According to West Orange High wide receiver Jayden Gibson, who is committed to the Florida Gators’ 2022 recruiting class, there is no cause for concern — yet.
Head coach Dan Mullen still has his job, 13 players remain committed and there is no need for a fire sale, Gibson said.
The Gators’ recruiting class for 2022 has seen just slight fallout from losses at Kentucky, LSU and South Carolina, and Gibson said his pledge remains the same.
“It doesn’t change anything for me,” Gibson said of the Gators’ lack of victories this season.
Be forewarned, however. If the Gators were to lose to hated rival FSU to end the season, the recruiting exit ramp might start to look like game-day traffic coming off I-75.
The Gators lost three recruits in October, with Mobile (Ala.) linebacker Shemar James, Houston cornerback Julian Humphrey and Tampa Berkeley Prep tight end C.J. Hawkins all pulling their commitments in search of greener pastures.
Considering the recent losses, many figure there are even more to come, but for guys such as Gibson and 2023 wide receiver Goldie Lawrence, a UF commit from Sanford Seminole, the Gators are still OK in their eyes.
“It doesn’t change anything for me,” Lawrence said. “It seems like Dan’s on the hot seat, but I don’t think they’ll fire him.”
As the exit door dangles from its hinges, there hasn’t exactly been a mass prospect exodus. With games left again SEC foe Missouri and FSU, that door could end up being trampled to the ground. Even Saturday’s home game against Football Championship Subdivision opponent Samford is not a given victory.
A loss to Samford almost assuredly would spell doom for Mullen and his staff, but a loss to FSU would have the same resounding effect.
Mullen has to be concerned about losing even more recruits in a class isn’t even considered to be very good. UF is ranked just No. 35 in the country by Rivals.com, which is one spot ahead of UCF. At 24/7 Sports, the analysts are much nicer, labeling UF No. 22.
Winter Park running back Terrence Gibbs is one of those recruits hanging by a thread, but he sounds like a loss to FSU would still not likely change his mind.
“I don’t see that changing any of my plans,” said Gibbs, who has played only two games in two seasons after tearing his ACL in a fluke injury just before the 2019 season. “I think the Gators’ program is going to get back on track and I just can’t wait to get there, really.”
Throw in a loss to FSU, however, and that changes things. Mullen and crew would be sent packing.
West Orange’s Gibson, the No. 1-ranked player in the Sentinel’s 2022 Central Florida Super60, said he would likely have to reassess his commitment.
“Yeah, if that happened, then I’d have to reconsider,” Gibson said.
Gibbs and Lawrence said they will wait and see.
“I haven’t really thought about that. We’ll see if it gets there but I really haven’t even discussed that,” said Gibbs.
For Lawrence, the key is keeping the staff together, so if the Gators were to cut loose Mullen, the staff would be out the door as well. That would mean receivers coach Billy Gonzales, and that hits home for Lawrence, who has a good bond with the UF passing-game coordinator.
“I don’t know. Billy’s still there right now, so it doesn’t really affect me,” Lawrence said.
Regardless how the recruits feel now, everything will change if Mullen is given his pink slip.
Mullen is a likable guy whose rah-rah approach has won over many Gators fans, but he’s losing his supporters as fast as he loses games.
This is a Florida team that had Alabama on the ropes and that appeared, at the time, to speak volumes about how far the team had come. But then ‘Bama lost to Texas A&M and the narrative turned into more about how the Gators should have beaten the Crimson Tide.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda ... snooze and you lose in the SEC. Somebody better wake up these Gators.
Captain Sullen needs to right this ship. It’s going in circles, with only one side of working oars.
A bad recruiting class is one loss from getting even worse. It’s close to going down as the worst recruiting class ever assembled in Gainesville since the experts started compiling team rankings.
It’s bad enough to have such horrible recruiting numbers, but this tradition-rich program is barely even out-recruiting UCF.
Maybe that’s why the Gators didn’t want to play at the Bounce House. They could have gotten bounced right out of O-town.
