Florida went head-to-head against Miami for nine recruits, and the Gators emerged victorious, signing seven of the highly recruited prospects to the Hurricanes' two.
Suck wind, Canes! Thank you Randy Shannon. I guess the Miami kids don't want to attend a second rate ACC school.
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From: gatornews@googlegroups.com [mailto:gatornews@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Shane Ford
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2017 6:49 AM
To: GatorNews
Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: UF Football Notebook: Troubled recruits cleared to join roster
UF Football Notebook: Troubled recruits cleared to join roster
Adarius Lemons at the Friday Night Lights football camp on July 22, 2016, at the indoor practice facility at the University of Florida in Gainesville. (File photo)
By Robbie Andreu
Gainesville SUN Staff writers
Published: Wednesday, February 1, 2017 at 7:12 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 1, 2017 at 7:12 p.m.
The last two players to sign with Florida on Wednesday — Lakeland wide receiver James Robinson and Clearwater running back Adarius Lemons — have been dealing with issues that had cast some doubt on whether they would have a chance to become Gators.
Robinson was cited for marijuana possession on his official visit to Ohio State two weeks ago, while Lemons has had to deal with behavior and academic issues through the first part of his senior season.
Both were cleared to sign with the Gators on Wednesday, which they did.
"Obviously, as in all players, the important thing is you do your research and your background," UF coach Jim McElwain said of the decision to sign Robinson, a four-star prospect. "My guess is there's a few people in this crowd right here that have some regrets on things they've done, and yet at the same time take responsibility for it.
"Here is the good thing: We get an opportunity to be involved in his life. We get an opportunity to help him move forward, as we do all the players on this team. I'm excited about him being a Gator.
"I think there was a lot of misinformation out there, as somebody I think alluded to about negative reports. It just blows me away sometimes as far as what is actually said and what is real. Yet that's OK. We're excited that we're going to be a big part of helping him, as we do all our players."
Lemons originally committed to the Gators last summer, but his offer was rescinded due to issues at his high school in the fall. He ended up having to switch schools, where he has worked his way back academically. He was cleared to visit UF this past weekend and given his UF letter of intent, which he signed Wednesday afternoon.
"I'm proud of him," McElwain said. "When you go through things, you can just say, 'Hey, I quit.' You're talking about some guys who got something to 'em, some distance, guys who have really committed to getting themselves ready.
"In some of the cases, obviously, there's still some work to do. Yet, you know, he's not the only one that's had some tough things go on. There's a lot of guys that are coming in that have had some things. The key is not feeling sorry for yourself, not using that as an excuse, but rather let's use it as an avenue, really a drive, to go up and do something great."
New coaches on way
Now that signing day has come and gone, McElwain will turn his attention to hiring two new coaches, one an offensive line coach, to complete his staff after the departures of Mike Summers and defensive coordinator Geoff Collins.
"We'll come in tomorrow. Got a couple things to wrap up. Got a couple coaches to hire," McElwain said. "We'll get that done here shortly."
McElwain said being two assistants down did not have a negative impact on recruiting. He indicated his new hires have already been lined up.
"We kind of had the guys targeted already. We kind of knew where we were, even in the positions," McElwain said. "The one thing we wanted to do is make sure we get the absolute right fit. The plan was there. We had the plan. That will happen here shortly. Yet the guys did an outstanding job that had the relationships with the guys already.
"It wasn't one of those things where that one was going to turn one or another, and we felt making sure that it's the right fit, number one, and guys that absolutely want to be Gators, number two."
Del Rio will return
McElwain revealed that former starting quarterback Luke Del Rio's shoulder issues are not career threatening. He had surgery on his left shoulder recently and will miss the spring. He also injured his right shoulder in a loss at Arkansas that did not require surgery.
"He's obviously in a sling. He'll be out all spring," McElwain said. "I'm just going to say how tough this guy was. I go back. I told you that that was totally on me, that Arkansas game (where he played hurt). And come to find out, the MRI showed — we got it fixed, let's put it that way.
"It was two (shoulder) injuries and a knee. He had every appendage but one. Tough guy, man."
Late signee on horizon
It may take several months until one committed prospect joins the Gators.
Three-star tight end Zech Byrd out of Hillbrook, Ala., committed to the Gators on Aug. 6, but his name was noticeably absent from Florida's signing day additions. Sources told The Gainesville Sun that Byrd is still working to qualify for Florida's 2017 class and the coaching staff has a plan in motion to get him to Gainesville.
Without Byrd, the Gators signed just one tight end to the 2017 class in mid-year enrollee Kemore Gamble.
Cheer for early enrollees
Florida made sure its mid-year enrollees didn't feel left out on National Signing Day.
The five prospects enrolled at UF in January, and McElwain and staff took the initiative to make the group feel as important as the newest members of the class.
Although they're already on campus the Gators held a "signing day ceremony" for tight end Kemore Gamble, athlete Kadarius Toney, offensive lineman Kadeem Telfort, defensive tackle Kyree Campbell and linebacker James Houston.
"So these guys that are here at midyear, everybody else right now that's signing in that class, they're on TV, they got whatever, all this stuff. We had our own signing party for those five guys," McElwain said. "We had them put the hat on, sign the paper in front of our team. We had them give us their best dance moves. Boy, we got some bad dancers, by the way.
"But it was good. It was a celebration for those guys just to be recognized, especially in front of their peers as incoming guys."
Gators conquer 'Canes
From looking at the Gators' 2017 class, you wouldn't know Florida is so far north of Miami.
Florida went head-to-head against Miami for nine recruits, and the Gators emerged victorious, signing seven of the highly recruited prospects to the Hurricanes' two.
McElwain credited defensive coordinator Randy Shannon, who played for and coached the Hurricanes, for leading Florida's efforts in Dade County.
"From the time we were able to hire Randy he's been a right-hand guy of mine. Comes with unbelievable credibility from that area as well. We've had some other guys down there helping," McElwain said. "But his name, recognition, more so how he is also a part of wanting to make sure that he affects young men's lives in a positive way, he knows he can be trusted."
· Joe Marks
· Rank 0
Thank god Mac is able to laugh at all the criticism and not cave to all the pressure like Meyer did. I love the fact that he just sat back knowing he was going to prove all the naysayers wrong. Can't wait to see what he has up his sleeve as far as the new coaches he has lined up.
· 10 hours ago
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