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There’s no time off for a college football coach during the season.
Dan Mullen and his coaching staff are taking full advantage of the NCAA’s newly extended ‘Contact Period.’ The NCAA now allows coaches to begin speaking to recruits on November 25. They’ll have until December 15 to continue speaking with the 2019 recruits.
While this was the Gator coaching staff’s first off-week since their official bye week back in October, Mullen, Todd Grantham, John Hevesy and the rest of the coaching staff clearly know how important this period is for recruits.
The coaches have visited both Florida recruits, and players that are currently committed to other other programs.
Florida 2019 Recruits
Dan Mullen visited some of the biggest recruiting acquisitions that Florida has rolled in for next season. Considering that Mullen will be entering his second season as head coach, he’ll want next year’s Gators to improve off this season’s success.
Hevesy and assistant coach, Brian Johnson, visited Wardrick Wilson, a 6’4″ 305-pound lineman from Miami Carol City. The big man committed to The Swamp earlier this month.
Great in home visit 🐊🐊💯🔷🔶 pic.twitter.com/yl3qDIJ1y1
— Wardrick Wilson (@WardrickWilson) November 27, 2018
The visits didn’t stop on the defensive side of the ball either. Special assistant Ron English paid a visit to Jesiah Pierre. The linebacker from Miami was originally committed to UM, but he rescinded his offer in favor of Florida in July.
At 6’2″ Pierre isn’t the most physically imposing player at his position, but he’s been labeled a very strong athlete by some of the nation’s top scouts.
Appreciate ya coming coach!!🐊🙏🏾🔥💯💙🧡#GoGators #SwampSquadXIX@CoachRonEnglish pic.twitter.com/1YOPlgx74r
— 𝑉 𝐴 𝐿 𝑂 𝑅🤴🏾 (@JesiahPierre) November 26, 2018
Non-Florida recruits visited as well
Specifically, coach Mullen has spent most of his time visiting players that have already committed to other schools. The goal is to try and convince the player to back off their offer and join The Swamp instead.
Coaches have focused on a quite a number of players that are committed to the University of Miami, as well as Florida State.
Hevesy and Mullen were both in South Florida to visit UM’s offensive lineman Michael Tarquin. The 6’5″ player committed to Miami in November, and he hosted a ton of visits from a few schools.
https://twitter.com/Mike_Tarquin70/status/1067250430294544385
FSU commit, Quashon Fuller, also received a welcome visit from Mullen and Grantham themselves. The Gators have reportedly been attempting to strip the talented defensive lineman from their state-rivals for a few months now.
4-star FSU DL commit Quashon Fuller rates #Gators in-home visit a "10"
"Coach Mullen hit on all the points of what a parent wants to hear."
Full story at @GatorsTerritory:
–> https://t.co/pw5kepWfuh #UF @Rivals pic.twitter.com/kRX6oVJGZG
— Corey Bender (@Corey_Bender) November 28, 2018
Essentially, Florida’s staff is actively trying to improve upon a 2019 recruiting class. It’s one that is currently ranked 21st in the country and 11th in the SEC. Sixteen players are currently listed as hard commits for Florida.
It was a different task at hand for Mullen and co. this week, but still nonetheless, an important one for the future. They’ll continue trying to land some of their biggest positional needs until the end of the ‘Contact Period.’
