As part of our Gators newsletter Chomp, we want to hear your thoughts and questions about the Florida football program.
Our first question came from Zach Permenter, who asked: “If Dan Mullen and company are able to land an early commitment from a top-rated recruit like Walter Nolan, do you think the dominos will start to fall for this class?”
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Here’s what Gators Breakdown host David Waters had to say:
I’ve expressed my thoughts that recruits are taking their time this cycle and many top prospects are going to wait until July and August to make their decisions since they missed so much visit time last year due to the pandemic. Five-star DL Walter Nolen visited Georgia last weekend and visits Michigan this coming up weekend. Michigan was thought to be the team to beat heading into visits, but Florida has now probably taken the lead in his recruitment after his official visit a couple of weeks ago… but never count out Alabama who expects to be a major player here.
I’ve always said that “stars want to play with stars” and I don’t think that’s any different here with Nolen. Florida had many top prospects on campus when Nolen visited and that can only help relationships with those types of players. Nolen has even mentioned bringing the top-rated recruiting class wherever he goes, so that leads me to believe he has some players in mind to bring with him. I think Florida can sell a lot here about being a piece of a class that gets Florida back to the top.
Dan Mullen hasn’t been able to sign many five-star prospects out of high school, and if he was able to land Nolen soon, it would be kind of similar to the timeline commitment of five-star Jason Marshall last cycle. Marshall committed to Florida on August 9, 2020, after being predicted to commit to Miami by many analysts. What happened the next day? Marshall’s teammate and 105th ranked player Corey Collier committed to the Gators. A little different scenario, but no doubt an example of top players with a great relationship wanting to play with each other. Could another top 100 DL that visited Florida the same weekend, Chris McClellan, follow Nolen? Four-star DL Jamari Lyons? I hear Florida is in great shape for both and no doubt all these prospects visiting together had an impact.
The buzz from all these top recruits visiting Florida is legit, but has to hold up through other visits, and Nolen committing would certainly be the spark Florida needs to get others to pop.
