Chris McClellan, Nation's No. 7 DL, Signs With Florida Gators
When Chris McClellan committed to the Florida Gators on Nov. 23 despite the school's lack of a head coach, it was clear that he envisioned a strong future by attending UF regardless of who his head football coach would be.
Now, after Billy Napier earned the head coaching job days following the Owasso (Okla.) prospect's pledge and a visit to campus on Dec. 12 to meet Napier and his coaching staff, that theory has been proven true: McClellan has signed his national letter of intent during the early signing period and will enroll at Florida.
McClellan was originally offered by UF in March 2021 and proceeded to visit Florida three times since in-person recruiting reopened in June, including his most recent visit this past weekend.
Defensive line coach David Turner and quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee (a local legend Tulsa, Okla. near McClellan's hometown), members of former Gators' head coach Dan Mullen's coaching staff, respectively served as McClellan's primary and secondary recruiters to Florida.
McClellan joins the nation's No. 11 iDL Jamari Lyons, from Viera (Fla.), as Florida's two defensive line signees in the class of 2022, creating a formidable duo that will replenish the depth along the interior of UF's defense moving forward. McClellan, 6-foot-3, 295 pounds, posted 46 tackles, five sacks, a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, and two batted passes during his senior season.
You can check out McClellan's SI All-American scouting report below.
Leanly built his way up to 290 on his way from defensive end to defensive tackle. Nice length. After watching his film, the first thing that sticks out is his long arms and his ability to quickly strike-and-shed blockers. He has good feet to match a very strong build. Great closing burst for a lineman.
It looks like he set up blockers for his moves, based on how effective some of his swims are. McClellan can get skinny through a gap when he needs to. Skilled when slanting into gaps. Fantastic pad level throughout his film. Active hands with a nasty punch. Easily manipulates blocker’s shoulder pads. Violent in every facet of his game. Solid tackler. He does most of his damage in between the tackles, slanting or stemming and disrupting. Every time the ball is snapped, he seems to have a plan for how he is attacking each blocker. Because he attacks with a plan in mind, he maximizes his already imposing physicality.
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