Florida Gators
Lady Buckeye Fall Invitational
Muschamp offers quick thoughts on each of 23 newest Gators
Friday, February 3, 2012 | Football, Women's Golf, Scott Carter
I had a chance to sit down with Gators coach Will Muschamp on Wednesday right after the final letter-of-intent on National Signing Day arrived in UF's football offices.
During the interview, Muschamp provided quick off-the-top-of-his-head thoughts on the 23 newest Gators as he read off a list.
Here is what he said:
EARLY ENROLLEES
DB Willie Bailey (6-1, 167) – “He is athletically, a guy who is a long corner. Has great top-end speed, finishing speed. He's got return skills, a guy we're excited about.”
OL Jessamen Dunker (6-4, 320) – “He is a 6-4/320-pounder up front that we think can come in and help us on the offensive line, possibly at the guard position.”
OL D.J. Humphries (6-6, 271) – “He was athletically the best tackle we evaluated as far as his feet, movement, reach, length. He is a very bright young man and we're excited about him.”
DL Damien Jacobs (6-3, 310) – “He is a junior-college player from East Mississippi. He's a guy we're really excited to add to our front inside as a good football player.”
LB Antonio Morrison (6-1, 209) – “We had him on our board as the top inside linebacker. He's a tough, hard-nosed kid from Bolingbrook, Ill., and a guy we're excited to have as part of our program.”
WR Latroy Pittman (6-0, 195) – “He is really an outstanding athlete. He can play defensive back, he can play receiver. He has been committed to us for a long time from right down the road in Ocala.”
NSD SIGNEES
DL Jonathan Bullard (6-3, 263) – “We needed to get better up front and we certainly feel like Jon is somebody that can bring that to us.”
DL Bryan Cox Jr. (6-3, 247) – “He is a very tough, hard-nosed kid out of St. Thomas Aquinas, a great high school program. Obviously his father Bryan Sr. had a decorated NFL career. He is a guy who has got great toughness.”
K Austin Hardin (5-10, 204) – “He's a guy who has a tremendous leg and did a great job at our kicking camp. We're excited to add him to our program.”
RB Matt Jones (6-2, 213) – “We needed to get bigger at the running-back position and we wanted to add Matt from the standpoint of a downhill runner and still create the physicality of what you need to do in the SEC.”
DB Rhaheim Ledbetter (5-11, 195) – “He is a guy we're really excited about, a secondary player that plays very physical, has ball skills and can play in space with great range.”
DL JaFar Mann (6-3, 293) – “He is another guy up front who we added to get more physical and bigger. He's done some nice things there at Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Ga.”
DB Marcus Maye (5-11, 200) – “We felt like he was the top safety here in the state of Florida and a guy we're really excited about. He's very bright, very intelligent, and he's got great ball skills and range and can finish plays.”
OLB Alex McCalister (6-6, 223) – “He's a guy we had in camp and he had over a 10-foot broad [jump] and close to a 40-inch vertical leap. He is going to be a guy who is going to be a big young man at the end of the day. His best football is ahead of him.”
QB Skyler Mornhinweg (6-3, 190) – “He's a guy we got on late. We really liked Skyler early in the process and we decided at the end of November, first of December we needed to bring another quarterback into the program. He was what we were looking for as far as a decision-maker, a winner.”
DL Dante Phillips (6-6, 270) – “He is hopefully a guy who can come in and help us. He brings some physicality at the line of scrimmage.”
CB Brian Poole (5-10, 202) – “We felt he is a guy who can play corner, can play nickel. He's got great cover skills, toughness, and is very physical.”
LB Jeremi Powell (6-1, 193) – “He is an outstanding athlete. He played everything at Pinellas Park and we feel he is a guy that can really come in for us and do some positive things athletically.”
TE Kent Taylor (6-5, 225) – “At the tight end position, he is a guy who can stretch the field vertically. He can catch the ball and has a lot of length. His body is filling out so we are really excited about him.”
TE Colin Thompson (6-4, 252) – “He's a guy who has been committed to us for close to a year, a physical, on-the-line tight end up there in Pennsylvania whose team won a state championship.”
DL Quinteze Williams (6-5, 255) – “He is another big athlete who is certainly someone we're excited about being part of our program up front.”
OLB Dante Fowler Jr. (6-3, 261) – “We needed to improve ourselves as far as pass rush is concerned and he is a guy that can affect the quarterback in rushing the passer.”
WR Raphael Andrades (6-0, 190) – “He is a guy from Lincoln High School (in Tallahassee) who we had in camp and we really liked him. We like his ball-catching ability and a guy we're happy is a Florida Gator.”
