booker T Washington, St. Thomas Aquinas, Glades Central, Palm Beach Gardens, American Heritage, Deerfield Beach. The coaches there love him. He’s in with those powerhouses. Now with the Gators jacket on he’ll increase Florida’s odds to land kids from those places. …

If Seider talked kids into going to West Virginia it will be much easier to get them to be Gators. He changes his polo and instantly he’s in the game for elite four-star dudes. Most kids don’t want to leave Florida. He has a rapport already built with many of the best in 2018 and 2019. His pitch is suddenly more attractive for prospects to come to Florida than at his previous spot.

On Saturday, Florida announced two hires, including another assistant with extensive South Florida connections. New defensive backs coach Corey Bell has spent his post South Carolina college career coaching football in the tri-county area.

A Miami native, Bell played cornerback at South Carolina and a was a teammate of UF defensive line coach Chris Rumph. He was the head coach at Miami Edison Senior High School from 1997-2007.

After coaching at Miami Edison, Bell joined current UF defensive coordinator Randy Shannon’s Miami Hurricanes staff as the director of football operations from 2007-10. After Shannon was fired, Bell returned to high school coaching as the head coach at American Senior High School from 2011-13.

Bell coached defensive backs at FAU the past two seasons and had recently accepted a position as secondary coach and recruiting coordinator at USF. The strong connections to Shannon and South Florida high schools make Bell an excellent addition to the Gators invasion of the tri-county recruiting hotbed and UF’s pursuit of top talent.

This year’s signing of Henderson and Edwards showed that the Gators can pull Hurricanes’ targets out of their own backyard. With Seider on staff, the Gators will be looking to take it a step further, and keep more of those “elite four-star dudes” from leaving the state. In this year’s class, two of the three highest-rated South Florida prospects, 5-star Deerfield Beach (Pompano Beach, Fla.) WR Jerry Jeudy and 4-star St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) WR Trevon Grimes, signed outside the state — at Alabama and Ohio State, respectively.

While Florida’s Sunshine State haul is strong (17 of 23 total signees), it lacks those elite in-state prospects out of South Florida like Jeudy (No. 5 Florida prospect) and Grimes (No. 7). The 2017 class was a step in the right direction for the Gators’ recruiting efforts in the region, and it’s no coincidence that the South Florida number doubled with Herron on board. Now, with Bell, Herron, Seider and Shannon and all working together, the Gators may finally start getting more of those South Florida studs to come to Gainesville.