Once Tebow is gone, Florida will head into spring practice with just two scholarship quarterbacks — redshirt sophomore John Brantley and freshman Jordan Reed. However, Reed has been working out at tight end a little this season, and while Meyer contends that he is still listed as a quarterback, there’s a chance he could be used at tight end in the future. He wasn’t the sharpest QB during summer work outs, but he’s a tremendous athlete.

So, if you take Reed out of the equation, you’re left with Brantley as the starter, and eventually rock-solid commitment Trey Burton will come in as a true freshman next summer. A lot has been made of Burton’s abilities as a quarterback. His mechanics will need improvement, but with the coaching he would get at UF, it can be fixed. He, like Reed, is a great athlete. I almost like him more as just an athlete-type player than as a quarterback because of his speed and shiftiness. All in all, Florida could have a problem under center if Brantley goes down.

With word that quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler went up to Michigan a few weeks ago to see Detroit Inkster dual-threat Devin Gardner (a Michigan commit), Meyer was asked earlier this week if he was thinking of going after another quarterback for this class.

“It’s hard to sign more than one,” Meyer said. “It’s unusual because they usually ‘X’ each other out. We haven’t made that decision yet.

“Would like two, but I don’t know if there are two we could go get.”

It could be tough to bring in another quarterback this year. The staff went after Lakewood, Calif., quarterback Jesse Scroggins earlier this year and USC snatched him away. The Gators had a great chance with Memphis University School’s Barry Brunetti. He actually had Florida as his leader in the spring, but the Gators never offered and he chose West Virginia.

If Florida is going to go after another quarterback, Gardner is the cream of the crop this year in terms of dual-threat guys. This is definitely a down year for quarterbacks, but Gardner has great upside with is 6-foot-4, 195-pound frame. He’s a run-first type of player right now but certainly has a great arm. Gardner had nearly 2,000 yards passing with 26 touchdowns and 1,400 yards rushing with 22 scores. The issue with trying to get Gardner is that some think he’s good enough, right now, to beat out Michigan’s Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson.

Florida could also look at Miami Central’s Jeffrey Godfrey. He doesn’t have an offer from the Gators and he stands just 5-11 and weighs 167 pounds. He might translate into a better athlete prospect at the next level with that frame. But like Robinson last year, he could be a guy who surprises some under center. He threw for just under 3,000 yards and had 28 touchdowns as a junior.

Florida could wait and develop the players it will have next fall or it could go hard after Gardner. If he were to turn to the Gators, it would cover all of their bases. Stay tuned.

Notes for the weekend

Florida will have a couple of big-time visitors on campus for the Vanderbilt game. Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast linebacker Jeff Luc will be in town for an unofficial visit. This could be big for the Gators considering all the recent talk about Tennessee taking a bit of a lead on the Gators.

Got word this week that Manning, S.C., defensive back John Fulton will be in town for an official visit. Looks like he’ll be the only official for the weekend as well. That means extra, extra time with the coaches. It also figures to be a game where the Gator defense will surely look fantastic. Fulton has shown some interest in the Gators, but South Carolina is the favorite. He’s visiting the Gamecocks next week for the Florida game. If Florida can impress two weeks in a row, that will be huge, but I still give South Carolina the advantage. UF has so many defensive back prospects at the moment and South Carolina has home-state advantage. He’s planning to make a decision in the next few weeks and will enroll early.

In a surprise move, Palmdale, Calif., cornerback Joshua Shaw will pay his own way for an unofficial to Gainesville this weekend. Remember, he officially visited for the Tennessee game and his last official will be to Oklahoma next weekend. This is big for the Gators, who are apparently trying to get 50 commitments from defensive backs this year. Shaw is a tremendous athlete and if he were to try and commit in the near future, there is no way Florida would turn him down.

Pahokee receiver Chris Dunkley will be visiting Alabama this weekend for the LSU game. I still consider Florida the leader. He’ll be in town for the FSU game and probably again in December. Gators have the advantage.

Due to their offensive experience in high school, could Travon Van, Demar Dorsey, Jaylen Watkins, and/or Jordan Haden possibly play WR? On another note, what are the chances of Josh Haden coming here, and which position would he play?
— Zach Abolverdi

Of those guys, I think Van would have the best shot at playing offense for the Gators. Though, I think he’ll be more of a defensive back, but he’s got the athletic ability to play in the slot and the backfield. However, Florida will return all four running backs from this year and Mack Brown will be on campus, so that backfield will be very busy and very crowded. Florida will possibly lose cornerback Joe Haden to the NFL Draft, so his spot would be up for grabs starting this spring. The secondary is where I see all of these prospects getting the most time.

I talked to a source close to Josh Haden who said he’s not looking at Florida. The backfield is too crowded, which is smart because if he wants to play, he would have to pass a lot of bodies at UF. Nothing wrong with that. He left Boston College and wants to play as soon as he can. Even though he would have to sit out a year if he transferred to UF, Chris Rainey, Jeff Demps, Mike Gillislee and Brown could all still be on campus when he was eligible to play.

What is the situation between Joshua Shaw and Cody Riggs? It looks like we are closing in on Shaw, who is bigger and and arguably better. With Riggs, we seem to have been his leader for some time and he is a great athlete too. The problem is we can probably only take one. If Riggs tries to pull the trigger early, will we put him on hold to see what Shaw does? Who would you rather have?
— Romans 8:31

This is kind of a good problem that Florida has. If Florida can get Shaw, they’d definitely take him. Riggs appears to be a strong Florida lean right now, but who knows if he would want to wait around for Florida to see if it’s going to get a guy like Shaw. The thing with Shaw is that he’s already officially visited. Florida has already had its big selling day with him. Riggs will officially visit for the Florida State game, so if Florida’s staff is convinced that Shaw might be harder to get by then, they’ll have time to sweet talk Riggs some more.

The problem comes if the staff waits on Shaw and then loses out on Riggs because he doesn’t want to take a back seat to him. Then they could easily lose Shaw as well. I’m sure the staff is smart enough to figure ways around all that, though. Ohio State is a major player for Shaw and could be the leader right now. He’s set to announce at the Under Armour game in January.

Shaw has a couple inches on Riggs and is much heavier. In my opinion, he’s got better potential as well. Just a really talented athlete. But Riggs holds his own. He’s got great speed and would fit in with Florida’s defense all the same.

Why doesn’t a coach like Urban Meyer, call out other coaches who lie to recruits about him or his program? For example, the coaches who were/are telling recruits Urban is going to Notre Dame. The ones telling recruits that their offense is better preparation for the NFL than UF’s, with evidence to the contrary, etc. … If Lane Kiffin wants to use the media to get UT’s program talked about, Meyer should have the media grill Kiffin about his antics. It has cost UF and will in the future if someone doesn’t call him out and make him justify the comments to recruits.
— JC

Meyer doesn’t have that much to benefit from by calling out other coaches. Then it just turns into more immature games in an already immature recruiting world. I’m sure Meyer has words about other coaches and schools, but I really can’t speak for what he has said because I’ve never been there. He has taken a few shots at coaches when he’s met with the media, but not many. He’s more of a players’ guy. He’d rather talk about how players and the schemes win games, not coaches. Meyer now has the advantage of saying that his offense has won two out of three national championships, produced a potential NFL Rookie of the Year (Percy Harvin) and has the chance to win a third championship this year. I won’t sit here and be naive and think that he doesn’t call other coaches out when talking to recruits (look at Patrick Peterson and what Meyer said about LSU academics), but I don’t think that he has to come out in public and display his disdain for coaches like you’d like.

As for negative recruiting costing Florida recruits, it happens all the time. If a kid isn’t feeling a school, he won’t go there. What an opposing coach says about a program has some influence, but I don’t think it’s the biggest factor in kids defecting from other schools.

Who are the possible recruits that could jump ship, committed or not, if Charlie Strong finally gets a head coaching gig?
— Kevin

The problem with this is that if Strong gets a head coaching job, it might not happen until right before or after Florida’s bowl game, like Dan Mullen last year. The prospect who has the best relationship with Strong is Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast linebacker Jeff Luc. His relationship with Strong has been the biggest selling point in Florida’s recruitment of Luc. The issue for Florida is that Luc is an early enrollee, so if Strong situation isn’t settled in time, Luc could take the safe route and go elsewhere (Tennessee). If Strong takes a head coaching job before Luc commits anywhere, it could give Florida enough time to talk to Luc about who could replace him. If Luc values Strong’s relationship that much and will weigh his decision on what Strong does, Florida might have to work a bit harder down the road. I’m not saying Strong will take a job this year, but there’s talk about teams wanting to contact him.

Every defensive player the Gators go after has to talk to Strong, so each will be interested in his situation, but I don’t think anyone is more concerned than Luc.

As I watched from the Jacksonville Municipal press box Saturday, I couldn’t help but be impressed with one guy in red and black. Most Gator fans have to have been thinking the same thing when they saw Georgia tight end Orson Charles line up opposite the Gators’ defense: Why isn’t this guy wearing different colors? I mean, he did knock over Florida’s 2006 national championship trophy last year. He did say Florida was one of his top schools for the longest time. And he lived right down the road in Tampa.

But Georgia got the better of the Gators, snatching Charles and quarterback Aaron Murray from Tampa Plant. Murray will probably redshirt, so he didn’t get to showcase anything Saturday, but Charles did. Sure, he had a couple of false start penalties, but that doesn’t take away from his athletic ability. He was targeted three times and caught just two passes for 18 yards, but he’s a guy that just screams playmaker. On a fourth-and-3 at Florida’s 13, Georgia drew up a play just for Charles. The true freshman lined up at wide receiver and Gator cornerback Joe Haden played about 9 yards off him. Talk about respect. Charles grabbed 7 yards, helping set up the Bulldog score. He’s got 12 catches for 208 yards and a touchdown, and he’s doing much better than starter Aron White.

Against Florida, Charles split out wide a few times. He’s got the speed of a receiver and the strength of a tight end. He reminds me of a faster, thinner Aaron Hernandez. Speaking of Hernandez, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make the jump to the NFL after the season. Who would take his place? Well, Charles could have. He would have been perfect, but he spurned Florida, and now the Gators might rely on Desmond Parks (currently redshirting) or 2010 commits Gerald Christian and Mike McFarland. Maybe even freshman quarterback Jordan Reed, who is playing around at tight end, could be an option.

Of course, Hernandez could stay and give Florida’s staff time to develop the young guys. Still, seeing Charles in Florida’s offense would have been pretty exciting. Does the name Cornelius Ingram ring a bell?

Speaking of what could have been, Tennessee receiver Nu’Keese Richardson reportedly was a no-show at Vols practice Sunday. Uh oh. Rumors have spread this year that Richardson might not be too happy in Knoxville. The transfer talk is in full swing, and UT coach Lane Kiffin will speak more about Richardson’s situation Tuesday. Richardson has 58 yards rushing and 48 yards receiving with no scores. Percy position?

That part of the state has been relatively good to Meyer and his staff, but the Gators failed to get anyone from there in last year’s class and have already missed out on a couple of big prospects from there this year.

Georgia offensive line commitment Brent Benedict (Jacksonville, Bolles), Miami defensive line commits Louis Nix (Jacksonville, Raines) and Tavadis Glenn (Jacksonville, Terry Parker), and Florida State defensive line commit Tavaris Barnes (Jacksonville, First Coast) all turned the Gators down.

Ironically, Florida’s opponent Saturday has had more success in Jax this year. Georgia has already snatched two guys out of there.

Despite his recent struggles, Meyer still views Jacksonville as one of his primary recruiting areas in the state.

“We love Jacksonville,” he said.

“Jacksonville’s been great to the Gators. That’s one of our (recruiting areas). Jacksonville, Orlando and south Florida — those are the areas that we just try to hit as hard as we possibility can.”

Reconsidering an early signing period

Meyer’s had his fair share of losses in the recruiting game. Two guys got away on National Signing Day last year, and throughout his time at Florida he’s had to cut ties with some major commits. He’s also done the same to a few other schools (see poor Notre Dame).

It comes with the territory when you can start recruiting kids almost a year before they graduate from high school.

But Meyer has never been one for an early signing period. He likes getting to know guys and getting to see them as much as possible to make sure their commitments are genuine. If there was an early signing period, it would also take away from a lot of official visits to games. That’s when guys can really see the atmosphere and get some royal treatment. Instead, you’d have way too many kids trying to officially visit over the summer, when things are a bit hectic for coaching staffs.

“You’d had 20, 30 kids visiting,” Meyer said.

With a few changes, Meyer could be interested in one.

While he’s not totally down with an early signing period, he likes the idea that an SEC coach had where if a player commits early and decides he doesn’t want to take visits, he should be allowed to sign a letter of intent — binding him to that school. I’m sure some players would be up for it, but you’re missing out on the fun of being courted and getting to travel around the country.

“The minute he visits other schools then I’d say he can’t (sign),” Meyer said.

The one thing an early signing period won’t take away from, Meyer said, is the negative recruiting schools use against other programs.

“Recruiting is recruiting,” he said. “Someone said, ‘Boy, when you talk about your graduation rate compared to another school, that’s negative recruiting.’ You never hear us talk about negative recruiting. We just think everybody goes as hard as they can and they sell their school. I don’t think an early signing period has anything to do with that stuff.”

Kiffin finding recruiting tougher in SEC

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin’s days at USC were a walk in the park when it came to recruiting as opposed to what he’s going through in the SEC. Sure, he’s had some decent success against Florida and Alabama, but he’s finding that he’s having to work more this time around than when he just had to advertise buxom blondes and the Hollywood atmosphere in Los Angeles. Now, he’s having to compete more inside his conference than he had to when battling Pac-10 schools. His only real competition used to be outside the conference.

“When we got it going at Southern Cal we didn’t have to battle guys in our conference as much as we had to battle Florida, Texas, Alabama, Florida State, the great teams,” Kiffin said.

“The great players that we got, everybody wanted, so we had to go battle those teams. Now, we just happen to run into our conference a lot more.”

Trick or Treat

Trick: Speaking of Kiffin and his early luck, it looks like he’s got Tennessee in the driver’s seat for Port St. Lucie, Treasure Coast linebacker Jeff Luc. After Florida appeared to be out in front, the Vols have reportedly pulled ahead. I say this goes down to the wire in December with these two schools. Will Kiffin’s sweet talk prevail? Staying with the Vols, current Gator defensive back commit Demar Dorsey could be officially visiting UT this weekend. It’s not totally clear if he will, but it could happen. Pahokee receiver — and major Florida target — Chris Dunkley is also expected on campus.

Treat: Running back commit Mack Brown is all Gator. He won’t be in attendance Saturday in Jacksonville, but he’ll be watching and cheering for the Gators. He grew up a big Georgia fan, but that changed when he started rooting for Florida last year in this game. He said this week that he still gets letters and is still contacted by Georgia’s staff, but he remains solid on his UF commitment.

“I love both schools,” Brown said, but I’m committed to Florida, right now, so I have to go with the Gators.”

Treat: Rivals.com is reporting that Philadelphia, George Washington defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd is down to Florida and Ohio State. He’s probably the best defensive tackle in the country and officially visited UF early this fall. Why is this a treat? Well, Florida’s owned the Buckeyes in pretty much everything in the past few years, so it’s only natural that I feel Floyd pretty much just said he’ll be signing with UF.

Trick: Back to UT, yeah, I’m sure guys are happy about that. Tampa, Catholic offensive lineman Chaz Green, who was a suspected silent commit to Florida for a while, might be looking at Tennessee a bit harder than originally thought. I still give the Gators the edge in the end, especially with the line issues the Gators have had this year, but Kiffin and his staff has done a great job in less than a year and they are making sure to get into every Gator target — and commitment’s — ear.

Treat: Chaz’s teammate, Christian Green, is going to have a tough decision when it comes to colleges. It’s probably going to come down to Florida and Georgia, and it appears the Bulldogs have pulled up a bit. I’m still convinced that he’s still leaning toward the Gators. The receivers have struggled this year and that’s a major selling point for this year’s class. Plus, he’s been in Gainesville way too many times this year. An official visit could seal it for the Gators.

Treat: I talked to a couple of sources this week and it appears Fort Lauderdale, St. Thomas Aquinas cornerback Cody Riggs will probably end up in Gainesville. Florida has like 100 verbals from cornerbacks this year, but if Dorsey decides to go elsewhere, the staff would happily welcome Riggs. He’s visiting for the FSU game and I wouldn’t be surprised if he committed shortly after.

Trick: It’s a shame that the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party — yeah I called it by its REAL name — can’t allow official recruiting visits. Sure it’s a neutral site, but UGA coach Mark Richt said he would like to see the home team be able to invite recruits. Look at that. Not even arguing to have both schools get recruits there. Now, that’s class. It probably won’t happen, though. If the NCAA allows these two schools to do it at a neutral site, then it would have to let every school do it. Visits for the Red River Shootout and when Alabama plays someone in Atlanta. Then you’d have to do it for conference championships and bowl games. Too much paperwork.

Happy Halloween! Be safe! Look both ways before crossing the street. Don’t eat razor blades and don’t worry about the bowl full of intestines and the batch of eye balls. It’s just spaghetti and grapes/olives.

And most importantly. If you can’t laugh at yourselves, who can you laugh at?

Now, on to the questions!

How are we doing with Chaz Green and Christian Green at Tampa Catholic? Would love to see them playing together in the Orange & Blue!!
— TampaDave

From what I understand, both are still very high on the Gators. Chaz was more of a Gator lean earlier than Christian, but now it seems that both are starting to develop interest in other schools. Christian’s leaders have been Florida, Florida State and Georgia for some time. Now, Georgia and Florida are his top schools. Georgia could even be considered the leader right now. He has visited there and knows the staff quite well. Florida State was believed to be at the top in the beginning because his cousin, E.G. Green, played there, but Florida got in his ear over the summer and he had the Gators on top. FSU’s struggles on and off the field have been a concern for Christian, so this one is probably coming down to UF and UGA. Now, Chaz is a guy who could change things for his teammate. Even with Tennessee getting a lot of love from Chaz lately, I still think Florida is in the lead. He loved Knoxville, but he’s been pretty close to committing to the Gators in the past. The thing going for the Vols is that his parents went to UT. If Chaz commits to Florida, watch to see if Christian follows suit. The staff is looking to add a little depth to the offensive line, and Chaz is one of their top options. We all know about UF’s struggles at wide receiver, and Christian could also be used as a wildcat weapon.

It happens quite often that a highly touted player with high expectations came to college only to sit because of injuries suffered in high school. Do high school players generally get adequate medical attention? How much do college coaches know the injury history of high school players?
— Eugene

I think medical attention paid to high school athletes differs depending on where you are. It’s hard to say what exactly goes on when high school players have injuries. When I played soccer in high school, I pulled a muscle in my leg and my coach sent me to a clinic to get treatment — and I played soccer. I’m sure many schools have this kind of treatment ready for athletes, but some might not, depending on the amount of money the program has. Trainers and a medical staff are required for all games and practices as well.

Colleges do a lot of research on the players they recruit. These are kids who could potentially be in the program for four or five years. Florida has had some recent history with high schoolers coming in after injury. Offensive lineman Nick Alajajian had a severe ankle injury and still enrolled early. Receiver Andre Debose had that terrible hamstring injury that started at the end of his high school track season. And this year, defensive tackle Leon Orr and safety Jordan Haden will miss the rest of their senior seasons with leg injuries. Staffs know what they are getting into, and sometimes injuries just freakishly happen during or after the season. Coaching and training staffs can’t control it, but I assure you they monitor it and have a plan for those prospects once they get on campus in case the injury is more severe.

Edward, we know about Florida’s top priority guys like Jeff Luc and Chris Dunkley, but who are some sleeper guys the coaches who may not be as high in the rankings? Also, what recruit do you think Florida is able to snatch from another team’s commit list by National Signing Day?
— Brandon S.

I think Florida already has a couple of sleepers in its class in receiver Soloman Patton, athlete Travon Van and I guess, if you’re Rivals.com, safety Jonathan Dowling. Van could be the biggest one, depending on his position, because of his athleticism and speed. But, if we’re going to go with uncommitted guys, two guys that I like as sleepers in any class are cornerback Pee Wee Cobb (Auburn, Ala.) and receiver Kenny Shaw (Orlando, Dr. Phillips). Cobb has got nice size right now but could still put on a little more weight before he gets on campus. I’ve only seen a little film on him, but he’s a pretty good cover corner. I doubt he’ll be in Florida’s class, and he’s not getting much love on the national scene, but he could end up being a player in college.

Shaw is a guy with some killer speed. I think the reason he’s not getting a great deal of attention is because he’s had Florida State at the top of his list for the longest time. If it wasn’t for the drama surrounding the program right now, he’d probably be a Seminole. Now, he’s talking official visits, and I’ve even seen him at a couple of Gator games this fall. He’s a pretty athletic guy and could make a quarterback very happy in a couple of years.

The guy to watch out for as far as switching allegiances to the Gators is Aurora, Colo., Grandview defensive end Chris Martin. Martin is committed to Notre Dame, and you know the history Urban Meyer has with snatching Notre Dame recruits (see Justin Trattou and Omar Hunter). The Gators will probably lose Carlos Dunlap to the NFL Draft and Jermaine Cunningham is a senior. The Gators have some depth at the position, but there’s no way the staff turns down a stud like Martin (he’s got more than 200 tackles combined his last two seasons). There’s also a good chance that Martin will visit Florida for the Florida State game in November.

With the struggles in the WR corps and injuries to the d-line, are there any plans to recruit at least 1-2 for those positions from the junior college ranks to give immediate help for next year?
— Ken Frier

JUCO players haven’t been too kind to the Gators in recent years. Yes, Reggie Nelson was a beast and was one of the best defensive players I’ve seen in college, but it’s been pretty tough for the Gators to really benefit from JUCO transfers. Since Meyer got Nelson to stay a Gator, he’s signed quarterback Bryan Waggener (2007), receiver Carl Moore (2008) and defensive tackles Troy Epps (2008) and Edwin Herbert (2009). Waggener redshirted the 2007 season and transferred to Northern Colorado. Moore caught 14 balls for 184 yards and a touchdown last year but will probably miss this season with a back injury. Epps tore his ACL last year and has seen a little time on the line this season. Herbert has only been in for a few snaps, and defensive line coach Dan McCarney said at the beginning of the year that he wasn’t physically ready for SEC play.

All and all, the Gators have had four scholarships go to players who haven’t done a lot for the program. With that said, Florida hasn’t really dipped too far into the JUCO talent pool this year. The Gators signed prep school star Travon Van, but haven’t gotten any JUCO commits yet. The staff seemed interested in Torrance, Cali., El Camion C.C. receiver Kenbrell Thompkins, but things have cooled down between the two parties. He was a huge Gator lean for a while and even tried to commit, but it never happened. Florida has offered his teammate, defensive back Mike Harris, but that’s really the extent of the JUCO search this year.

The linebacker position is pretty critical with this recruiting class due to the loss of most of our linebackers over the next two years. Which linebacker would you want most out of the possibilities (Luc, Jordan Hicks, Christian Jones), and why? Also, who do you think we actually get?
— Romans 8:31

As far as Florida is concerned, Luc and Hicks are at the top of the list for linebackers. I think Florida will take either one — and both since they play different positions. Which one does the staff prefer? I’m not sure. Luc is a physical specimen, but Hicks might have the most potential because of his overall talent and technique. He’s also the most versatile linebacker I’ve seen. The knock on Luc is that he’s too stiff because of how muscular he is. But he’s a bull on the field and defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and he would be great together. Jones is probably the fastest one and plays the outside positions very well. Jones might have more room to grow as a player. While I think Luc is the most physically impressive — and intimidating — I think that if I had my choice, I’d have to go with Hicks. He plays more outside, but he could play in the middle and direct a defense if needed. His versatility and technique are too sound to pass up.

Boggs said one reason for the success was that he directed his offensive plays as far away from Tigers’ junior defensive lineman Lonnie Gosha as possible. Gosha was a force in the first quarter. He was in on almost every tackle and he finished the game with a couple of forced fumbles. The Bulldogs had no offense after one quarter, so Boggs changed things up. Where ever the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Gosha was, the Bulldogs made sure they weren’t.

“We did the kinds of things where we weren’t going to let him make that big-time hit,” Boggs said. “He’s a phenomenal player and he’s as good as he’s built up to be.”

Gosha, who lined up at defensive end for most of the night, still made some plays with the ball going away from him, just not as many. He’s got tremendous speed off the edge (when he’s not getting double-teamed). He still has room for improvement with his technique — I mean, he’s only a junior — but Gosha could be one of the top defenders in the state of Florida next year.

“I just try my best to get to the ball out there, ripping through the blocks, getting to (opposing players),” Gosha said.

He’s already got his pick of schools with a year and half of high school remaining. He lists offers from Duke, Florida International, Arkansas and Florida. He’s also considering Florida State, Cincinnati and Clemson.

The team that sticks out is Florida. When I asked about how his recruitment with Florida was going, his eyes lit up like kid on Christmas just saying the word “Florida.” His main recruiters from Florida are tight ends coach Dan White and defensive line coach Dan McCarney.

“(Florida) sends me a lot of letters,” he said. “I’ve gone to all their home games so far (this season). I like the atmosphere. I like how they play, it gets loud (inside The Swamp).”

The one thing about Florida that really entices Gosha is the amount of younger talent that sees the field on defense.

Gosha said he’s going to take his time with recruiting, but admits it’s been hard not give a verbal pledge to the Gators.

“I was thinking about (committing to) Florida,” he said. “Florida, I like them. I don’t know, I’m just waiting to see. It’s early, so I’d like to see who all is interested and I’d like to go on visits.”

What’s so wrong with my home state? Is the talent not there? Well, that can’t be it because a chunk of Mississippi-born folks are playing in the NFL and that’s been the case for a while. Is Florida’s staff concerned about travel expenses? Heck no! These guys fly out to California, Texas and around the northeast. Maybe, it’s the dialect. I don’t have twang in my voice — my mother made sure of that — but I can understand Florida staff members being a little uncomfortable with some of those “southern drawls.” It can get pretty thick where I come from.

Don’t ask Urban Meyer why he’s not doing a whole lot of recruiting in the Magnolia State. He doesn’t know either.

“We don’t (recruiting in Mississippi),” he said. “I’m not quite sure why.”

Meyer was probably just being polite, since I’m sure he’s aware I call Mississippi my home (sarcasm). But there’s got to be a reason Mississippi doesn’t scream, “Recruit me out-of-state schools that don’t border me!”

Meyer’s staff has figuratively dipped its toes in the state, but not literally. Here is a quick look at some prospects from Mississippi Florida has offered scholarships since Meyer arrived:

2005
Jimmy Johns — QB — Brookhaven — Alabama
Josh McNeil — OL — Collins — Tennessee (No. 1 tackle in the country)

2006
Allen Walker — S — Olive Branch — Mississippi (Top player in the state and recruited by Billy Gonzales, came down to UF and Ole Miss)

2007
Chris Strong — DE — Batesville, South Panola — Ole Miss (Third-best defensive end nationally)
Derek Sherrod — OL — Columbus, Caledonia — Mississippi State (Third-best tackle nationally, recruited by Steve Addazio and John Hevesy)

2008
DeAndre Brown — WR — Ocean Springs — Southern Miss (Recruited by Gonzales and he mentioned UF as a favorite for a while)

2009
Chad Bumphis — WR — Tupelo — Mississippi State (UF was a suspected leader for a while)

2010
None

2011
None

So, the numbers are pretty low. The talent is decent, but still not enough to entice Florida, I guess. Meyer did hint that because of the high number of kids who stay close to home, he’s tentative about putting much effort there.

“I always do a breakdown of how many kids leave the state,” he said. “For whatever reason, we haven’t spent much time there.”

Well, coach, I’ve done my own breakdown. I mean I got out, why can’t they? You know what my findings told me, sir? … You are pretty much right. Not a lot of kids leave the state. An average of 17 out of the top 25 kids each year from Mississippi attend college there. That’s close to 70 percent. Obviously, more kids play in-state across the country, but for 70 percent of your best players not to leave for traditionally better programs around the country? Something’s up.

So then I looked harder and it hit me. I hate to say it, but grades could be an issue. A handful of Mississippi kids have had to go the junior college or prep school route over the years. It’s perfectly understandable that Meyer wouldn’t want to deal with iffy grade issues. Especially, with kids that far away who could easily be influenced to return to the state with a couple years to think about it.

In the end, I can only point to two things that would deter Florida’s coaches: grades and talent. Oh, if anyone from home reads this, I’m done for. In all seriousness, the state just doesn’t produce the type of players Florida wants. I don’t have these guys’ grades, so who knows what’s really happening on that end, but like I said, take chances with guys who will be closer to you if they have to attend a prep school. Speed and athleticism just aren’t there. If it was, Meyer and his staff would be traveling there, and they’re only doing that for ball games these days. That staff is obsessed with speed and it will look everywhere for it. Even Canada! They signed Stephen Alli! From Canada!

“I have not contacted very many guys out of Mississippi,” Gonzales said.

“We have our recruiting areas in a base that we want to be. Obviously, if there’s a great one in that area we’ll go in there and see if we can battle for them. Other than that, we haven’t been in that area.”

I figured I’d give myself a pat on the back. You’re only allowed so many in life. If you’ve checked out SI.com’s Stewart Mandel’s mailbag, which is probably the best around, you’ll notice that the killer Wii skills I mention in my bio have become national news. Well, sort of. I must admit, Stewart was a tough adversary. Check it out! The Champ is Here.

Now, on to the questions!

Can you describe the “typical” recruiting process and the vehicles that are most frequently used chronologically from discovery of a prospect to commitment — how does the school learn about a player? What part do camps play, videos, letters, calls, e-mails, visits, H.S. coaches, etc.?
— bill giauque

Finding a prospect can work in many different ways. Obviously, players who have a connection to a certain university or have family members that play or have played for a school are usually the easiest to find. Just look at former Gator running back Fred Taylor’s son. Kalvin Taylor is a freshman, and he’s already coming up in tons of conversations concerning a possible future with the Gators. For most prospects, word of mouth is good. High school coaches will sometimes contact college coaches. Or college coaches who have good relationships with high school coaches or have a “pipeline” with a certain school can always find prospects that way. Video is pretty key. Getting coaches to see you as much as possible never hurts — unless you’re not too good. Players can send video to any school they want, and with Rivals.com, Scout.com and YouTube, most anyone can get their stuff on the Web. Coaches love them some Internet.

Once coaches find prospects they’re interested in, they send out letters. The more interest, the more letters. E-mail works wonders because now that text messaging is a no-no, coaches can e-mail as much as they want. It’s actually a pretty slick loophole. Almost every coach in America has a PDA of some sort. iPhones and Blackberrys work wonders for recruiting. You can’t send a text message, but you can e-mail directly from your phone. Kids these days have the same phones, so they’re basically communicating back and forth as if they were text messaging.

Camps are huge. Players can rise and fall in the eyes of coaches and recruiting analysts with their performances at camps. A few years ago, quarterback Cameron Newton was barely even recognized until he took over at Friday Night Lights. Florida fell in love with him and shortly after, he became a five-star recruit. Gator running back commit Mack Brown barely camped this summer and some of the recruiting sites dropped his rating. They love watching kids compete at these things because they’re mostly camps with the best guys in the country. Florida kind of lost interest in Victor Hampton after he wasn’t too impressive at Friday Night Lights this year. He’s not a Gator today. Now, for school camps like the ones Florida runs before Friday Night Lights, it’s a chance for kids to come on unofficial visits and see the campus, talk with coaches and try to impress the coaching staff (if they need to).

During certain times of the year, coaches can call recruits. Other times, they can’t. It’s pretty complicated. Coaches can call a prospect once a week, but prospects can call whenever during the contact period, which ends just before Signing Day. Again, if you can send a quick e-mail and tell a prospect to call you, then you’re getting ahead of the game.

For visits, you have official and unofficial visits. You can have as many unofficials as you want. They are on your own dime and you’re not getting the royal treatment — well, you’re not supposed to. Officials are the real deal. You get five and you have to take one of the standardized tests (ACT or SAT) before you can schedule them. Lots of kids take them in-season to check out games. The universities pay for them, so prospects get wined and dined. They are more personal visits for players and coaches. Sometimes, the ones taken after the season are better because you can get more time with more kids.

Coaches can visit a prospect only once during a particular week during the contact period, no matter now many prospects are at the school.

1. Is Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin telling WR and RB recruits that UF’s offense doesn’t help them prepare for the NFL working on any prospects beyond Nu’Keese Richardson? 2. Do the Gators still have Gator Getters — or similar UF student recruiting support?
— CrackerCattle

To your first question, I can’t speak for Kiffin, I can only go by what recruits have told me. It’s a part of the selling process to kind of negatively recruit against another school, whether it be academics, playing time or playing schemes. Kiffin has said that the spread hurts college prospects, and with his more pro-style offense, it would come as no surprise for him to tell recruits that if they want to make it to the NFL, his offense is for them. I think the recent success of Percy Harvin, Andre Caldwell and Louis Murphy should help the Gators. Now, if they can just get a running back to produce like that.

Gator Getters? I’m not sure what they’re called anymore, but there are a group of students that I think are called the Cicerones that help show recruits around on campus. I have a couple of buddies who do it or have done it in the past. They’re always in uniform in the South End Zone with recruits during the game and they help direct them away from the media after games. I still get what I need, though.

After a very hot start in the recruiting process, Florida has cooled down a little and dropped in the rankings. Do you still see Florida making a run at the nation’s #1 class? Also, do you see any new commitments soon for the Gators?
— Brandon S.

It’s slow right now because high school and colleges are playing ball right now. More commitments usually come before and after the season. Nature of the beast. It’s not helping that a few schools have made a bit of a run in the last few months. Florida’s staff just has an agenda. They know who they want and they don’t want to settle this early. I respect that. Why take a guy who wants to commit but you’re not sure about him? Guys like Jeff Luc, Jordan Hicks, Chris Dunkley and Ronald Powell are priorities and the Gators have to wait until they’re ready. Florida can basically wait and turn some players down right now. That’s how well they’re doing. Sure, their ranking’s dropped, but it should pick up in the next few months. A few prospects (Luc, Dunkley and Hicks) who are planning to enroll early — or want to — will be making decisions soon, and I think Florida looks good for a couple of those guys I just mentioned. I still see this class being one of the best in the country when it’s all over and done.

I’m not sure if I see guys committing “soon.” The next month or so? Yes. It looks like Luc is looking at Tennessee and Florida. He’s an early enrollee, so his decsion could come soon. I’m staying with my early prediction that because of his relationship with defensive coordinator Charlie Strong, Luc will pick Florida. Dunkley is a guy who seems primed to be a Gator but is just playing the game. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he committed today or in three months. He’ll commit when he feels like it. One guy who could surprise some people is Powell. I know, I know. He’s supposed to wait until National Signing Day to announce. I still think he will, but he has said recently that he could be a spontaneous commitment. I’m leaning toward NSD, but if he starts to tire of recruiting, he could pull the trigger early. I like Florida’s chances, but Southern Cal is tough to beat for backyard talent.

With tweeting and texting these days is it possible to “over-recruit” some players during the process, it seems like it could be too much at some point? On the other hand, are there many players who pursue colleges they like and does that work?
— Florida Frankie

I think coaches can always over-recruit guys they really want, especially if they are committed somewhere else, but some of these guys love the attention. Gator commit Solomon Patton told me he’s tired of Tennessee coaches calling him. Dunkley seems to love the attention. Even Brown picks up his phone for other schools. Guys can get bothered by it, but sometimes if they’re not getting enough attention they freak out. Lamarcus Joyner said over the summer that Florida wasn’t contacting him enough and he was ready to drop them all together. Now, he’s interested in them again because more love is coming his way. Still, phone bills can get high for some of these kids and inboxes and mailboxes can start overflowing.

On the other side, I’m sure less-heralded guys can over-sell themselves to coaches. There was talk that some of the Gator coaches stopped answering James Louis’ calls after he tried to commit earlier this year. It’s bound to happen. Coaches can only try to stay in contact with so many players. But when you’re trying to get into a school to play, I think players start to get the hint and look elsewhere.

Can you discuss the importance of creating pipelines to schools like Deland, South Grove, etc.?
— Rom 8:31

Anytime you can find a school that has an abudance of talent each year, it’s always smart to develop some sort of positive rapport with that school and its coaching staff. Florida’s been successful with those two schools recently. Developing better pipelines in south Florida would be essential for the Gators. Miami’s got some strong ones down there, so it’s tough, but consistantly getting the best players out of central and northern Florida is always good.

Hey Ed, I heard that there were some Seminole commits that have begun to look elsewhere. Matter of fact, Gator Country is reporting that some of them are showing the Gators some interest. What’s up with that?
— paul spradling

What’s up is that FSU’s on-the-field struggles are Florida’s gain. It doesn’t hurt that controversy is surrounding the ‘Noles (NCAA violations and Bobby Bowden’s job). Who is going to be the coach at FSU next year? Recruits want to know. Kids looking at FSU are starting to question the program and some players already committed to the Seminoles are doing the same. FSU already lost offensive line commit Ed Christian to Auburn. Current commits Darius Cummings, Terrence Brooks and Tavaris Barnes have all turned into “soft” verbals for the Seminoles. Florida has made some recent contact with Brooks and could go after Cummings as well. Guys who were thought to be heavy leans to FSU, like linebacker Christian Jones, receiver Kenny Shaw and cornerback Terrence Mitchell all seem to be anything but locks at the moment. The more issues that arise in Tallahassee will definitely help the Gators in recruiting.

According to Rivals, of the 17 Gator commits thus far, one is a five-star (Matt Elam), 11 are four-stars and five are three-stars. Florida fell because of some questionable ratings for three of their former four-star prospects. Linebacker Gideon Ajagbe, receiver Solomon Patton and safety Jonathan Dowling were four-star players and now have dropped into the three-star range. None are in the Rivals250.

I’ll start by saying that ratings are sometimes overrated, but I by no means call myself an expert of talent, so I’m in no position to rate players myself. These Rivals guys get paid to break down everything about players and they should know more than I. With that said, I have to respectfully disagree with dropping both Patton and Dowling. Ajagbe is an athletic beast, but he could be a “tweener” on defense, so I can see why you would feel shaky about making him a four-star prospect. He might also be a coach’s dream because he could play both linebacker or safety.

But Patton is one of the fastest receivers I’ve seen. In a world where the spread is dominating college football, he’s the perfect slot guy. Through eight games this season, Patton has 46 catches for 563 yards and five touchdowns. He’s run the ball 17 times for 287 yards with an 86-yard score. I don’t know what the talent level is like in southern Alabama, but this kid can play. He’s not the biggest guy (he’s a very generous 5-foot-10), but he plays big and has good hands. Maybe it’s his route running. I don’t know.

Dowling … it’s hard for me to know what this is all about. ESPN has him ranked as the No. 7 player in the country and Scout.com ranks him the fifth-best safety. Rivals says he’s the 42nd-best athlete in the nation. I’m sorry, but after seeing him dominate on both offense and defense over the summer, he’s far from being No. 42 anything in the country. He’s primarily playing defense this year and has just seven catches for 126 yards, but four of those catches have been touchdowns. I couldn’t find any defensive stats for him, but I find it hard to believe his skill has suffered dramatically since July.

Here’s how the top-10 rankings look from Rivals, Scout and ESPN:

Rivals
1 Texas (19 commits)
2 Penn State (20)
3 LSU (22)
4 Oklahoma (24)
5 Alabama (21)
6 Tennessee (20)
7 Florida (17)
8 Georgia (18)
9 USC (14)
10 Texas A&M (20)

Scout
1. Oklahoma (24)
2. Penn State (20)
3. Texas (19)
4. Alabama (21)
5. LSU (22)
6. Georgia (18)
7. Tennessee (20)
8. Florida (17)
9. Oklahoma State (23)
10. Texas A&M (20)

ESPN
1. Florida (17)
2. Texas (19)
3. Georgia (18)
4. Alabama (21)
5. Tennessee (20)
6. LSU (22)
7. Penn State (20)
8. Oklahoma (24)
9. USC (14)
10. Ohio State (13)

“I still like the stuff they’re doing now,” Patton said. “They’re still getting the fast people the ball. I know when we get down there and they get some more receivers, they’ll start spreading the ball around like they used to.”

The Mobile, Ala., Murphy receiver said he’s heard what everyone is saying about the passing game and thought that the way the Gators moved the ball against LSU was the smart way to play, considering quarterback Tim Tebow’s condition.

“I noticed that coach (Urban) Meyer had the game under control the whole game,” he said. “I could tell they were playing hard, but they weren’t releasing the beast out of them.”

Wow, a high school recruit is less worried about the offense at his future school than fans. What a world that we live in.

Patton, who plans to enroll early at UF, figures to be a slot guy in Florida’s offense. He had 845 yards and 12 touchdowns passing as a junior, and despite having to play with a long snapper at quarterback after the first two QBs went down with serious injuries, he’s already caught 39 passes for 502 yards and has five touchdowns this season. He’s also rushed the ball seven times for 171 yards, including an 86-yard touchdown.

Patton said he hasn’t looked at any other schools since committing to the Gators. Coaches at Memphis came by to talk to him, but Patton said they were “very respectful” of his commitment to Florida and backed off. How about that other school from the same state? Well, Tennessee has still been calling him up. Patton’s solution? Not answering. UT assistant Lance Thomas called him recently and Patton said he just let his phone ring. He’s just not feeling the Vols and he’s all Gator.

“I wouldn’t say I hate (Tennessee), but I feel like Florida is where I want to be, 100 percent,” he said. “I don’t see myself anywhere else but Florida. I feel like I have a real big opportunity to help early, especially with me coming in in December. That’s where I want to be.

“They need help at wide receiver and they’re winning championships and they’ve got the best coach in America. I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to go to Florida.”