Long Beach Poly (Ca.) quarterback Matt Corral announced via his Twitter account Thursday night that he was flipping his commitment from UF to Ole Miss.
December 20…🔏
C O M M I T T E D.https://t.co/y1zz8K93Ll pic.twitter.com/5O7UaXGIL3
— M A T T Y I C E (@corral_matt) December 15, 2017
The five-star prospect received a visit from Florida coach Dan Mullen on Monday, but that hasn’t stopped other SEC programs – namely Ole Miss – from heavily pursuing the pro-style quarterback. Corral took an official visit to Oxford, Mississippi, on Dec. 8 as he re-evaluated his recruitment in the wake of former UF coach Jim McElwain’s departure.
With Corral’s de-commitment, the Gators have 14 verbal commitments in the 2018 class.
WTF??? Maybe Fields will flip to us. If not then the qb position needs an upgrade
Another bad blow to our program, others likely to follow his decommittment. We are 4-5 years away from a 10 win season.
Ole Miss?????? Umm does Cali not get news from the South…that they are on Probation? I get not coming here but Ple Miss?
***Ole Miss
He had no other opportunities
Forget his rating, the good programs weren’t buying him
McElwain was padding his class with an overrated prospect
You obviously haven’t seen the kid play.
This hot shot drops Florida because Jim McElwain is no longer the coach for a school on probation with a second year coach with no track record. Dan Mullen has a long history of developing successful QBs while Matt Luke has no history of developing anyone. I don’t think Corral’s going to be receiving a Rhodes Scholarship during his college career.
How many pro-style QBs does he have a history of developing? Last I checked the only pro-style Qbs he’s ever had were inherited. Corral was a perfect fit for Mac’s offense not Mullen’s. Not sure why Graham is still calling him a 5* either when he hasn’t been one for quite some time now. I guess he’s trying to make it seem much worse than it is. You’ll never see another pro-style QB in the recruiting picture as long as Mullen is coach and Corral would’ve never been in the picture if Mullen had already been here. This was simply a last resort option and Corral knew it. Not sure why he chose Ole Miss of all places with the sanctions, but then again it didn’t seem like there were that many other options, which is strange for such a highly ranked player. Yeah Bama was in the picture, but how serious were they really? I mean even they’ve clearly altered their offense to a dual threat system. Watch out for Emory Jones!
Got to agree c everything you said, Joe….except for the part about, “Corral was a perfect fit for Mac’s offense….”. He couldn’t have been, Mac had no offense. Nevertheless, Ole Miss????? What a bonehead.
@Joe – did you forget about John Brantley? He was on the team from 2008-2011. Not inherited but given a scholly to play QB.
Agreed…UF will finally target dual threats.
Corral may have been “processed” in favor of a QB more fitting of Mullen’s offense. Pro style QBs such as Corral are a very poor fit.
Corral is a damn fool.
No idea how this kid figured Ole Miss to be better, but he will get playing time to the max. Probably not win many games, but sure will get playing time.
Obviously coach Mullen doesn’t think he’s a great fit for his spread read option offense. I doubt we flip Fields, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see another player from Georgia, Emory Jones, flip from Ohio State to UF. That would be sort of poetic given all the players Urban has pulled from Florida since taking over in Columbus.
Don’t think it’s the bad fit analogy, Mullen just went all the way to Cali this week to firm up everything and here we go with this news. Ole Miss is going nowhere, what the hell is Corral thinking?
It’s called making sure you have something when there’s not a lot of options this late in the process. You know like a consolation prize? One thing’s for certain, even if Mullen only lands a 3* dual threat, that’ll still be a better fit than a 4* pro style.
I am disappointed and hope ultimately he signs with the Gators. I really think Matt can fit with any style of offense. He’s a great athlete. There were lots of radio talk show hosts, and others, in the Florida camp, that were sending lots of negative vibes about Matt’s style of play, his weight, height, running abilities, etc. Essentially saying he didn’t fit Mullen’s offense. I think these comments and the noise they generated got back to Matt. You don’t decomit from Florida and then commit to Ole Miss that’s on probation. I hope these negative nellies are correct. You don’t get a chance to land a 5 star QB every day. Either way, i wish him the best! Go Gators!
First off he’s not a 5* he’s a 4*. Graham’s a little behind on his research. Lets be real, look at the QBs Mullen has had the most success with. They’re all true dual threat 6’3 and above and 220-240lbs. They need to have the size to take on the beating they’re going to take running his offense. Corral isn’t even close to fitting that mold and at 190+ lbs he’d get destroyed in the SEC, unless he were able to put on 30 lbs of muscle, which we all know isn’t possible unless he goes on the Grier strength program. No way Mullen was going to spend the next 3 to 4 season with a QB that doesn’t fit his system and having to run a watered down version of his offense. He wants to win quickly and he knows what he needs to do that. You may think he’s athletic enough to run it, but clearly Corral himself didn’t think that and was willing to go to a program with sanctions instead. What were is other options by the way? You hear any other schools being mentioned besides Bama who obviously wasn’t pursuing him as much as Ole Miss? Don’t you find it a bit odd that being so highly ranked, he didn’t have a ton of other schools banging down his door as soon as Mac was fired? You think maybe all those other programs no something Gator fans don’t?
Grier Strength program…lol. No doubt and solid points
Grier strength, too funny!
His initial evaluation was as a 5* by most recruiting services. Unfortunately we all tend to see prospects and think their future is determined by their star ranking in high school. Couldn’t be farther from the truth – five stars sometimes don’t pan out, and many two-star prospects have excelled at the highest level.
That’s a tough break for Florida with five days to go until the early signing period. He was the glue for this class and a draw for many of the recruits.
Athletes with no track record in SEC program is not a glue to the Gator recruitment.
@mtn2top – Agree.
Corral and Fields are friends. Fields told him he is going to be a Gator. Carol, I mean Corral knows he can’t compete with Fields. Closer to home and basically walks in and is the starter.
Great choice if you have something to hide.
It’s what happens when there’s a coaching change, but to a school on a two year probation? From Southern Calif. to Oxford, MS? It’s like stepping back into the old south from a progressive state where he’s from.
He must not have hit it off with Mullen, but he isn’t the spread QB that’s needed. All one can say is good luck but he’s going to need it!
Technically they’re only being banned from a bowl game for one season as the self imposed ban this season counts towards the penalty
Maybe he’s smarter than we think, Ugator. If I had to live in Ca again, I’d lose the will to live. I think, tho, that Hank Moody above may be onto something.
This has to be a joke… or we are getting Fields. what does Ole Miss offer right now? PT? We have that here. Franks sucks.
Well John Brantley was a pro style quarterback and didn’t fit in the spread offense so maybe Matt felt he was in the same boat. The difference this year is that we have Dan Mullen who can develop quarterbacks where the previous coach could not. I have confidence that he can work with what we have and once a quarterback emerges, other quarterbacks will want to come here. We may find somebody better in the next cycle and we could still flip somebody. good luck to Matt Corral getting hammered in the west.
Mullen’s first big test, can he and staff make a BIG recruitment comeback? We now have NO QBs listed and are Rivals #43. Corral to Ole Miss???? Well he didn’t have the size of Tebow or Prescott? Hummm?
Good luck to the kid. It’s a big decision and lots of different factors can come into play. Maybe he is a huge Eli Manning fan and wants to follow in Eli’s footsteps. Hopefully, it works out well for him. Meanwhile, him making the decision now frees up our coaches to focus their attention looking for a QB who wants to be here and is committed to this team and this program. Go Gators!!!
Some of you need to “come off of the ledge”…
1 – Shane Matthews was a third-string quarterback, who had been suspended for gambling, prior to Steve Spurrier’s arrival at UF. How did that work out?
2 – Dan Mullen got the most out of pro-style Chris Leak.
3 – Mullen ought to be able to develop Feleipe Franks, Kyle Trask, and/or Jake Allen.
Love Allen, who is from my old HS, but he is not a dual threat QB based on the couple of games I saw him on TV. Maybe Franks will turn out to be a better runner than he is a passer, though that bar so far is set pretty low. Might be neat to see Toney get a shot but I suspect he will always be very injury prone with his slight build.
So what are you saying, Gary? Come off the ledge or something?
I’m saying calm down
Just teasing with you pardner, good advice though.
He saw the writing on the wall. Mullen didn’t want him as much as we thought we needed him. Mullen also needs/wants a dual threat QB for his system and Matty ain’t that guy. Good luck to him but again…we need kids that want to be here and are 100% Gators for life!
Bottom line, I trust our Coach on the decision on where our playbook will be in rebuilding the program. This kid looks more to me a one and done type, that is not workable at all. Why would he go to a team that is in the doghouse right now?
Gators is in rebuilding mode, Mullen can curve a green horn QB to a powerful and exciting athlete…go Gators!!!
Why don’t we go after QB from Orlando Olympia that is committed to Michigan? He’s never going to play at UM. They are loaded at QB. He will also freeze there. Kid is from Pahokee originally. He’ll die in Ann Arbor.
Besides, with a name like that he’ll be a superstar in Gainsville! All kidding aside, sure worth a look.
UF may have missed their window with Milton if they wanted him – from what I tell the previous regime didn’t have the highest evaluation of him and he’s locked in to Michigan as a result.
Gatorbait
Who cares!!! If your not a Gator your Gator bait!!!
It’s simple to me. Kids in an unsure process want assurances. UF apparently told him he had to compete. Ole Miss told him now that Patterson left ( for the same reasons that should keep most QB’s away), he will start next year. Probation? Who cares about that to a kid who , at most , will spend 4 years in college but thinks he will spend 15 in the NFL. And nowadays, all you need is one great year or two really good ones to get drafted. And the NFL scouts don’t care if you played for Ole Miss , Central Mich or Fla. If they believe you are talented enough, you’re in. And given the level of QB play in the NFL generally, perception is more important than reality.
Not really sure how a kid is committed for 5 months, recruits for the school, stays committed after the firing and hiring, them flips the day before his official visit. Think that speaks volumes.
Keep in mind that Corral originally committed to Southern Cal and then flipped to UF this past summer, so him flipping again should come as little surprise. What’s weird is how ardently he was promoting the Gators to other potential recruits to join him in Gainesville and now opts for Ole Mis, where he will not have a lot of company joining him. The “Fields Theory” could have some merit, as he looks up at two 5* QB’s on UGA team who will be sophomores next season, both of whom have been starters for the Dawgs. Fields could find himself sitting for the next 3 seasons in Athens. Just a thought.
Graham, since when is Corral a 5*? Not one recruiting service has him as 5* Trying to grab some headlines with fake news? Stick to reporting the facts you will go much further.
I tend to use the initial evaluations rather than how they change frequently throughout the cycle. The facts are that Corral was ranked as a 5* by Scout, before the merger with 247Sports, and Rivals before he dropped during his senior year. He only dropped because other prospects rose, from what I understand. At the end of the day, it’s objective to the recruiting service. Didn’t mean to get anyone worked up.
@ Hank, calm down please.
While this is disappointing, I feel like Corral was never really a priority for Mullen. I don’t think Corral really fit Mullen’s system and I think Mullen only placed an emphasis on recruiting Corral to have a back up plan. Realistically, we need to try to get at least 2 quarterbacks in this recruiting class. Corral would have been a great 2nd recruit but should never have been the primary target. Mullen needs someone that can run the spread. I think when Mullen started communicating with Corral he was probably honest about how he would be used in the offense(as both a runner and a passer) and Corral wasn’t comfortable. I get the feeling that Corral’s priority is to showcase his skills and make it to the pros. I think if competition makes you nervous and you’re not willing to do what ever it takes to win. You’re not cut out to be a gator and you’re probably not going to make it to the pros.
No doubt, I believe UF signs 2 QBs this cycle. Or goes the grad transfer route again, and I think there are some who are tired of that.
This guy played the system and I think he planned to do this all along. It seems that he enjoyed the spotlight and then the “shock” of the switch. I could almost guarantee he would do this to Mac too and any other coach that we hired. It seems very rehearsed. I think both he and Ole Miss wanted to be the center of attention for a day or two. That being said, we need a quarterback!
TRAVIS, not the we got played conspiracy theory! This is best for both parties involved. this system is not a good one for him and we don’t need another failing at QB in a perfectly good Run and shoot system.
BREAKING: Ohio State QB commit Emory Jones just landed in Gainesville and will officially visit Florida this weekend.
sez: twitter Zach Abolverdi
Let’s be real here. When is the last time our Gators have won a head to head recruiting battle for an offensive impact player? Hope Coach Mullen can change things.
Oh let the CHUMP go. He doesn’t want to take on the challenge of being a starter at a school thats down, where he had a tremendous chance to become the elite starter, with no solidified quarterbacks that are proven, that tells me a lot about his heart, then he goes to a school that’s was just put on probation? LET THE CHUMP GO.
What happened? why did coach Mullen let him go? weird, maybe Mat does not fit his offensive scheme, but if he does then some thing is wrong???? well let’s hope Mullen knows something we don’t.
I have faith that he does, Husein.
In the SEC it’s all about line of scrimmage, watch the recruits on the offense and defensive lines and you we see how good your going to be. I personally believe Franks is a good Qb that did not feel comfortable with his O line play. Watch the tape, he never let the play develop, because he lacked confidence in the O line. With a great O line and a big time TE this offense will be successful. A great TE splits the defense, makes the safety stay over top. We will be fine Gator fans.