This story first appeared in Chomp, our Gators football newsletter. Subscribe here.
Recommended Videos
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: There’s never a dull moment in Gator Nation.
That’s especially true this past week as the football news continues to pour in during the offseason, including National Signing Day headlines.
💧 No splash on NSD
The Gators didn’t make a huge splash on National Signing Day, but let’s not forget Billy Napier has only been at Florida for about two months.
“Fifty-nine days ago, we were in the air on the plane and hit the ground right out here, so it’s been unbelievable,” Napier said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made. I thought we answered a lot of needs. I thought we took advantage of each opportunity to add players to the team. Obviously, you’ve got a list there of guys that have signed so far, just added a few more just a couple minutes ago.”
Gators Breakdown host David Waters pointed out there were some misses Wednesday — like four-star running back TreVonte’ Citizen out of Lake Charles, Louisiana, choosing Miami despite trending toward Florida — but timing was part of it and the Gators are in good shape moving forward.
The Gators signed these players on Wednesday:
- Tight end Hayden Hansen (Weatherford, Texas)
- Running back Trevor Etienne (Jennings, Louisiana)
- Offensive lineman Jalen Farmer (Covington, Georgia)
- Safety Miguel Mitchell (Oxford, Alabama)
- Outside linebacker Jack Pyburn (Jacksonville)
- Quarterback Max Brown (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
- Defensive lineman Andrew Savaiinaea (Graham, Washington)
- Wide receiver Caleb Douglas (Missouri City, Texas)
You can read more about the newest Gators on Florida’s National Signing Day website.
At last check, Florida was in the top 20 (19) in 247Sports’ 2022 team recruiting rankings. In looking at the top of Florida’s 2022 class and 247 Sports’ all-time (2002) recruiting rankings, linebacker Shemar James is Florida’s seventh-highest LB recruit and defensive back Kamari Wilson is Florida’s ninth-highest DB recruit and fourth-highest safety. Both James and Wilson signed early in December.
In the latest episode of Gators Breakdown, David and Will Miles, with Read and Reaction, recap NSD for the Gators.
SIGNING DAY ROUNDUP: Recruiting wars: Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher says rumors are ‘garbage’ | Area athletes make their college decisions
Nationally, Texas A&M captured the No. 1 recruiting class in college football history, according to the 247Sports Composite.
🏈 Pyburn fulfills childhood dream
Pyburn verbally committed to Florida on Tuesday, a day before NSD, choosing the Gators over Auburn and Miami.
The 6-foot-4, 260-pound linebacker at the Bolles School in Jacksonville had a team-leading 109 tackles, including 32 for loss, during his senior season for the Bulldogs. He was also the team’s top sack artist, notching 14 of them.
“I looked up to Tim Tebow and players like, six or seven years ago, Jarrad Davis. Players like that who played with relentless effort and believed in the program,” Pyburn said. “It’s those kinds of things that make me want to be like those guys and be a Gator great and help the standard return.”
READ MORE: Get to know Pyburn | WATCH: Pyburn picks up Gators hat
Despite his childhood dream of playing for the Gators, Pyburn didn’t consider it attainable just a few years ago. But hard work in the weight room and a dedication to improving his game made it possible. Then, when Napier was named as the new head coach at Florida, the potential for the dream to be realized came into view.
“Being able to go on an official visit, you get to spend a lot of the time with the coaches and really get to know them and spend a lot of one on one time with them, (made a difference),” Pyburn said. “And just the remarks he was making and the things that he talked about were all the right things that resonated with me, and I could see that he was very similar-minded to me and had the same vision as me, and so I knew that he was the right coach for me.”
🟠 Orange & 🔵 Blue Game is back
After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Orange & Blue Game is back.
The spring game is set for Saturday, April 16, inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
🏟️ Florida-FSU moving to Friday night
There’s a big change to Florida’s schedule this year.
The Gators will play Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium on FRIDAY, Nov. 25 — Black Friday.
The game was originally on the schedule for Saturday, Nov. 26.
It’s expected to be nationally televised.
The Gators have won the last three games in the in-state rivalry series.
📣 More new staffers announced
Napier has announced two more hires since our last edition of Chomp.
The latest was Rachel Adamkowski, who will serve as a football performance dietitian on the football nutrition staff.
Adamkowski spent the 2021 season in the role of performance nutrition for the Cleveland Browns. Before that, she was a sports nutrition intern at North Carolina from 2019 to 2021 and at Duke in 2018.
And Tamsyn Stonebarger was named associate director of digital strategy.
Stonebarger was a social media associate with the Los Angeles Clippers last season. Prior to that, she was a social media specialist at Washington State from 2019 to 2021 and was a digital media coordinator at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi from 2017 to 2018.
😮 How about Evan McPherson
This. guy.
He did it again.
Bengals rookie kicker and former Gator Evan McPherson has made five game-winning kicks this season, the latest one sending Cincinnati to the Super Bowl.
The 22-year-old kicked a 31-yard field goal in overtime Sunday to lift the Bengals over the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 in the AFC championship game.
GAME RECAP: Bengals top Chiefs 27-24 in OT to clinch Super Bowl trip
It was McPherson’s second game-winning kick in the postseason. On Jan. 22 against the Tennessee Titans, his 52-yard kick as time ran out gave the Bengals a 19-16 win.
“He has ice in his veins,” said Bengals coach Zac Taylor.
McPherson is 12 for 12 on his postseason field goal tries, three makes from breaking Adam Vinatieri’s NFL record for one postseason. He’ll get that chance on Feb. 13 in Inglewood, Calif, when the Bengals take on the NFC champion Rams at SoFi Stadium.
At Florida, McPherson made 51 of his 60 field goal attempts, including 5 of 8 from 50 yards or longer. McPherson also connected on all but one of his 150 extra points.
Guess he made a pretty good choice when he opted to make himself eligible for the NFL draft after his junior season and was the only kicker drafted in 2021 when the Bengals selected him in the fifth round.
🏀 Gators men’s hoops
The Florida men’s basketball team defeated Missouri 66-65 on Wednesday in a game that was moved ahead six hours due to a winter storm.
GAME RECAP: Florida tops Missouri in afternoon game due to winter storm
Last weekend, the Gators rallied in the second half to defeat Oklahoma State 81-72 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Up next: The Gators host Ole Miss on Saturday, with tipoff at 3:30 p.m.
✉️ Send us your Gators thoughts & questions
David and I want to hear from you. Do you have any thoughts or questions about the Gators football program? Agree or disagree with something we’ve said? Let us know here, and we’ll share our responses to your questions.
🎙️ Listen to more Gators Breakdown
You can catch up on previous episodes of Gators Breakdown at News4JAX.com/GatorsBreakdown or click one of the following to tune in: Megaphone | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Google Podcasts | Stitcher.