Building an Army: Florida Gators' 59-Day Recruiting Cycle Comes to an End

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier and his staff wrapped up the program's first recruiting class under a new regime.

59 days.

That's how long Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier and his staff had to complete this year's recruiting cycle. Though the program started a bit behind the eight-ball, it rebounded quickly concluding National Signing Day ranked at No. 21 on SI All-American's top-25 national rankings.

Circling back to the early days of Napier's young tenure as the team's HC, the Florida recruiting ranking fell sharply, falling out of the top 25 of SIAA's rankings on Dec. 1, in part due to decommitments from players such as linebacker Shemar James (prior to his return to the class), running back Terrance Gibbs and wide receiver Isaiah Bond in October and November.

RELATED: Florida Gators Finish in SI All-American's Top 25 Recruiting Rankings

The class would fall even further, though it is unclear where SIAA would have ranked them at that time given the list holds only 25 spots, due to numerous decommitments in the month of December, including highly-rated quarterback Nick Evers.

Still, Napier and his staff quickly got to work, securing several commitments, an impressive trip on the trail that certainly had its ups and downs.

"I'm pleased with the progress we've made," Napier said on Wednesday, his first National Signing Day at Florida.

"I thought we answered a lot of needs. I thought we took advantage of each opportunity to add players to the team. Obviously, you've got a list there of guys that have signed so far, just added a few more just a couple minutes ago. We've got more to go today.

"So, much like we said before, one day at a time, one person at a time. We've added some really good people since the last time we stood up here with you guys, not only football players but also staff members."

That was Napier's first summary of the events. And he's right, especially on the surface, Florida added plenty of talent not only to their on-the-field and off-the-field staff but also on the football field itself via transfers, such as offensive lineman O'Cyrus Torrence and running back Montrell Johnson from ULL.

The team's climb back into the top 25 of SIAA's rankings didn't just come from the portal, either, it came from Early Signing Day additions of players like James, safety Kamari Wilson, cornerback Devin Moore and defensive lineman Chris McClellan. All three of them rank in the top 10 at their position, according to SIAA.

Certainly, there were misses yesterday. The Gators missed out on at least two key targets that had serious interest in UF at one point in RB TreVonte' Citizen and linebacker Harold Perkins. Though safety Jacoby Mathews was a longer shot than either of them, he has also been viewed as a miss by Florida.

Still, Florida's recovery prior to missing out on those three was plenty impressive, especially for a transition year and cycle.

Napier, though, is never satisfied with the end results and mentioned that he probably will never bat 1.000 on any given recruiting cycle. Still, so far, so good, he said.

"I don't think I've ever batted a thousand with signing day. To tell some of our young people in the building, hey, this is a little more like baseball here. We've got to swing a lot and make contact and at the end of the day we need 25 really good hits," Napier added when asked about the comfort level he had with players they signed Wednesday.

"So it requires a little bit of perspective, if that makes sense. And resiliency, I would say. So you've got to have a short memory. You've got to move on to the next one. Certainly as a competitor maybe some of those things you learned as a competitor you can apply in recruiting for sure. But we fill a lot of needs.

"I'm confident in each individual player we've added, what they bring to the team, certainly the jobs that we think they can do for our team."

Certainly, Napier and his staff aren't exactly enthused about missing out on a couple of potential blue-chip players, but they made do with the limited time they had and scoured the country as a whole to find targets. Just six signees were from the state of Florida, something Napier said will be adjusted now that they have a full cycle to work with.

Now, his attention will turn to the 2023 class, a group he and his staff have already been active in recruiting. One of the bonuses, he says, is the team won't have to have much business done in the month of February since the majority of the class will (presumably) be locked up by then.

The program built the schedule based on the '22 players but made sure to check out the '23 players in that area.

"I took that approach. [Director of player personnel] Jacob [LaFrance] did a great job of mapping that out. And certainly each assistant coach kind of taking the same philosophy.

"So we're hopeful that we won't be doing this much business in February next year, and we'll be able to be a little bit more strategic about our time on the road relative to the next group. But I think we made the most of it, for sure."

Now, of course, next year's class will receive much more of a closer look under a microscope, as it should, with the expectations of ranking higher, sooner than they currently are in this year's class.

Still, ultimately grading out as the second-best team in Florida, behind only Miami (17), according to Sports Illustrated All-American, it's not that bad for just 59 days on the job.

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