Kirby Smart going to miss out on Arik Gilbert again? Former LSU TE trending toward Georgia rival
Arik Gilbert has had a tumultuous last couple of months as he had a long and drawn out departure from LSU after he reported being homesick, and then there was a delay in him entering the transfer portal.
The conventional wisdom as he left LSU was that he might land at his home state program of Georgia since he’s from Marietta. There were also early rumors that he would land at Tennessee, but the instability there appears to be the main reason that that theory has fizzled out. But sentiment is growing that he may, in fact, land at one of Georgia’s top rivals, Florida.
Mike Farrell, the national recruiting director for Rivals, reported that someone close to the Florida program told him that Gilbert to the Gators is a “done deal.”
Gilbert, a 5-star prospect coming out of high school, was one of the bright freshmen in the country this season, and a matchup nightmare not unlike Florida TE Kyle Pitts was for the Gators offense in 2020.
Coming off a three-game losing streak to end the season, this news would be a welcome sight for the Florida program which needs a boost entering the spring.
#Gators https://t.co/MeRsHj2SKv
— Mike Farrell (@rivalsmike) January 9, 2021
The image below comes from Kyle Pitts’ Instagram story.
Oh, if true, this would be a smack to the face of UGA fans. But Gilbert is a perfect fit in Mullen’s offense. Hope it is true.
Click on the link on Mike Farrell’s post. The source is as nutcase. Fake story it seems. SDS trolling Florida again with a story. What a joke SDS is.
Don’t give up now, I’ve got a brand new bag of fresh hot popcorn, extra butter…
Arik Gilbert will do well wherever he lands. UGA fans wanted him out of high school. We would still LOVE TO HAVE HIM!!!! If Florida gets him. It’s his life. I personally wouldn’t choose Emory Jones to throw to me over JT Daniels and the 2 other 5 stars at UGA!!! UGA is set to win a national championship and are throwing to the TE more and more!!!!!
Dan Mullen lies and can’t even decide if he wants to go pro or stay at Florida!!!!! UGA owns the east!!!! We wish Arik Gilbert well.
King Negan
Kirby better double up on the those bags. What else can he offer him, hair cuts are taken care of, maybe he can offer Arik to shave his face and arm pits?
Yo Humper how much did you pony up on that Mims instagram live? Maybe you should start another one for Gilbert
Another fake story I suppose, there is no way Mullen can get anyone Kirby wants. Besides Gilbert would become the bestest blocking TE if he went to Athens
Yea who in the world would wanna win awards and be a first round draft pick?
Let me give that question a shot 2bitz…Trask?
My reference was towards Pitts but Trask would work although he technically didn’t win any awards…
Humper forgot we are talking about TEs, another senior moment
On the other han, Mullen developes players, kirby dumb dog…can’t and has underachieved with all the 5 stars that he has recruited…the word has gotten out.
Mullen “developes” players? That’s questionable. Franks? Jones? On the other “han” the QB whisperer doesn’t seem to have any sort of loyalty to UF whatsoever. You guys will be cursing him when he takes an NFL job next week. I’ll be LMAO.
Franks went from throwing for 1438 yds 9 TDs and 8 ints under Mac to throwing for 2457 yds 24 TDs and 6 ints in his first year under Mullen. If that’s not the exact definition of developing, then I don’t know what is. Jones hasn’t taken over the starting role yet, because he had a Heisman finalist in front of him, you know that other guy Mullen helped develop, so you can’t really claim he hasn’t developed him or it’s “questionable”. That Georgia education is showing.
Well if you think THATS impressive have you seen what he did in 2020…Franks stats this year under that Oline Coach whisperer were 2107 yards with 17 tds 4 ints and a career high in completion percentage AND QBR, and ALL in only 10 games…one could say if that Mullet is a QB developer, then Pittman has to be considered the greatest QB Expansionist creator in the history of, well history Joe…Of course, as a realist my money is on Franks having matured another year and with that extra year of maturity the game finally began to slow down a little bit for him…just like Trask
Another thank you to Kyle Pitts
2bits, I totally agree with you’re post. This would be a good get. But, if he was homesick and that’s the reason, how much closer is Hogtown than Baton Rouge?
Gainesville is a couple hundred miles closer to Marietta, but still a 350-mile haul. Still 5-plus hours, and add an extra hour or so to get through/around Atlanta most of the time. If homesickness is his reason for leaving LSU, this doesn’t parse. Especially since UF was not in his final five last year.
Could it be that he may have not been homesick. Could have just wanted to move on with LSU having the season they had and the NCAA investigation. Im an UGA fan and am wise enough to realize if i were a TE with the season Pitts had with Mullen’s offense you can’t say it’s not an attractive place to wind up at.
^^^This^^^
No poodle boy, he understands that he will lose his hard earned stars at a college whose coach underachieves with all the weapons he has…
Gainsville is where you go to become a better player, athens is where you go to … well…underachieve every season…athens burns in the end…history…you cant escape it…uga ie a sad relic…
Exactly.
A couple of morons UGA haters. UF is the sad relic who just trashed their best chance ata good season in 10 years. As far as under-performing Bama could be pointed at as having under performed as much as anyone. Their recruiting completely eclipses every other team during that time and it’s not even close. Bama should have won the Natty every year. Didn’t even come close.
Gainesville is not too terribly far from ATL. UGA has depth at TE and Gators have an opening and a great offense. Pitts is a beast! Glad he went pro!
uga has a dumb dog coach that makes poor players out of army of 5 stars and achieves nothing…hey he makes good money..LOL…at your expense!
Dumb dog is good at converting 5 stars to 3 stars. The ones that retain their stars transfer. Coach Mullen and coach Sabin, convert 3 stars to 5 stars. FACTS! college of georgia is a relic….
This is my opinion n feeling on the Arik rumor, he was going to probably go to UT to reunite with his HS QB, but with the current gas can and dumpster situation there latest rumors and I say he leans to Tuscaloosa, we have 69 scholly players returning next week along with 16 early enrollees including 3 juniors who have yet to declare their intent. If they all elect to return we simply won’t have available schollies until June, I just don’t see a talent like Gilbert waiting that long for anyone, much less a team he has already spurned one time before…but I am hopeful until I am not…can’t see Gainesville if it truly was about homesickness but stranger things have happened this year.
I don’t think it was about homesickness. I think he just wanted to leave. LSU was dumb enough to dare the NCAA to come to Baton Rouge and find something wrong and it looks like they will. LSU was asking for trouble so I don’t feel bad for that Athletic department but the players don’t want to be caught up in a bowl game suspension or something.
Look, it doesn’t matter if uga gets every single 5 star under the sky, they have an underachiever coach (the word is out on recruiting trail..he cant develop players. He should have won a NC with all the talent he has had. Look at LSU!) who is a bad play caller and has poor judgement when it comes to choosing and retaining players.
Mullen turns top tier NFL draft picks out of players that no one wanted (both Kyles). No NFL team will ever want a coach like kirby. Recruites have noticed and the word is out that uga is going to be what it is now…as long as dumb dog is the coach.
Yawn….for the life of me I have never ever seen any human being, even retarded ones, use so many words to say absolutely nothing, you’ve got one hail of talent there, poopyg8r…
I’m gonna see your poppy and raise you a King Negan The Idiot. Now give me your chips :)
Agreed, at least Poppy doesn’t meet the Gordon Rule on his post.
Agree… 41 years and counting since GA won a championship and they had to have superman on that team (Herchal Walker). Kirby is a waste of 5-star talent… never seen such and underacheiver… Muschamp and/or McElwain could have won with all the talent GA has had over the past 5-years. Keep Kirby there because GA will never win a National Title with that clown coaching there.
Sparky I call your poppy/Negan, and raise you jerome. That should put the chip count at let me guess “44-28”.
Four Loss Florida talks too much crap for their accomplishments. You beat us once in the last four years. You WON’T beat us next year. Your cheating coach got a major NCAA Show Cause penalty. You’ll be ranked below us at year end and act like you won a Natty. ♂️
There’s nothing funnier than seeing a Dawg fan claim any fan base runs their mouth’s as if they won a Natty. You guys haven’t won won in 41 years and act like you’re 10 straight national champs. Don’t be a hypocrite!
*one
@leghumper, doesn’t that mean he’s not coming to UGA. Your telling me a player of Gilbert’s caliber UGA can’t find him a scholarship. If that’s the case he wasn’t coming to UGA anyway.
I’m not telling you that means anything other than the numbers of returning scholarship players and number of early enrollees currently as of the article I read yesterday is 85. I suppose Kirby could kick a lesser talent off the team but that can only hurt him as a recruiter from a trust standpoint in the future, not Kirby’s style imho
@Dawgtime… that’s leghumpers way of covering his a$$ so incase he DOESN’T come to Georgia he can say some BS about him not coming because yall didnt have room… not simply because he would fit better at Florida… and Hate him or love him Dan Mullen has developed offensive talent light years ahead of Kirby!!!
Apples and oranges. Smart has a defensive background and Mullen has an offensive background, so your statement is just stupid. Love him or hate him, Smart has developed defensive talent light years ahead of Dan!!!
UGA has won the SEC and played for the national championship in Smart’s tenure. Mullen hasn’t done either. It doesn’t matter how much Mullen has developed offensive talent when he has nothing to show for it.
UGA vs UF (53–44–2, UGA)
Smart vs Mullen (1-2, UGA)
Take it a step further, it’s more telling that Mullen can’t bring in the same level of talent in a talent-rich state.
ATLDawg, you got that Smart vs Mullen score reversed. It’s 2-1 Kirby. Actually 3-1 counting the whipping Kirby and the Dawgs put on Mullet’s Miss State team when they rolled into Athens in 2017 ranked 15th or so in the nation and got a 31-3 a$$ whipping.
I don’t have a lot of positive feelings for Gilbert, and if this article is true, even less now. He is a good athlete, but clearly a quitter. The homesickness nonsense was a turnoff from the beginning. Now, who knows what was true. Hopefully he matures wherever he goes.
LSUMC. You have no clue what this kids circumstances were in Baton Rouge. But CLEARLY, it was not the right fit for him…and he left the program after days and weeks of discussions with his family & the LSU coach. Something CLEARLY did not fit well with him and his family at LSU. He HARDLY quit. He left a bad fit for him personally, and I doubt you or anyone outside of his family and the LSU staff will ever know why it was that. I hope he does come to UF, but I think he ends up at UGA or Bama. He was not even considering UF during his recruitment. But the use of Pitts by Mullen may have made a difference to him. We will soon see. If he wants to practice this spring at UF, he will need to be in classes next week.
It was not about fit as he was definitely involved heavily in the offense. He quit. Whoever gets him will have to do a better job of pampering him than LSU did.
All I have to say about LSU is your team played their heart and souls out in Gainsville this year and you should be proud of that team. Truely an inspirational performance. You beat us this year, no excuses, and LSU will be back up top next year. Go Gators!
Was not referencing fit on the football. This guy will fit on any team athletically. I was referencing fit thg ingredients in culturally and socially.
My cell somehow added words in the last post…meant to type:
…”I was referencing fit culturally and socially.”
You’re just guessing trying to cover for a guy you hope you get. He still quit.
I said on a comment on Arik in the transfer portal his best bet was Florida. Pitts is leaving and Mullen uses his TEs. He is 85 percent that he will be the starter next year if the SEC and NCAA lets him play next year. Emory with Copeland, Bowman, Lingard, Shorter, Henderson, Fraziers, and Arik would be nice offensive weapons. Arik will always be one on one with the linebacker or safety. Lets see if hes a Gator!
Pitts left but guess what? So is Mullen. The NFL is calling and Mullen doesn’t want to be bothered with recruiting or with school presidents and athletic directors that don’t like him showing up to pressers in a child’s costume. He doesn’t want to be bother with NCAA rules. I’d be amazed if this kid transferred to UF with Mullen having one foot out the door. It would really be a bad decision if he’s counting on Mullet to be there. If he doesn’t transfer to UGA, that’s ok. We’re loaded at tight end.
If he decides to play for Gators he will be a 1st Round Draft pick, SEC Champion, and National Champion. If he goes to Georgia… he will be another wasted 5-***** recruit. Kirby would try and put him as a quasi-Off. Tackle. Quiz: When was the last time Georgia won a National Title? If you said 41 years ago… you are correct!! Bulldogs are losers and their “leghumper” posting troll idiot is bound to have a negative post on this article somewhere. He has extreme Gator Envy…
Strong rumor is that he is going to Oklahoma
Interesting that the headline on the Gator page isn’t “Gators may land 5 star” or “Lsu loss is Fla gain”. Not “Saban misses out on a Gilbert again”. Instead, the Gators’ Kirbyphobia takes the headline. Hilarious.
Mullen and Grantham. The new East kings. Bahahaha
Next year will be fun.
Unclenutz, don’t forget this site is run by UF grads. The editor is as well as 5 or 6 of the writers.
As Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast!”. Apparently, Mike Farrell, the cited source for this story has changed his tune. A later post from him states, “I have no freaking clue where Arik Gilbert is going. I don’t think anyone does. Just passing along what I heard”, (from a source “close” to Florida).