Live Signing Day Blog

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6:50 a.m. — Good morning from The Gainesville Sun. The letters of intent for UF will start coming through the fax machine as early as 7 a.m. I’ll update this blog as soon as they come in and also when Florida’s targets make their decisions. The Gators have five known targets (four realistic) who will be announcing before 10 a.m.

7:01 a.m. — DB Nick Washington is in.

7:06 a.m. — OL Cameron Dillard is in.

7:13 a.m. — DE Jordan Sherit has faxed in his LOI.

7:25 a.m. — RB Adam Lane is in.

7:30 a.m. — WR Alvin Bailey has faxed in his LOI.

7:36 a.m. — Bailey and Sherit are in.

7:46 a.m. — DE Robert Nkemdiche commits to Ole Miss over Florida and LSU.

8:02 a.m. — WR Ahmad Fulwood and DE Antonio Riles are in.

8:06 a.m. — LB Jarrad Davis is in.

8:07 a.m. — DT Jay-nard Bostwick commits to Florida over Miami and Alabama.

8:16 a.m. — WR Chris Thompson is in.

8:18 a.m. — WR Marqui Hawkins is in.

8:24 a.m. — DT Caleb Brantley is in.

8:53 a.m. — CB Vernon Hargreaves III is in.

9:05 a.m. — QB Max Staver and OL Roderick Johnson is in.

9:09 a.m. — DB Keanu Neal is in.

9:34 a.m. — WR James Clark commits to Ohio State over Florida and Clemson.

9:50 a.m. — OL Octavius Jackson is in. DB Marcell Harris is the only commit left.

10:08 a.m. — Tashawn Bower just reportedly committed to LSU, but myself and other media outlets were told he faxed his LOI to UF at 7:27 a.m. This is a mess.

10:22 a.m. — Brian Dohn, Northeast Recruiting Analyst for Scout.com, was just told Bower is still waiting to decide.

10:35 a.m. — Just spoke with Marcell Harris‘ father. He told me his son’s ceremony is why his LOI hasn’t come in yet.

10:41 a.m. — UF announces it has received Harris’ LOI.

11:20 a.m. — Tashawn Bower has signed with LSU. Big loss for Florida. He committed to the Gators this morning.

11:44 a.m. — Jarran Reed’s coach just told me he will announce his decision at noon ET.

11:58 a.m. — Jay-nard Bostwick’s father told me his son has faxed his LOI to UF. All of the current commits are in for the Gators.

12:30 p.m. — Still haven’t heard back from Reed or his coach. I’ll keep trying until I get something.

12:41 p.m. — Jarran Reed‘s coach just told me he has picked Florida. The Gators finish with 28 members in their 2013 class barring any late surprises.

1:33 p.m. — Reed is in.

3:15 p.m. — Will Muschamp press conference

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354 COMMENTS

  10. Is Bower the surprise signing day commit? Great Pick Up but not a surprise. He adds depth at the DE position. But a surprise would be like getting someone like Nkemdiche to flip, which I know was impossible! O well Go Gators BOOOOM!!!!!!

  14. James Clark to Ohio State is not a done deal. I think Zach doesn’t want people to be angry at him for a miss prediction if he is wrong. I for one don’t blame him. He caught hell last year for giving his honest assessment. I hope you are wrong Zach, but if not this is still a stellar class.

  16. Other sites Gatornation and ESPN are showing Hargraves, Octavious Jackson, Adam Lane and Roderick Johnson committed… Are their faxes in?

    Wow.. The # of early faxes sows the obvious committment from these kids.

    Great news.

  42. Its funny how people think that a kid who is one of the fastest kids on the football field in a state filled with fast kids cant compete with the speed of the SEC. The kid is solid wish him luck wherever he goes.

  56. Looks as if Marcel Harris is the only one left… Not even ten a.
    Ok Gator Fans get on the bus. What a culture change.

    Character begins with a “man’s word” These committs have stepped up to the plate…

  70. So Ole Miss is the school that many African Americans have an issue with over the Rebel flag and some other “racist” traditions. They have no recent history of football succes, basically a no name coach and are coming off a 7-6 season…And are somehow able to pull 4-5 star recruits out of illinois, Indiana, and Georgia.

    All on the up & up. I think what Ole Miss boosters figured out in the wake of OSU, Miami, USC, and Auburn is the NCAA is not ineffective and even when they catch you red handed the penalties aren’t that bad so why not go out and cheat like hell.

  79. One of two things happened:

    Either bad information was reportered, or we lost him because a reporter wanted to scoop everyone else and released info that he was told to sit on.

    Either way, it’s a quick way to completely blow your credibility and your chance at good sources.

    Awful.

  80. What would you say–realistically—to one of your children who had made a life defining situation but now wants to change it because the kid down the street had told people what your child was doing 2 hours before he wanted to announce it? Now remember, imagine this is your son.

  90. Have you noticed that nobody is responding to question referencing how a received Letter of Intent can be circumvented by a subsequent action. I “think” the only answer is somebody made up a signed LOI being received. Now that would be a screw up. Agreed?

  93. O.K. guys, let’s just wait and see about the Bower thing. Zach is by far the best recruiting reporter we have. Remember we are dealing with teenagers here and this is not an exact science. Let’s all take a pill here before we crucify Zach. Geesh…

  94. The only people who can FACTUALLY tell you that a signed LOI has been received is a member of the Athletic Department who is looking at the signed LOI. Now why would an official employee of an AD fabricate info about a signed LOI?

  95. Lay off Zach…his job is hard enough keeping up with a bunch of 17 and 18 yr old kids and their constant changing of stories of which school they will end up at. So what if Bowers chose LSU? Then as someone else stated – “the destination wasn’t that important”. To make a life changing decision over a heated moment is not who I would want playing for this team. A commitment is a commitment and if he chose to change his mind over something so little – then that’s on him. When his “moment” passes – the regret will settle in and this kid will have to live with it. Or maybe athis is where he really wanted to go all along, and this situation made it easy for him to flip – either way – if you don’t want to be a Gator – then get out of the way for someone who does.

  96. Jaynard Bostwick is official. Thats the most key guy that we needed on signing day. James Clark would have been nice but he is a small fast wide receiver which there are an abundance of in florida. We already have a couple in this class.

  97. Zach is the only reason we know anything about our recruits this year. For a free site it does not get any better then Zach, when he gets info he passes it on to us, for that I appreciate his resources and most of the time he is spot on. It is NSD and weird things happen.

  104. Ya’ll seem to have forgotten we went through this nonsense with Jacoby Brissett a couple of years back.

    Someone faxes a LOI…maybe it’s not really him…the signature was forged..etc…

    Let’s wait and see how it plays out….

  108. I’m not blaming ANYONE for a kid changing his mind as a result of a premature leak. What I will blame somebody for is reporting something as having occured that never did. Now, if you were paranoid you could question whether anybody on this list has mailed in a signed LOI until the Head Coach confirms everything.

  110. Great job, Zach. Don’t let a few over-zealous fans get to you. I really appreciated your updates leading up to today, and the reporting and follow-up today. Your the Gators 5-star recruiting expert.

  113. “One of two things happened:
    Either bad information was reportered, or we lost him because a reporter wanted to scoop everyone else and released info that he was told to sit on.
    Either way, it’s a quick way to completely blow your credibility and your chance at good sources.
    Awful.”

    He blew his crediblity because he may have been misled? I would rather Zach relay info as he gets it rather than sit on information because he’s worried about his “credibility”, assuming he feels the source is reliable.

    LOL. The comments this morning are ridiculous.

  116. We can’t blame Zach. Blame our impatient culture. The same thing is done in reporting elections. He is doing his job which requires using sources, rumors and other media outlets. It appears this Bowers kid is in need of of a lot of attention.

  117. I would think the Gainesville Sun in subsequent days would like an answer as to why an employee of the Florida AD misrepresented information to a reputable news organization that relys upon them for factual info. Now if info was received from someone NOT with access to incoming LOI’s, that would be a problem. Who is telling us all these other LOI’s are in??

  125. johan-

    I’m pretty sure Zach is only reporting what he’s being told. It’s possible someone from the Florida AD may have confused Bowers with someone else (I’m sure the folks in the AD are jumping through hoops right now).

    Please…cut Zach some slack!

  128. By the way, I believe STRONLY that it is illegal to forge a name on a legal document and send that document over state lines. Someone should be in deep trouble and it would be traceable to find the area from where fax was sent. If you don’t have safeguards, you could have someone faxing in a LOI to ten teams and then deciding at end of day which one he honors. Don’t think it works that way. Do you>

  129. I just ran a count of recruits offered both by Florida and by Urban Liar and of the 13, we got 7 (average 4.28 stars) and Urbie got 6 (average 4.16 stars)… Looks like the majority of these kids are scared of esophageal spasms or being lied to! HA!

  132. Beyond STOKED with our new class of signees… not even remotely giving a damn about this Bowers kid. Pulling a stunt like this? Allowing his little dramatic moment in the sun to overshadow all these other DEDICATED players? I’m extremely proud of the caliber of talent & the integrity of men we scored this year. And all the early HIGH POWER enrollees?
    AWESOMNESS defined.

    FANTASTIC job reporting Zach. Thanks for all the info!

  135. “I would rather Zach relay info as he gets it rather than sit on information because he’s worried about his “credibility”, assuming he feels the source is reliable.”

    The public may rather he relay the info (whether it’s good or bad), but a reporter’s credibility is literally all he/she has. Just ask Karen Jeffrey or Jayson Blair about their credibility.

  139. Evidently many of you, in the course of your daily work, have never been given incorrect information that you then passed on to your boss or to your subordinates. It happens all the time becasue you trust the person that supplied the information that you have been provided. Responsible journalism requires two independent sources. However this is a blog and not a column so Zach is under no obligation to verify with another source. He was given information by someone he trusts and passed it on. Simple as that. 99.99% of what Zach has reported overthat last 9 months has been spot on. Thank You Zach and keep up the hardwork.

  143. it is the same sources gatoraudi!!! you report the truth as you know it isn’t like he took his third cousins intuition and then said the fax is in… plus i’m sure there will be a full blog post about the whole thing later… all we are saying is wait

  147. There was some good dialogue on here earlier – the fact that you idiots are obsessed with the misreporting of information that was relayed to several news outlets and blaming Zach is ridiculous. Not his fault. Move on.

  154. Heather B, This goes beyond a stunt IF a guy believes he can send in a signed LOI to play a “trick” on someone later in the day. The ONLY issue I have–and it’s NOT a reporter “causing” someone to change his mind—-is who (and it would have to be someone a reporter would trust) would have access to incoming faxed LOI’s and then misrepresent to an accredited reporter what happened.

  155. Jacobs, I am not concerned about Bowers, but the fact that this is a blog on a newspaper website, written by a staff reporter. The staff reporter should be held to the same standards of all reporting. If this site was just some random blog, it would be a different story. Instead of babying the reporter, hold him accountable like a grown professional.

  158. Remember when…Channing Crowder was a 3 star recruit? David Nelson, Louis Murphy, Brandon James, Chas Henry, Phil Trautwein, and Eric Wilbur were all 3-Star recruits? And how did they turn out? Higher star power is wonderful, but there will also be some hidden diamonds in the mix as well. Looks like an extraodinary class of 2013 to me! All appreciated work, Zach! Thanks for the updates and coverage. (Not to mention, Johnny Manziel was a 3-star recruit at A&M)

  163. @Lou

    I don’t think the reports that LOIs are in are always necessarily from the Florida AD. Isn’t it possible that someone that works at Bower’s high school told reporters that he/she faxed a LOI for Bowers to Florida? Just throwing it out there.

  164. gatoraudi if you would tell me how he is not being accountable that would make sense…. if this wasn’t a ‘live’ blog that would make sense… and if this wasn’t also reported by other media outlets that would make sense… but it just doesn’t

  166. PLEASE understand that I’m not blaming Zach. I’m blaming the person who had access to arriving signed LOI’s and then lied to Zach. As we all know on Signing Day there is a HUGE difference between saying someone has commited AND that someone’s signed LOI has been received. Someone lied. True??

  167. Ramsey is win-win for us (other than of course the big win of him flipping to UF, which now seems highly unlikely)..if he sticks with USC, then at least he’s not on FSU, but if he switches to FSU, at least we get to see baby Kiffin lose out on another one…obviously the responsible thing to do is for us to cheer for him to stick w/ the Trojans and stay out of Florida (again, if he’s not going to UF), but something in me is so happy whenever Kiffin loses..

  168. NCAA has no more cred to look in to OleMiss. I think Miami having a heavy hitter on the board compromised the board in order to save the school. Miami is going to walk away with murder first in breaking the rules. Then in killing the board who could convict them. Brilliant. Why else would it take three years to come to nothing.

  171. @Gatoraudi

    I don’t agree with that at all. College football recruiting isn’t/shouldn’t be held to the same standards as news reporting. If that were the case, let’s just not even talk about recruiting at all during the year until Coach Muschamp himself verifies that the LOIs are in. That’s the only real way to be sure right?

  173. I can understand 1 or 2 with Ole Miss due to connections but this is borderline old style SWC stuff. SMU comes to mind and I am one for where there is smoke there is fire… Speaking of which, Chris Kiffin (Brother of Lane) just so happens to be on the Coaching Staff there in Oxford. Good luck Ole Miss, pretty sure if it is to good to be true than it just might be. Hugh Freeze might be a half decent Coach but damn, it is not like he is a HUGE name that would attract this type of talent.

  178. Demarcus Robinson story is absolutely false. Zach I am not blaming you. I just wish we would do or research before putting out info at this stage concerning recruiting. Today is NSD. Why report that someone has signed when we are not sure? If this kid wanted to wait for his ceremony before announcing I hope he made that clear to whomever he leaked his commitment info to. Otherwise this kid just needs to grow up already.

  180. “Jacobs, I am not concerned about Bowers, but the fact that this is a blog on a newspaper website, written by a staff reporter. The staff reporter should be held to the same standards of all reporting. If this site was just some random blog, it would be a different story. Instead of babying the reporter, hold him accountable like a grown professional.”

    I agree with you 100%. But this is the state of journalism we live in. People want information now, and don’t necessarily care about its accuracy. If the Sun reported in print that a kid committed and he went elsewhere, they would be printing a retraction.

  182. Paul, Were you ever under the impression that reports of signed LOI’s were not coming from an accredited UF employee with access to incoming LOI’s? I never did. And would you ever rely upon some person at kid’s high school telling you definitively LOI was sent. I wouldn’t and from your reasoned response, I don’t think you would have either. I—probably foolishly—thought these announcements were based upon someone reading them and then reporting them. Perfectly permissible for a Florida employee to release info after letter is in.

  183. Anybody think that maybe he did send his LOI, asked it to be kept quiet so that he could have his moment. Once it was released, he put out misinformation so that he could still have his moment? I don’t have any idea if this really happened, but it is a possibility.

  185. Personally not very impressed with Bowers film. He MIGHT become a good player but not very sure of it based on the film I saw of him. Not going to lose sleep over the loss of Bowers. Save a scholarship for a much better player next year.

  187. @ Lou

    I agree with you; but in the attempt to be the first to report, I think sources other than the Florida AD are being used to report LOIs. Also, I would imagine the Florida staff is pretty slammed on NSD; reporting received LOIs to media outlets probably isn’t on their to-do list. This is just my understanding though. I would be interested to hear from Zach where he gets his LOI info from, if he is at liberty to disclose that.

  189. apparently someone sent out to different media outlets that he sent his LOI in, but he just committed. got upset when it got leaked. Still not over. I blame the guy who sent out his LOI was in, not zach and other reporters

  191. rootman, You are on a recruiting blog at 11:12 A.M. commenting on the posts of “idiots.” As far as “No Life Idiots”, I’m a Florida Grad who got to retire early because of my great education and am now innocently spending a leisurely morning reading these comments. You have a great life, buddy. What year did you graduate? I was 1969>

  201. @Gerry, for real… I mean first it was the whole year with that dumba$$ Gameday commercial but thinking it is Corso’s FSU ties or something. Almost over the top biased towards them and just really wanting to see them back on top again for whatever reason.

  204. Paul, Check out Zach’s comment at 10:46 relating to Harris. I’ll paraphrase but real closely–“UF announced that Harris’LOI was received.” See, this is why I believed ALL the info concerning LOI was coming from the AD. Appreciate your intelligent responses. I’m trying not to be one of those alleged “idiots” who just wants an explanation as to why something like this could happen. I like Zach and I really don’t have much respect for any Phi Beta Kappa who would change his mind on such an important decision because he was robbed a chance to switch hats in a high school cafeteria.

  210. ZACH, REMEMBER A COUPLE DAYS AGO WHEN EVERYONE WAS TELLING YOU HOW GREAT A JOB YOU WERE DOING AND THAT ARTICLE WAS THE GREATEST THING THEY HAS EVER READ? Now look at those ONEWAY cheerrleaders, they are all sucking your blood from the scratch that came from someone else. Don’t take them personal, I know you know this fan base by now. MOST of them are the WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY kind of followers. GREAT, GREAT WORK! GO GATORS!!!!

  213. In all due respect, I don’t think Bower is that big of a loss. I mean, I know we want’em all, but that just doesn’t happen, and we are LOADED at DE. Powell, Fowler, Bullard, plus some great signees coming in. I love our class!! I would rather celebrate the ones we landed than lament that ones that got away. GO GATORS!!!

    • Bower faxed his LOI to LSU so obviously it’s not in for the Gators. Somebody at Florida screwed up. I reported the Bower news this morning the same way I did the rest of the recruits (as did every single UF website). Don’t shoot the messengers.

  217. Back to back GREAT classes!!! Everything else is just gravy! Champ is biulding a solid, solid Program for years to come. Love the stability that we will have in players and our HBC for years to come. Thanks Coach!

  221. This IS A GREAT CLASS!!!! VERY happy with what Coach M has accomplishd. I honestly never heard of Bower before this morning. (admittedly not a super into following recruiting) I think we’ll still be No. 1 by the end of the day.

  226. Quote:
    February 6th, 2013 11:18 am by Zach Alboverdi

    “I’ll meet all the haters is the mandarin hooters parking lot.”

    ROTFLMAO!! That is hilarious!

    Great job Coach Muschamp and UF staff!

    Great job on the recruiting info Zach; thanx.

  228. People, give it a friggin break already. Zach isn’t charging you a friggin penny for what he’s doing yet you still b!tch about someone else giving him bad info. It’s college football not the death of humanity. His mistake will in no way affect your fiancial income or the health of you family.Find something a little more important to cry about and give it a rest. IT”S A GAME

  241. John, Zach was right on like 26 of 27. Give it a rest. Someone screwed up on Bower…I’m sure we’ll get the whole story in a day or two.
    Let’s celebrate the awesome class we do have and not obsess on someone who was frankly a plan B option all along. After all, if E. Daniel would have qualified academically he’d be a Gator and we’d barely know Bower’s name. We have a class that is filled with studs. Forget about Bower.

  242. Zach, Thank you!! I would never have had a problem if a guy had switched because of his desire to have 10 seconds of fame fooling around with hats in a cafeteria in Bamboozle, Mississippi. You have now verified that it was someone in Florida AD. I think you were gracious in saying person was wrong. Unless the person could not read, this went beyond being “wrong” and appears to be a misrepresentation to a certified media member. Why would someone report to you that he/she had read a signed LOI with someone’s name on it??

  243. Yall are stupid talking about Zach like this. If he were to leave and start his own pay site for recruiting or go someone like ESPN, 247sports, rivals, or scout you would have to pay for the info that he gives, which is great info. If you dont like what happened with Bower then go kick rocks barefoot.

  256. That just seems hurtful. I was hoping to be the tool that fixed your bad attitude. I do like that we are heading in the right direction to be friends by you telling me good job. I am more excited that you decided to pluralize your name. Two of you has to be better than just one!

  257. what a bunch of cry babies, he already said someone from UF made a mistake. What else do u want, the persons name so they can be further humiliated. whats done is done. if the kid really changed his decision based on the info getting out before he wanted it to, then maybe we are better off without him. geez u want to go into battle with someone who switches sides because the fight started too soon. whatever. we got all of our commits and bostwick and we are still waiting on Reed decision. even if he doesnt come our way, we have a great class and now we have I think 6 openings for EE that won’t count toward 2014 next year.

    Zach, if we miss on Reed, please verify that the number is 6 for EE that count toward 2012 (5 obvioulsy if he signs).

    Thanks and great job

    to all you bashers
    better to be thought a fool than
    to open your mouth and remove all doubt

  259. @sean, I wish I had an Audi. They seem like cool cars. I currently have a bus pass and my eye on a Dodge Dart. What do you drive? I bet it is something fancy like the Chrysler 300 I saw in a Super Bowl ad. They look awesome.

  264. I normally never comment but some of the Gator fans on here bashing Zach for someone else’s mistake is absolutely insane, especially when so many other sites were reporting the same thing. This is why so many great people affiliated with the Florida football program seem so tired of Florida and all this noise and attitude once they leave the program, and that even includes the greatest Gator of all time in Spurrier. You all need to chill. We have an incredible class that will finish ranked at or near 1 on most sites and will be competing for championships someday. As always, GREAT WORK ZACH!!!!! Go Gators!!!!

  265. we havw 33 openings currently so subtract how many commits from that and that is how many we can count back next year but we can take more EEs, just can’t count them back.. currently at 6 (use espn’s numbers)

  266. Zach, great job as always. We true Gator fans really appreciate your hard work! Always going to be a few jerks out there who are such losers they have to make asses of themselves just to get folks to notice them. To Johan and Gatoraudi in particular: I do believe something is missing from your life, its called “class”. Remember, we are a direct reflection of our parents!

  268. ESPN reported that Bostwick’s LOI was just received. How about next year we just wait until the LOI’s are in OR stating we BELIEVE that So and So’s LOI will come to Florida but as of yet it has NOT been received. And whoever told Zack that Bower’s LOI was in did NOT make a mistake. The only way it could have been a mistake is if someone in the Florida AD who was monitoring fax for incoming LOI’s can’t read. People who work for Florida can read. Therefore the relay of the info provided Zack transcended a mistake and becomes something else. Surely nobody can view this comment as criticism of Zack.

  269. looking like 23 is the number next year as of now.. few could leave early (purifoy, roberson) plus maybe some guys leave after spring or next year, hopefully that slows down with champ getting his guys in and urb’s guys out

  271. LOL! How did I know that gator audi was gonna come back with, “what kind of car do you drive?” Goes to further illustrate the point previously made and probably agreed upon by everyone else on here: YOU… ARE… A…TOOL…Have a nice day.

  274. Ed Aschoff, if this is the real Ed Aschoff, wth kind of comment was that? It is people taking jabs at each other behind a keyboard. I don’t really agree with it and have even been sucked in myself, but the same thing hapens over on the boards at ESPN. Your head has obviously gotten way too big and skin not thick enough yet for this business. I followed your SEC work since you left, but just lost a whole bunch of respect.

  275. Bower is gone – end of thread.

    Great job by the Gator coaches this year. We did not lose a single player (two years in a row) that we had committed and we picked up a big time DT. Bostwick & Reed are just frosting on the cake to what was already a great class. Congrats to filling our biggest needs with big time recuits.

  283. From Adam Silverstien on OGGOA:

    ESPNU reporting that Alex Collins’s mother confiscated his papers because she does not want him signing them and playing so far away from home in Arkansas. She then left the school with the papers.
    “Collins is from Florida and his mom wants him to go to UF.”

  290. HEY GATOR TODD:
    .
    If this is 1992, it’s February 1992, right? Because it’s signing day? So wouldn’t we still be celebrating the first SEC title we won only 2 months ago?
    .
    Hope you get to see this, there sure are a lot of posters in here.

  292. Dang Zach if you only had a real crystal ball maybe some of these people would get off your back for not knowing why Bower is out,
    You do a great job and for the most part thankless job in trying to get the info out quick. Thanks again Zach for the information.

  298. My take after first few years is that Boom is more of a relationship guy than a “closer”. May not be as flashy on NSD, but given a choice, that’s who I’d rather have as a coach and have my kids play for. Also much less stressful as a fan! May mean kids come for right reasons and hopefully stick.

  299. Great day for the future of UF football. In the end, I think the two local guys that got away were D. Walker and L Tunsil, but we got an amazing class. Thanks to the coaches for all the long hours and hard work, and thanks to Zach for the great reporting. And of course… Go GATORS!!!

  300. Excellent job, Zack! Thanks a bunch.

    We will all wait to hear the Bowers story.Would still be interested down the road to hear the specifics of Densen and Q. Powell as well.

    I am very pleased with the class but if Champ wanted another DE and CB I wished we got Bowers and Ramsey. It makes it fun for next year.

    Do NOT drink too much tonight.

  303. Sorry if I offended–or WORSE bored— anyone with my comments. I see all you guys/girls as passionate Florida alums and/or fans who are really involved and care. Zach has a very tough job and I believe he already knew that you are only as good as your information. He has weeded out his information exceptionally well and the person who disappointed him today will no longer be among his sources. AND nobody should hold zach responsible for his words having changed anyone’s mind. These kids don’t need reasons to change their minds. That is why they are kids. thank You All for an entertaining morning. Time to hit some golf balls. P.S. Let’s hope Yaguette is okay or we are up the proverbial tributary without the necessary means of propulsion.

  305. After all is said and done UF has one heck of a class. I don’t fault Zach for Bowers being immature and information getting getting mixed up on his recruitment. Hope the kid has a successful career at LSU. Great job Zach and Go Gators!!

  307. February 6th, 2013 1:13 pm
    My take after first few years is that Boom is more of a relationship guy than a “closer”. May not be as flashy on NSD, but given a choice, that’s who I’d rather have as a coach and have my kids play for. Also much less stressful as a fan! May mean kids come for right reasons and hopefully stick.

    by Gatorbuck

    Bingo! Late minute closers usually offer ‘deals’ and incentives much like a snake oil salesman. I prefer to create a relationship and get the players that WANT to be Gators. Coach Boom is awesome!

    IGTBAFG

  309. Great job Coach Muschamp and staff!! SEC championships are won in the trenches, so let’s get these boys in the weightroom, develop the talent you’ve done such a great job of recruiting, and my next big wish is hoping that Joker Phillips can develop a relationship with Andre Debose that finally brings out all of that awesome potential!! Can’t wait for the Orange and Blue game. . can’t wait for two-a-days. . .can’t wait for football season!! GOOOO GATORS!!!!!

  310. Great recruiting for Coach Muschamp and staff. Bostwick and Reed fill a need for the team. Ramsey and Walker good luck to you. Hope Pruitt don’t jump ship next year. Ramsey its cold up there. Tunsil wow. I feel sorry for you but you can laugh all the way to the Bank. Good luck trying to beat Bama, LSU, and Tam in the SECw. If you do the mighty Gators will be lurking. Gatorbait.

  311. P.S. And GREAT job, Zach, for being all over this and keeping us in the loop. Very exciting stuff with some intriguing twists and turns, and you were right on it, my man. Maybe now I can get some work done. Go Gators!!

  314. Congratulations to Coach Muschamp and the staff for all of their hard working in securing the #1 recruiting class on the nation. As we all know, much will depend on how these guys “get with the program”, listen to the coaches, and stay fully committed to their team mates by giving it their best. I am looking forward to next season, and I think this class fits nicely with Coach Muschamp’s vision of how to build a winning program. Thanks also to Zach for working his tail off to bring us the latest information in this zany world of football recruiting.
    GO Gators!

  315. Every major recruiting outlet reported the LOI to Florida from Bower. Recruiting is just as much an educated guess as it is facts. If all you want are facts then ditch the internet and stick with the morning paper. Kids are flipping left and right, changing their minds by the hour and sending out misleading twitter messages to screw with everyone. So, to all the jack asses on here that want to belly-ache about this one mistake and question Zacks credibility…….suck it!!

  316. Zach, thanks for all of the great reporting during the last year. All of us here were well informed with all of the recruits.

    You can have the rest of the day off and let’s start on 2014 recruiting tomorrow.

  321. I would still like to hear (just from a curiosity standpoint) what happened in the Bowers situation. As other have mentioned, numerous outlets reported his LOI was in so it almost sounds as if someone at UF prematurely released the info. Certainly no fault of Zach’s as multiple outlets ran with the same information.

    That said, this is one heck of a recruiting haul. It’s getting to the point that signing day is anti-climatic for us because of all the early commitments and we’re not making as much “noise” on signing day as others. We tend to get disappointed because the only ones on the board at signing day are the few that are most likely to not sign.

  325. @Plantation…..well that was a bit much. I thought it was kind of funny, myself. Look half the people on thsi board have come on here at one time or another and slandered kids with a lot more nastiness than this innocent joke. Kids have been called stupid, untrustworthy thugs, but you want flog Zach…..for that??? Unbelievable………Some of you are just to damn sensative to follow recruiting. The amount of whining today is beyond ridiculous. Loosen up people.

  331. ESPN propelled Alabama from number 3 to number 1, based on adding a 3rd running back to the class.

    Having watched there recruiting show on ESPNU in past years, I think they plan to have volatility in the rankings to peak viewer interest.

  332. “Depressed” is the most used term to describe the mood in Athens GA today. ‘Dogs got only 1 of the top 10 recruits in GA. Tunsil to UMiss was a big blow for the ‘Dogs. Plus, ‘Dogs had big distraction today with morning article in the Times-Picayune that ‘Dogs DC was going to interview for the Saint’s DC job. Glad that Quinn left weeks ago and WM got that shored up as if it never happened. A great class for WM . . . again! Great job Zach . . . U DA BEST.
    Go Gators Always!!

  333. Zach, Best thing that ever happened for you was the Bower mix-up. You now have people coming out of the woodwork to proclaim your great work—I AGREE!!!!!!!—-just realize many people would not have posted if you had not been portrayed unfairly as the cause of Bower’s switch. Sometimes best thing for your rep is over the top criticism that results in groundswell of support. Enjoy the accolades–you deserve them!!!

  334. I have been working all day and just signed on for the first time. I noted a couple of posts here signed by “Carolina Gator”. Well, I’m not sure who that is, but since I have been posting an occasional comment to the various blogs at the Sun under that name for about 4 years now, I trust that whover has co-opted that name will post only insightful and respectful commets.

    Signed, the original “Carolina Gator”

  335. Come on people! It’s like this Bowers kid was the foundation of this class, in some of your minds. Let it go! Let’s discuss important stuff, like the kids that signed with us. Best wishes to Bowers – see ya! Now, let’s move on!

    Zach, thanks for the awesome job you have done this year. I can not recall better coverage, of recruiting, on this site! Can’t wait to see where you take it next year.

    Ed – the only dumpster fire is the one going on in some of these people’s heads over Bower. You did a good job, while you were here and I appreciate the job you do at ESPN; however, Zach has taken this thing to new heights, which is what you want, when you pass the torch on to someone else. I can not recall the amount of interest in recruiting, since I have been following this site and that’s several years.

    Great job by Muschamp and staff. Gator football is on the climb and it’s being done the right way. Solid class!

  336. “Good lord, I’m gone less than two years and the place has already devolved into a dumpster fire.
    by Ed Aschoff”

    What are talking about, Ed? This has pretty much been the GSMB’s standard operating procedure since inception. LOL

    Kudos to Zach for the Mandarin Hooters comment. Didn’t realize he went back that far.

  338. great job zach! and great class coach boom!! nailed all the needs – lineman, WR’s and DB’s. Also shows how committed these players were to coach muschamp that most of the players LOI’s were signed and faxed before lunch. to me that says coach targeted exactly who he wanted and had them committed long before NSD. I love it! Future looks bright!!

  340. Zach,
    I read your comment where you referenced other websites reporting the same thing you did. First off, let me say that I do not think this Bowers LOI thing is a big deal at all. It seems like there was some miscommunication, end of story. However, IF I did feel like you did something wrong, the fact that others did it would not be an acceptable reason for it happening. I guess what Im trying to say is, regardless of this Bowers story, other people practicing poor journalism is not an excuse for other to do so. Just a rule of thumb, not an indictment on the Bowers fiasco.

  341. Tampa Gator and Paul,
    the two of you are the reason I cannot stand people who act like idiots. If you are so stupid to think a kid changed his mind on where to attend school because of a premature reporting of his LOI and then bully the person who passed the information out the information forward: you are cowards, idiots, classless, and an embarrassment to the Gator Nation. Zach, reports information in a professional and very credible fashion. Blogging with trash like you is the reason more people don’t blog!

  342. -I initially said that I would not respond to this Bowers Bull S…, But since the rest of the World thinks it such a BIG deal (and I don’t) Let me say this, It is VERY, VERY obvious to most of us that Bowers simply changed his mind after talking to Coach Muschamp that morning and used ZACH and all other reporters as a way of saving face.He was very sucessful because he got most of you to be a distraction for him.
    LT, I think you are wrong in suggesting that Zach practices poor journalism. Reason being you don’t know where he got his information and under what conditions. I think the reason the kid gave for switching was a cover and many bought it, If Zach would not have tried to give the GatorNation the best and most up to date information and he waited until HIGH NOON that day he would have used some other excuse or reporter as his justification to switch. THE KID SIMPLY DIDN’T WANT TO BE APART OF THE GATORNATION. Go GATORS!!!!

  343. Instagator…..

    Before you come on here and blow your cool…..you might want to get your facts correct about me. I never posted anywhere that Bowers changed his mind because of Zack’s post about his LOI being in. NEVER. I did post that he should get his facts correct before posting them….and his post was NOT correct concerning Bowers LOI to Florida. By the way, I graduated from the U of F school of journalism and I learned the above from Hugh Cunningham…and he was NO idiot.

  345. Congrats to the Gator Nation on a very successful recruiting run and welcome aboard Class of 2013! I believe we addressed all of our issues – but could have been a little more proactive in regards to the potential (and now current) situation at QB. Spring can’t get here fast enough! Open up the competition AT EVERY position and let’s see who rises to the top – day after day, week after week, game after game! Go Gators!

  346. @ TigerCatZeroZero, You know it was said Last year that was the approach. I’m not going to comment on any negative outcome because I think that we had a much better than average season (I truely think we should have been in the SEC Championship game, but that’s water under the brdge). My sincere hope is Jeff puts on his “I’m the guy that will take this TEAM to the next TWO levels” and let that drive and motivate him to improve on him quickness in processing and delivering the ball down field. THERE SHOULD BE NO LACK of open receivers as was the claim by many last year. This TEAM has the talent and the coaches to get the job done THIS YEAR!!! GO GATORS!!!!

  347. Creek Gator, yes, we all have the same wishes for Jeff. This time around he’ll have an advantage on defenses – he knows what’s coming. The incoming talent is abounding! We have some new comers and red-shirt guys on both sides of the ball, which are full of selfish confidence – the kind that’s makes everyone competitively better. If we are on track with our off-season goals, disciplined and play fundamentally sound Gator Football, we should be on schedule for our flight to ATL…if not, we’ll take a big step backwards IMO. Either way I know you and I will be proud of our guys! Go Gators!

  348. Tampa Gator,
    i don’t care where you Graduated from or who the hell taught you. I don’t care how much money you make or if you won an Academy award! I can distaste anyone I please and for the reasons that are near and dear to me. I did not lose my cool, I exceeded my level of listening to others beat on a guy who was just doing a great job. You stated that you lost credibility in Zack over a LOI and he had better get better sources. Who the hell do you think you are! Are you so important that you think you can piss on him because you think you are all that! You are not the reason I ‘m proud to a graduate and Booster of the University Of Florida. My calling out of you is about calling out an immature idiot! Guys like you make our rivals smile.