Evaluating the 2022 Recruiting Classes Across the State of Florida

Analyzing the 2022 recruiting hauls for Florida college football programs.

Author:
Brian Smith
Publish date:
Dec 16, 2021 9:34 AM EST

There was an unusually high amount of turnover for recruits in the state of Florida, and that has much to do with the unusually high number of coaching changes at the head coach and assistant coaching ranks.

From Florida to USF and every place in between, the five biggest programs in the state of Florida had interesting moments along the recruiting trail and it escalated on National Signing Day. Here’s a run down of each of the five programs in question: Florida, Florida State, Miami, UCF, and USF.

This list was done in alphabetical order.

Florida

The Gators were light on numbers but high on talent. Nine high school players signed with the Florida Football program, including adding national safety recruit Kamari Wilson from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. He’s originally from Fort Pierce, Fla. He flipped from the rival Bulldogs up in Athens, Ga. to sign with the Gators.

Another flip for the Gators saw Naples (Fla.) High School defensive back Devin Moore spurn Notre Dame after being a long-time commitment. He was recruited nationally and had an offer from several top-notch programs, Alabama included.

One of the more surprising signings would be linebacker Shemar James. The Mobile (Ala.) Faith Academy product was ardently pursued by Alabama, the program all of his family roots for, and he still signed with the Gators. He’s an absolutely elite player and should contribute early in Gainesville.

The Gators needed linemen on both sides of the football, and kept Jamari Lyons from Melbourne (Fla.) Viera and Chris McClellan from Owasso (Okla.) High School in the fold. Both will pay dividends down the line.

Florida did come up short on numbers along the offensive line, a position that’s been up and down the past few seasons, by signing just three high school players and one transfer. In all honesty, the Gators could have used one more, if not two, along the offensive line.

No quarterback or running back in the class could come back to bite the Gators. So too could losing wide receiver Jayden Gibson to Oklahoma as part of the initiative to have each recruit have a 15-minute workout video sent over to Head Coach Billy Napier, per his request.

Let’s just say that did not go over well with several recruits, parents, coaches and the like. More on that at a later date, because it’s a saga within itself.

Florida State

What could have been a top eight national class hit a brick wall on National Signing Day.

For the Seminoles, it’s more about what players did not sign than actually signed, unfortunately. In one of the worst National Signing Day collapses of all-time, the Seminoles lost the nation’s No. 1 player, wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter to NFL Hall of Fame cornerback and now Jackson State Head Coach Deion Sanders.

Some of the other misses include Florida State legacy defensive end recruit Marvin Jones, Jr. from Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage. His father is one of Florida State’s all-time greatest players. Another Broward county duo went elsewhere, too.

Losing Devaugh Mortimer, a burner at wide receiver from Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Dillard, to Louisville is just a plain bad look. That just cannot happen to a Power Five program in the state of Florida. Another Dillard player also went in another direction.

Defensive lineman Nyjalik Kelly flipped from Florida State to rival Miami. Those are some of the misses for the Seminoles, and it still had a top 20 class, perhaps even top 15.

Head Coach Mike Norvell and his coaching staff signed arguably the nation’s best set of safeties with Azareyeh Thomas and Sam McCall, from Niceville (Fla.) High School and Lakeland (Fla.) Lake Gibson respectively.

Adding extremely accurate quarterback AJ Duffy to the fold was huge. He’s one of those quarterbacks that just hits his targets time and time again. Playing at IMG Academy after transferring in from California, Duffy could compete for the starting job at some point during his freshman season.

The Seminoles definitely added girth to the defensive line: Bishop Thomas from Orlando (Fla.) Bishop Moore and Daniel Lyons from Homestead (Fla.) High School are two very talented defensive lineman, with Thomas being over 300-pounds and able to play the always important nose guard position.

In all, Florida State signed, at most, eight players expected to be placed on defense. The Seminoles needed to be in double digits with their defensive haul after finishing 66th in the nation in total defense by allowing 377.8 yards per game.

The offensive line, however, really did gain a big step forward. Adding Qae’Shon Sapp from Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County, all 350-plus-pounds of him mind you, is a huge pickup literally and figuratively. He’s an incredible agile athlete and one that will compete for playing time much quicker than many might know.

In all, the Seminoles signed three offensive lineman over 300-pounds and they also signed Florida State legacy offensive line recruit Julian Armella from Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Saint Thomas Aquinas. His father played on the 1993 National Title team.

Miami

Newly hired Head Coach Mario Cristobal did flip Kelly from Florida State, as noted above. That’s huge for a team that’s not been consistently able to stop the run against some of the better programs it's faced in recent years.

Overall, the Hurricanes signed just eight recruits. Much like Florida, this is a group based more on quality than quantity.

Keeping dual-threat quarterback Jacurri Brown from Valdosta (Ga.) Lowndes County in the class is a huge deal for Coach Cristobal. He’s one of the most athletic and strong-armed quarterbacks in the class of 2022. Brown’s upside is all but unlimited.

He will be throwing to wide receiver Isaiah Horton from Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Oakland at some point down the line. It’s just that Miami’s offensive signees end at those two prospects. Again, just eight recruits signed.

Keeping highly touted cornerback Khamauri Rogers from Lexington (Miss.) Holmes County in the class adds much needed speed and playmaking ability. He’s a flat out different-maker at cornerback. Rogers could have signed with any school in the land and still stuck with his pledge to the Hurricanes.

A more local product fits the mold of Hurricanes linebackers from the time Cristobal once played for Miami. Wesley Bissainthe comes to Coral Gables from nearby Miami (Fla.) Central. He’s a very fast linebacker that will need to add a little bit of weight. He’s currently around 6’0”, 200-pounds. His speed and natural instincts are what made Bissainthe productive throughout his high school career, however.

Safety Markeith Williams is another player that could have jumped ship and headed for numerous programs, but stuck with Miami. He’s from Orlando (Fla.) Evans. There’s also something to keep in mind about Miami’s small class, despite it’s top-end talent.

Cristobal was hired on Dec. 6. That’s just not enough time to reel in a top class, much like with Napier being hired by Florida on Nov. 28.

Like Coach Napier, the next order of recruiting business for Cristobal will be to hit the Transfer Portal prior to turning his attention to the class of 2023. Watch out for Miami starting with the next recruiting cycle. Coach Cristobal is one of the nation’s best recruiters from the head coaching position.

UCF

The Knights signed 14 players overall, 13 of which come from the high school ranks. The biggest news on National Signing Day stemmed from flipping former Iowa State commitment Xavier Townsend. The talented multi-position prospect should see action at wide receiver as well as in the backfield for the Knights, and he’s an excellent return man as well.

It’s a mostly balanced group for UCF. One quarterback, one running back, three wide receivers, one tight end, three offensive lineman, two defensive ends, two linebackers, two cornerbacks and one safety.

The only position that was not addressed would be defensive tackle, and it’s a spot that the UCF coaching staff will address through the transfer portal. Keep in mind, transfers can be announced at any moment. There’s no telling when a defensive tackle, or any other position, could see UCF add a player.

The highlight player of the class is debatable, but the biggest asset overall would be sheer athleticism and speed. Several members of this class are dual-sport athletes.

Wide receiver Tyler Griffin is an incredibly talented basketball player in addition to being a really good football player. So are twins Demari and Ja’Cari Henderson, a safety and cornerback, and their teammate Kameron Moore, a linebacker. All three players are from nearby Orlando high school program Sanford (Fla.) Seminole. Further, it’s a class with sheer speed.

Placing Gainesville (Fla.) Buchholz's Quan Lee at wide receiver in the same formation with the aforementioned Townsend creates mismatches. Placing bruising running back Jordan McDonal in the backfield to balance out the offensive attack creates more mismatches.

Then there’s do-it-all quarterback Thomas Castellanos from Waycross (Ga.) Ware County to orchestrate the process. He has the speed to score from 80 yards with his legs and also throw it on the money from 60 yards because of his arm.

On defense, signing defensive end Keahnist Thompson from Lakeland (Fla.) High School over programs like Miami, Florida, Alabama and Texas should be considered a coup. State champion defensive end Jamaal Johnson from Plantation (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna is also an important signing.

Overall, UCF really upped its recruiting game and could be headed to yet another level of recruiting because it's also joining the Big 12 Conference in 2023, adding exposure to the program.

UCF has an intriguing class, and it’s going to grow in the coming weeks via the Transfer Portal. It's also important to note that 10 players signed by UCF come from talent-rich Florida high school programs.

USF

The Bulls signed just nine prospects from the high school ranks, led by very underrated Eddie Kelly from Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange edge defender Eddie Kelly. He’s going to make many programs wish they had pursued him earlier. It’s the players with more experience that are most interesting, however.

USF went to the Transfer Portal and accepted 11 transfers. That literally more than what the Bulls signed from the prep ranks.

From that list, nine of those 11 hail from schools that are currently Power Five. USF was bad on the field this year, but perhaps the influx of older talent will enhance the program.

Watch out for former Brandon (Fla.) Armwood defensive lineman Clyde Pinder, Jr. He is one of the better defensive tackles to come out of the Tampa area in recent years. He transferred to USF from North Carolina.

Another defensive lineman comes to USF from the ACC, and that would be Wake Forest transfer James Ash. The 6’3”, 280-pound lineman is another player from the Tampa Bay area, playing at Chamberlain High School in the heart of Tampa.

At wide receiver, Ajou Ajou is a big-bodied weapon at 6’3”, 225-pounds. He steps onto the USF campus after spending two years at Clemson.

For UCF coverage and recruiting information go to: The Daily Knight podcast. For more college football, UCF and recruiting information, go to Twitter: @fbscout_florida and @UCF_FanNation, as well as my YouTube Channel and Instagram page. Like and Subscribe!