Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- There are just a couple of short weeks remaining until national signing day, and the Florida Gators have met a majority of their recruiting needs. With graduation, transfers and players leaving for the NFL draft, there are a few areas Florida head coach Will Muschamp would still like to shore up.

Key holes to fill

The Gators lost key personnel along the offensive line, wide receiver, linebacker, running back and secondary and are hoping to replenish their talent with junior college transfers and incoming freshmen.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It’s time to dip into the GatorNation recruiting mailbag and answer your questions. Because of the amount of questions we’ve received, we won’t be able to get to all of them today -- but we encourage you to post your questions on our Insider fan forum, The Chompions Club.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Gators hosted the No. 1-ranked player in the country, Robert Nkemdiche (Loganville, Ga./Grayson), and his father this past weekend.

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A pair of ESPN 300 teammates from Tallahassee will be on The Plains this weekend to visit Auburn.

And both will be making this their first official visit.

Lincoln High School standouts James Hearns, linebacker, and Taj Williams, wide receiver, are currently en route for an impromptu visit.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Will Muschamp’s search for a new defensive coordinator didn’t last very long.

Just two hours after Dan Quinn was named the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, Muschamp promoted D.J. Durkin to replace Quinn.

Durkin has been UF’s linebackers coach and special-teams coordinator for the past three seasons. He joined UF’s staff in 2010 under former coach Urban Meyer and was one of three assistant coaches Muschamp retained for his inaugural staff.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The rich get richer. At least that's how it appears for Florida.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- There were some big changes for Florida commits in the final edition of the ESPN 300. The Gators landed 15 players on the list, including 10 in the ESPN 150. With their success on the recruiting front, the Gators moved back into first place in the ESPN class rankings.

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Editor’s note: Every Tuesday and Thursday through Jan. 31, 2013, GatorNation will break down each position. We’ll look at 2013, of course, but also try and give you a peek beyond next season, too. Today is inside linebacker. We will profile cornerbacks on Jan. 1.

INSIDE LINEBACKER

Two-deep: Senior Jon Bostic is the starter and he is backed up by redshirt sophomore Michael Taylor. Bostic has started 25 consecutive games and is third on the team with 62 tackles. He also has 3.0 sacks, two interceptions, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Taylor has 29 tackles and 1.0 sack.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida Gators will be well represented in this year's all-star games. Thirteen of Florida's 25 verbal commits have been selected to play in postseason games. Here is a closer look at what to look for over the holiday break.

WHAT: Under Armour All-America Game
WHERE: St. Petersburg, Fla.
WHEN: Jan. 4, at 5 p.m. ET

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida continued its recruiting hot streak on Saturday, as three-star outside linebacker Jarrad Davis (Kingsland, Ga/Camden Co.) switched his verbal commitment from Auburn to Florida. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound athlete had been committed to Auburn for 10 months prior to the switch.


Davis informed Camden County head coach Jeff Herron this afternoon of his decision to switch to Florida.

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ORLANDO, Fla. -- With Florida coaches on hand to watch, Gators linebacker commit James Hearns (Tallahassee, Fla./Lincoln) did the Gator chomp as he was introduced before the FHSAA class 7A state championship game on Friday evening. Despite the gesture, Hearns said after the game he still plans to visit Ohio State on Jan. 11.

Hearns, who totaled five tackles in the 41-25 loss to Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas, said he was impressed that Florida sent coaches to watch him play.

"It felt good that they get a chance to come out to see me," Hearns said. "Especially being in bowl week. They actually moved up their bowl practice today just so they could get on the road and get here on time."

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- This will be a big weekend for Florida recruiting. Not just because Florida is bringing in some key recruits for official visits, but also because the Gators have a few current commits and key targets who are playing for state championships in Orlando.

New wide receiver commit Demarcus Robinson (Fort Valley, Ga./Peach Co.), a four-star prospect, will take his official visit to Florida this weekend. Robinson flipped his commitment from Clemson to Florida on Wednesday, the same day Gators head coach Will Muschamp and assistants Brian White and Joker Phillips made an in-home visit.

With Robinson now in the fold, the headliner of the weekend might be Alex Collins (Plantation, Fla./South Plantation), a former Miami commitment who is officially visiting. The Gators have two four-star running back commitments in Kelvin Taylor (Belle Glades, Fla./Glades Day) and Adam Lane (Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven), but Collins is too talented not to recruit.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Just one day removed from landing three verbal commitments, the Florida Gators lost a linebacker commit on Monday night. ESPN 150 linebacker Quinton Powell (Daytona Beach, Fla./Mainland) has reopened his recruitment after officially visiting Florida this past weekend.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound linebacker is still considering USC, Miami (Fla) and Oregon. He is planning to take official visits to all three schools.

Powell announced his decision via his Facebook status update: "Yes I Decommited from Florida, nothing against the program just needed to re-evaluate my choices."

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida Gators had a very memorable recruiting weekend. Florida hosted several visitors for their annual football awards banquet. The visitor list was comprised of mostly committed players and several 2014 recruits. But wasn't the visitors that stole the headlines on Sunday.

The biggest news of the weekend came from three prospects that weren't even on campus. Massive 6-foot-8, 340-pound offensive tackle Trenton Brown (Albany, Ga./Georgia Military College), former South Carolina linebacker commit Matt Rolin (Ashburn, Va./Briar Woods) and four-star offensive tackle Rod Johnson (Delray Beach, Fla./American Heritage) gave their pledges to Florida on Sunday.

Brown committed to Florida over Oklahoma and Florida State, Rolin switched his pledge from South Carolina to the Gators and Johnson recommitted to Florida after an in-home visit from Florida offensive line coach Tim Davis.

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