The last two times Florida has a faced a football head coaching vacancy, the athletic director has selected a coach with a background of coaching quarterbacks. With his first Friday Night Lights (Florida’s summer camp that serves as its showcase recruiting event) in the books, first-year head coach Dan Mullen has made it clear he will manage the quarterback depth chart differently than his predecessor, Jim McElwain.

RELATED: Staying home: Rising Florida dual-threat QB Anthony Richardson commits to Gators

At the completion of his first FNL, McElwain had secured one QB commitment (from then-2-star recruit Kyle Trask) and added two other quarterbacks by means of transfer. Former Vanderbilt QB Joshua Grady transferred for the 2015 season. Luke Del Rio sat out the ’15 season as a transfer from Oregon State. (He would continue to add two more graduate transfers in the 2016 and ’17 seasons.)

Mullen, on the other hand, is targeting high school recruits and focusing on long-term depth. Saturday’s commitment from 2020 Eastside (Gainesville, Fla.) QB Anthony Richardson gives Mullen his third quarterback pledge since becoming coach of the Gators in November. In another sharp contrast to McElwain, no quarterbacks have transferred to UF. (Jake Allen, a 2017 signee, transferred out after spring practice.)

Richardson joins freshman Emory Jones and 2019 4-star recruit Jalon Jones as quarterbacks to commit to Mullen at Florida. Emory Jones was ranked the No. 5 dual-threat quarterback of the 2018 class by the 247Sports Composite and No. 85 overall recruit nationally. Jalon Jones is ranked the No. 7 dual-threat quarterback of the 2019 class. Richardson does not have a composite ranking yet, but 247Sports ranks him the No. 9 dual-threat quarterback of the 2020 class.

Both McElwain and Mullen arrived in Gainesville with the knowledge that a lack of production and consistency at the quarterback position played a part in the job becoming open. Turning to transfers did not work out for McElwain. Time will tell if signing more system-fit recruits will pay off for Mullen.

Edit: The article originally incorrectly stated McElwain had added three transfer quarterbacks prior to the 2015 season. The third joined in January 2016.