IMG Academy OT Francis Mauigoa Talks Florida Gators, Plans for Recruitment
Photo: Francis Mauigoa; Credit: Zach Goodall
A pleasant surprise at this past weekend's Elite Underclassmen Camp in Orlando came in the form of several IMG Academy stars and top 2023 recruits showing up to participate in the workout.
Among those prospects was offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa, considered a consensus top ten recruit in the country this year.
"I just came out here to learn some more things," Mauigoa told AllGators. "Develop my left tackle skills, because I've played right tackle the whole time so I came out here to develop both ways.
"I tried to bring all of my boys here too, I brought [IMG Academy teammates] Santana Alo[-Tupuola], Jayden Jackson [and] David Stone. I brought them over here so, you know, I can see what they're made of. So that's why I came out here, to teach some of the youngins and help them with their skills, you know, develop each other."
When Mauigoa hasn't been occupied with training and attending camps, he's been busy fielding messages and calls from programs across the nation that are interested in his services at the next level.
One of those schools is Florida. Mauigoa's last unofficial visit took place at Florida in early March, and the Gators' new coaching staff made a strong impression on the Pago Pago, American Samoa native, to say the least.
"Their new staff is a lot better than the old staff. I think the new staff is way better. I felt the love and the atmosphere was crazy," Mauigioa explained. "It's the people that are around you that will make you successful. Surrounding yourself with successful people will make you successful. Surround yourself with failures, you'll make yourself a failure. So, you know, they develop successful kids. They showed me around, it was all love."
Mauigoa was intrigued by Florida employing two offensive line coaches, Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton, when he met the assistants on his visit and learned more about the operation. Mauigoa shared that UF is the only school he knows of to do so, noting that such a dynamic suggests the two coaches are in-sync and it helps them develop players.
Head coach Billy Napier has also built a strong relationship with Mauigoa since the IMG Academy star made his way to campus.
"Yeah, he's a cool guy," Mauigoa said of Napier. "I talked to him a lot during the week. He keeps me in check, so that's a good thing. You know, I look up to the head coach. He's doing a pretty good job at recruiting me."
Not long after his visit, Mauigoa included the Gators in his top 13 schools. Alongside his parents who plan to fly into the United States over the summer, Mauigoa intends to take three official visits from June 23 to July 19 and another two during the 2022 season before making his college decision.
As such, Mauigoa intends to cut his list from 13 schools to five by late May, he confirmed. Due to the successful visit, Florida certainly has a chance to make the list, but it won't be an easy decision for Mauigoa to make.
"It's hard to narrow down my list because everyone's spreading the love," Mauigoa said. "Everyone's showing me love at the same level. I don't feel like one team is better than the other team, that's the hard part."
Mauigoa was among 12 prospects who impressed Sports Illustrated All-American at Elite Underclassmen Camp.
2023 OT Francis Mauigoa, Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy
While we'd like to say Mauigoa won all four of his one-on-one reps on Sunday — two at left and two at right tackle — his final one would be considered a penalty in a game even though it turned into the type of power snapshot that has every major program in the country courting the American Samoa native on the offensive line.
Debatable clip aside, it was easy to see on Sunday why Mauigoa, 6-foot-5, 330 pounds, is one of the most talked about 2023 offensive linemen in the nation. His footwork is sound, seen by his consistently clean kick-slide in every rep. Mauigoa knocked two rushers out of their lane as they attempted to turn the corner, and stonewalled another before throwing the defender back onto the turf from where he came from.
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