GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It’s been a long time, but Florida has some real offseason recruiting momentum. In the span of roughly one week, the Gators saw their 2018 recruiting class ranked in the 60s climb more than 50 spots. Seven commitments will do that.

The climb started with a commitment from 4-star OG Curtis Dunlap Jr., ranked the No. 6 guard in the class. A Jacksonville native, Dunlap transferred to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., to play alongside elite talent and get noticed as a prospect. Playing at IMG likely helped Dunlap get offers from the likes of USC, Oklahoma and Michigan, but in the end, he decided to stay close to home.

The sign that something was cooking in The Swamp came two days later when 4-star TE Kyle Pitts committed. Pitts, from Warminster, Penn., is rated the No. 11 tight end of the class. In his highlights, the 6-5, athletic tight end shows what he can bring to the passing attack.

During the Friday Night Lights camp, more commitments trickled in to the 2018 and ’19 classes from WDE/TE Dante Lang, OT Wardrick Wilson and S Randy Russell. A multi-commitment weekend is always big, but the real fireworks came Saturday and Sunday nights.

On Saturday night, Jim McElwain and his staff finally got their moment of recruiting glory with the commitment of Matt Corral.

The 5-star quarterback from Long Beach, Calif., took to Twitter and told Gator Nation, “Let’s do something special.” On Rivals, one of the oldest online recruiting services, Corral is ranked the No. 7 overall prospect in the 2018 class, higher than Jeff Driskel (No. 32), Cam Newton (No. 28), Chris Leak (26) and even Tim Tebow (No. 22).

He is ranked No. 23 overall by 247Sports.com and the No. 2 quarterback in the class. Come January, McElwain gets the chance to start developing a 6-2 gunslinger into the next great Gator quarterback.

To his credit, McElwain has signed multiple 5-star prospects at UF (Martez Ivey, Cece Jefferson) and a blue-chip quarterback (Feleipe Franks was No. 5 pro-style quarterback of 2016), but those commitments were different. Ivey and Jefferson were 2015 signees who were recruited by Will Muschamp’s staff and grew up Gator fans in Florida.

Days after Franks committed in November 2015, it became clear that Florida was putting on a full-court press for Jacob Eason, hoping to sway the 5-star Georgia commit after Mark Richt’s dismissal, giving the appearance that the Gators were settling by signing Franks.

This time, it’s different. There’s no asterisk by the 5-star commit. And more important, the Gators got their guy.

It’s what has happened after Corral’s commitment that shows why he’s a game-changer on the recruiting trail. On Sunday night, the Gators pulled a recruiting upset landing 4-star wideout JaMarr Chase. Just a month ago, the New Orleans area wideout was reportedly down to TCU and LSU. He was supposed to commit live on television from Nike’s The Opening competition camp, but the NFL Network bumped the commitment when an event ran long. With his stock rising significantly from an impressive showing at The Opening, Chase kept his recruitment open, and has now committed to Florida to play with Corral.

Barton Simmons, 247Sports’ Director of Scouting, recently opined that Chase might climb even higher in the rankings before National Signing Day.

“After watching all of the best receivers at The Opening, there are no less than six guys that I feel deserve legitimate consideration for 5-star status,” Simmons wrote earlier this month. “Those guys are Amon-Ra St. Brown (already a 5-star), Kamryn Babb, Terrace Marshall, Justin Shorter, Jordyn Adams and JaMarr Chase.”

The big recruiting weekend even carried over into Monday when Florida picked up commitment No. 14 for 2018 from Miami WR Tyquan Thornton. While only a 3-star wideout, Thornton also had offers from Georgia, Miami and Tennessee.

Commitments like Thornton don’t get the same headlines as Corral, Chase or Pitts, but they’re still important. Sunshine State talent will always be the foundation of UF’s recruiting classes. In the 2018 class, 10 of the 14 commitments are from Florida. The four out-of-state commitments can be found within the top six pledges (by 247Sports Composite score) in the class. That’s the formula – loading up on in-state talent and signing out-of-state blue-chippers – for catching Alabama and Florida State.

Bringing in out-of-state stars is a sign that some of the country’s most talented players want to be Gators, and not just those who grew up a short drive from Gainesville. They’re coming to Florida because they’re buying what McElwain is selling, and that’s the chance to win a championship. With Corral on board, the Gators have that chance.

Cover photo courtesy of: @corral_matt