Florida's rough recruiting night continues, loses commitment from elite CB
The Florida Gators haven’t had the best night on the recruiting trail.
Earlier in the night, one of Florida’s top prospects remaining on the board committed to Miami. Four-star lineman Kai-Leon Herbert shunned the Gators for the Hurricanes, and the word is that Herbert just wanted to know who the Gators next offensive line coach would be, as the position is still vacant. Obviously, Herbert wasn’t told.
Here’s what he wrote on Twitter when he committed to the Canes:
Blessed beyond measure to announce that I HAVE OFFICIALLY COMMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾‼️ God got us from here on out . pic.twitter.com/CxW6OqzDUH
— Kai-Leon Herbert (@KHerb17) January 26, 2017
Later in the evening, things got worse.
Four-star cornerback Elijah Blades decommitted from the Gators via Twitter. Blades is the No. 16 overall cornerback in the class of 2017, and he’s a Pasadena, California native. He’s the No. 137 overall prospect, according to 247Sports Composite Rankings, and one of the Gators’ most prized commitments.
Blades, however, says the Gators are “still in it” and that things are coming down to National Signing Day, one week from today. He released a top five of Southern Cal, Florida, Oregon, Nebraska and Georgia following his decommitment.
No interviews or questions. pic.twitter.com/7BEPWBpacc
— ELIJAH – BLADES™ (@savageszniv) January 26, 2017
Following Blades’ decommitment, the Gators have 14 commitments in the class of 2017.
Jim McElwain certainly has taken his lumps on the recruiting trail during his short tenure, and the Gators’ recruiting has been somewhat skeptical. Florida fans are used to seeing top five recruiting finishes, and although McElwain and the Gators have won the SEC East in back-to-back seasons, the lack of elite prospects flowing into Florida is somewhat puzzling.
Whether it’s the lack of developing relationships or the lack of elite recruiters on the staff, McElwain has to make this a priority filling the current void on the staff, as well as improving it in the coming years.
Hopefully for the Gators’ sake National Signing Day will be a hit.
Hopefully they’ll have a losing record this year and he’ll be gone.
Not only can he not recruit players, he seemingly can’t recruit coaches who can recruit
But he sure can win the SEC East….
Am accomplishment along the lines of winning a potato sack race
I can think of 6 teams that would have loved to win the east.
What the hell? He’s a good coach. Considering the injuries and what he’s had to work with, he’s done well at Florida. But all this turnover and flipping and losing recruiting battles to FSU and Miami. I don’t know, maybe he’s not the right match for Florida. Two years, two East titles. Hard to argue with that.
Give McElwain Georgia’s talent and he gives Alabama a run for their money. Kirby Smart can recruit but is a gameday disaster. McElwain can coach but can’t find his but with both hands recruiting.
Trollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.
You couldn’t find your balls if you had a microscope.
No he’s not a good coach.
He’s in a recurring hotbed trying to run a fairly common offense. His competition is not only built to stop it, they have the better athletes.
When you’re at a competitive disadvantage in terms of physical talent, you trot out an unusual scheme that teams aren’t accustomed to defending.
That way, you’re not only competitive but you get the elite talent imagining what can be done with them there instead of 3 star guys.
Mike Leach’s recent comments were 100% on the money.
Mac is a bum, plain and simple. Another “Saban guy” who has no business coaching an elite power 5 tran; he should be a group of 5 coach.
Mac is such a great coach he had a ridiculous Alabama squad and got shut out by LSU. Yes, LSU was awesome but Alabama had more talent and the “qb whisperer” should NOT be shut out.
The east titles are very easy to argue with. Muschamp went 11-2 his second year, had the team ranked 3 and knocking on BCS title discussion. Did anyone really think they were a good team and he was a good HC? Outside of the homers of course
When did LSU shut out Bama with Mac?….. Mac has done well at Florida. Two east titles and I believe they win it again next season.
Remember the whopping two field goals in the 9-6 slugfest LSU won?
You do understand that means it wasn’t a shutout right? LSU had 3 FGs. So how does a team that is shutout by your logic win?
I remember Alabama 21 LSU 0
THAT is a shutout, genius.
“The east titles are very easy to argue with”.
Still waiting for the argument. Let’s see you win the East two years in a row with dogmeat at the quarterback position and half the starting defense watching from the sideline. I have my concerns about him and his recruiting record, but if you think he’s a bum, you clearly don’t know anything about coaching.
And as a homer, I tell you that in Muschamp’s 11-2 year I thought they were a good team (bad SEC teams don’t go 11-2), but that he wasn’t a good coach. Dan Quinn’s defense drove the bus that year.
Actually I would say the east titles are easy to argue. It’s clear that the SEC East is down and I mean way down right now so it’s not as hard to compete. I mean look at the normal powers in the East Georgia and Tennessee. Both the schools aren’t close to what they used to be either because of coaching or falling apart. Granted each year Florida had 1big game they one each year under Mac. But Mac was brought in for one reason and that’s to fix our offense and he has not even come close to that. We have been ranked in the 100’s the last 2 years now I don’t expect us to jump from 109th nationally to 1st but maybe move into the 50’s or 60’s nationally overall. To actually see consistent improvement. Also on the fact the East titles are very easy to argue look at our last 2 regular season games and SEC championship under McEwan. We weren’t even competitive. A lot of people will say we lost those games because of lack of talent. Well look at our recruiting where the f*** are we going to get the talent to match fsu and bama? A genie lamp? Look at first year head coaches at south Carolina, Georgia, even Michigan in harbaughs 2 years they are all out recruiting us . So this whole not building relationships is b.s. where Florida not Nebraska our somewhere where you need great relationships to build good classes we have enough talent in our backyard we should have a top 10 class every year.
sorry for all grammar errors
But Ben, “Muschamp left a mess Mac has to repair”
I’m tired of that nonsense. A GOOD coach and good recruiter could land talent.
He can’t land talent despite a virtual guarantee of early playing time.
He also can’t land good recruiters.
I’ve heard it said he’s “trying to do the right thing” by not disrupting other teams by poaching coaches in season.
Very noble. A sure way to get yourself left behind because your opponents sure as hell have no such hesitation.
There’s no room for nice guys in the SEC. A mercenary is needed
Maybe if he had a clue how to run a program, he could trot out a live dog instead of dogmeat. Cuz you know, win with his dog and all
Moving along, homer
Bottom line is that he is not a good coach and can’t even give a decent interview. He won the east 2 yrs in a row bc he had Muschamps defense. Also, the east has been at its worst the last few yrs. Coach Mac is the reason for the bad recruiting year simply because he is in way over his head at UF. He is way overrated but I personally hope they hold on to him for a while longer because after all I AM A GATOR HATER! Just being honest 👹
27-3 and 24-10
Be careful what you wish for.
As you know, those were Georgia teams that were really not that good. I stand behind my wishes.
Neither were the FL teams.
Winning the SEC East should not be the criteria to judge a coach by. Recruiting has always been, and always will be, the key to success in college football. If you need proof, just look at Alabama. Almost any coach could win with the players they have, but overwhelming most coaches do not know how to recruit and keep the top players available.
Winning your division and conference should definitely be something to judge your coach on. So what the east is down? Florida is the only team that can take advantage of that?
Thanks to their defense they did manage to win the east. However, with the departure of good talent, unproven qb and the lack of incoming quality recruits I don’t think they will be able to continue that advantage. Coach Mac is hurting Florida almost as bad as Dooley did Tennessee. Well maybe not that bad but you get my drift.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see. UGA is a program that seems to get a lot of hype yet achieves very little. Mac has proven he can at least win the division at Florida….. The jury is still out on Kirby and the rest…
I can’t argue that, the Dawgs have underachieved. Hopefully Kirby will eventually coach as good as he recruits. I am old enough to remember a time when Georgia dominated Florida. It’s been rough for me and my fellow dawg fans for the past 20 some odd years. Even after all the losses during this time frame the Dawgs still lead the series by a handful of games. As a life long dawg all I hope for is to make it respectful again.
There are guys like Charlie Strong, Les, and soon to be Kevin Sumlin, who were good at recruiting but can’t win. Meanwhile you got guys like Dan Mullen, who doesn’t always pull in top recruits but consistently win. Rather have the second kind of coach than the first.
I wouldn’t put strong there. He’s a proven winner. He was undermined at Texas before his first practice
I second that.
How is Strong a proven winner but the others are not? I don’t see anything to justify that position.
Want the Gators back on top? Say by to Mac and bring back The Old Ball Coach.
“You do understand that means it wasn’t a shutout right? LSU had 3 FGs. So how does a team that is shutout by your logic win?”
1. They didnt win. they lost.
2. A coach known as “the qb whisperer” with essentially an all star team managed two whole field goals ? He was shut out of the end zone.
I see the reply function is tough for you to use. LSU didn’t reach the end zone either. It wasn’t a shut out as points was scored. Very easy concept to understand.
The reply option was gone after so many.
Shut out of the end zone. Better?
He’s a bum.
He had one decent year in MWC. He was, at best, the second best coach there.
Oh, and he couldn’t recruit there either.
He smart though. He got it before he had to rely on his own players and got himself some $$
Didn’t you know man? Anybody that has anything to do with Saban or Bama are God’s Gift to this Earth and could never do any wrong. Meanwhile, back on this planet, there are more Dooley’s and Sunseri’s than there are success stories. It’s amazes how much Bama fans blindly support anybody that has to do with Nick Saban Christ or that program, no matter how much evidence points to the contrary.
Blind support? The guy took over a program that fired their coach and won the division back to back….. There is nothing blind about that and no reason to knock him ATM….. How many times has butch won the east? How long has he been there? You want blind support look at the vols…
He “won” the division because of the maturation of Muschamp recruits.
The “QB whisperer” produced offenses WORSE than Muschamp. That’s not winning; it’s backing into it
Then why did your fire Muschamp? You’re acting like a cat chasing its tail. Florida had a lot of injuries and still managed to win the east. He may bring Florida down but he hasn’t yet. Trashing the guy considering his success to this point seems crazy. Maybe see if he screws up before trashing him for screwing up.
He can’t recruit players.
He seems to not know how to recruit coaches who can recruit.
He hasn’t improved the offense at all.
Ever see those memes, the “you had one Job” memes?
Mac had one Job – fix the offense.
Two years in, not a sniff of improvement.
I’m not suggesting he needs to go today. But he needs to produce a top 60 offense this year.
“I can think of 6 teams that would have loved to win the east.”
I can think of 6 people who’d love a crack at Rebel Wilson just because she’s a celebrity. It’s not something Id consider a boast-worthy accomplishment
It really doesn’t matter if you consider it boast worthy. It’s still a accomplishment the rest of the teams in the division would had loved to achieved. Those players want to win the division, conference and whatever bowl they get. As fans we didn’t accomplish any of it so as boasting goes who cares?………
Yet here you are boasting on his behalf
I am not boasting on anyone’s behalf. I am just pointing out the fact that he has managed to win the east back to back with Florida. Down or not that’s a nice accomplishment for a coach in his second year.
“How is Strong a proven winner but the others are not? I don’t see anything to justify that position.”
Les Miles kept delivering diminishing returns.
Same with Sumlin. Plus there the QB madness happening there.
Strong, steadily rebuilt Louisville from the wreckage that was Steve Kragthorpe. Hence why he got the Texas gig
There is a reply button, it is a lot more helpful to use it.
What’s with you good old boys? After so many replies the button vanishes.
Are you going to actually discuss the topics or are you more interested is playing message board police ?
Its not hard just go to the last reply button and click that. your comment will show up under the one your replying to.
Like this
Genuinely, thanks for the tip. Never bothered trying because on other boards you end up replying to yourself and are excoriated for THAT.
So only what Strong did at Louisville counts? He sucked at Texas. You can only blame Mack Brown for so long. Charlie and his team failed badly.
As mentioned earlier, he was undermined before his first practice.
Who is talking about Mack Brown? I said NOTHING about him.
Not to mention the infighting in the upper tiers.
Undermined? What is that supposed to mean. He brought in decent recruits and did nothing with them. He was the coach. He failed and he was fired. That’s not the definition of a winner.
Seriously? You don’t know what happened the moment he was hired? You’re not aware of the power struggles in the upper tier in the school?
Sure. I heard the rumors but that really doesn’t have anything to do with what is happening on game day. Losing to Kansas is all on Charlie. He failed. I’m glad he got another chance, but he was horrible at Texas.
Rumors? They weren’t rumors. Those were actual things.
And if you think dissension in the upper tiers doesn’t trickle down, you’re sorely mistaken.
It literally happens at EVERY level, be it little league where a well off parent who donates uniforms (or sponsors in some way) then expects their kid to play, to boosters meddling in the office and in the “team functions”, conflicts between a president and AD and the coach in unsteady during because of it and the players knowing about the uncertainty, to Jed York/Trent Baalke/Jim Harbaugh.
Happens on every level and even the best coaches can’t always overcome it via results
Pretty funny how an article on the state of the Gators recruiting is one of the most commented on articles of the off season (don’t know for sure, just surmising). Everyone seems to have an opinion of the Gators regardless of how the program is doing. It is a testament to the brand.