Best class ever?

<p>Urban Meyer has enjoyed some major victories in his five years at Florida. This may be one of the biggest, certainly one of the most impressive, and probably the most unexpected, given the circumstances.</p><p>Meyer and his staff signed the nation's No. 1 football recruiting class Wednesday, maybe the best in school history.</p><p>This comes a little more than a month after Meyer resigned as the Gators' head football coach, then changed his mind and decided to return with the plan to take a leave of absence after the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl.</p><p>Despite all the uncertainty surrounding Meyer and his health (and his future at UF), the Gators put together the consensus top recruiting class in America, according to the national experts and analysts.</p><p>"Considering the situation, this class is amazing," said Scott Kennedy, the director of scouting for Scout.com/Fox. "It's the best recruiting job I've seen since Notre Dame went 3-9 in 2007 and finished with the No. 1 class.</p><p>"It's a great class, the No. 1 class. It's one of the best defensive classes I've ever seen. Period."</p><p>Even Meyer admitted Wednesday that he was a little surprised he and his staff were able to pull this off.</p><p>"I am, a little bit," he said.</p><p>When Meyer made his stunning retirement announcement Dec. 26, the Gators had commitments from 20 top prospects. Even after he announced a day later that he was returning and would take an indefinite leave of absence, it appeared the 2010 recruiting class was in jeopardy of possibly falling apart.</p><p>Instead, with an assist from the committed players, the Gators not only managed to hold onto the class, they were able to build on it and turn it into the best in the nation.</p><p>It all culminated Wednesday, when 28 prospects signed national letter of intents with the Gators, led by the nation's consensus No. 1 player, defensive end Ronald Powell from Rancho Verde High School in Moreno Valley, Calif.</p><p>"This just shows you how far Florida has ascended in the world of college football under Urban Meyer," said Allen Wallace, the publisher of SuperPrep and the national recruiting editor for Scout.com. "Despite a tumultuous situation with Meyer and his health, to end up with the No. 1 class in the United States, it was a remarkable effort. He's a powerful man.</p><p>"Florida had the No. 1 class four years ago and the No. 2 class five years ago. This certainly ranks with any class Florida has brought in. I would give it the edge (as the best in school history)."</p><p>According to Rivals.com, the Gators signed three of the top seven players in the country and seven of the top 50. UF signed four five-star recruits and 17 of ESPN's top 150 prospects in the nation.</p><p>The strength of the class appears to be on defense, and on the defensive line in particular, where the Gators signed Powell and two other elite prospects in tackles Sharrif Floyd and Dominique Easley.</p><p>"It's the best defensive line class I've seen in the 10 years I've been doing this," said Mike Farrell, a national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. "It's ridiculous."</p><p>Meyer said this may be the best recruiting class he's put together.</p><p>"As far as the defensive front, I don't think I've ever seen one like that," Meyer said. "You've got Ronald Powell, Floyd, Easley, and Lynden Trail and Leon Orr. That's a special group.</p><p>"Then the back end (the secondary), with Joshua Shaw, Jaylen Watkins, Cody Riggs, Jordan Haden and Matt Elam. I just think in certain areas, this is the best we've ever done."</p><p>Powell is the highest-rated prospect the Gators have signed since Percy Harvin in 2006. Harvin also was the nation's consensus No. 1 player coming out of high school.</p><p>"Powell is one who came to camp this summer. We actually put our hands on him and worked with him," Meyer said. "He could be an All-American. He could be a tremendous tight end or defensive end. We'll try to use him as both, mostly on defense. But he'll catch some passes here."</p><p>Another impact player in the class is one who is not highly rated by the analysts - three-star quarterback Trey Burton.</p><p>Burton committed to Meyer more a year ago and never wavered. When Meyer's future at UF was in doubt in late December and early January, Burton and some of the other committed players, including Trail, helped hold the class together. Burton also stayed in contact with some non-committed players, including Powell.</p><p>"I knew Burton was kind of the Pied Piper of the class. I watched him in summer camp (when he was recruiting prospects to UF)," Meyer said. "Trail is a guy I'm very personally close with. But I didn't realize (he was staying involved with the other prospects) until I read it the other day.</p><p>"They were making calls and keeping this class together. This group was always talking. It's a very close-knit group of players."</p><p>And now it makes up the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation.</p><p>Few probably saw this coming back in the last week of December.</p><p>"Urban Meyer loves football and is willing to risk his health coaching it," Farrell said. "I think the recruits were moved by his determination to stay at the University of Florida and continue coaching."</p><p>Contact Robbie Andreu at andreur@gvillesun.com.</p>