Bullard picks Florida at Army All-American Bowl

By Adam Silverstein
January 7, 2012

Fourteen high school football players announced their college commitments during the 2012 U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX, an all-star game filled with some of the most prominent players in the country. Five-star offensive tackle D.J. Humphries (Charlotte, NC), four-star tight end Kent Taylor (Land O’Lakes, FL) and four-star defensive tackle Dante Phillips (Venice, FL) were the Florida Gators commitments participating at the start of the game, but the team acquired one more as five-star defensive end Jonathan Bullard (Shelby, NC) announced during the fourth quarter that he will be wearing orange and blue in 2012.

With a final three of Florida, Clemson and South Carolina, Bullard told Rivals.com last week that he had his decision made days ago but wanted to hold off until the bowl. He chose the school that makes him feel the most comfortable.

“It’s just where I feel home,” he said on Jan. 1. “Where I feel like I’ll have great coaching, which all three have great coaching. It’s where I fit in mostly. It was more than football at the end of the process or whatever. I feel like I picked the right school for me.”

Bullard explained at the time that head coach Will Muschamp, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and defensive line coach Bryant Young have all been spending plenty of time building relationships with him since they joined the staff.

“When Coach Muschamp first got the job he called me, maybe the next day, and he’s been recruiting me very hard himself,” Bullard said. “When the head coach recruits you real hard that’s gotta be a factor to you. They’ve also got Coach Young and Coach Quinn with NFL experience. Coach Young played in the NFL for a long time.”

Listed as the No. 20 player in the nation and third-best at his position by Rivals, Bullard is the Gators’ second highest ranked commitment this cycle behind Humphries (No. 3 overall). He had 13 sacks in 10 games as a senior this fall at Crest High School, where he was teammates with three-star safety Rhaheim Ledbetter (Boiling Springs, NC), who committed to Florida on July 15.

Bullard is considered a four-star prospect and the No. 83 player in the nation by ESPNU, which ranks Humphies as a five-star (No. 8). ESPNU also has Phillips (No. 112), Taylor (No. 147) and Ledbetter designated as four-star players.

Photo Credit: U.S. Army All-American Bowl

33 Comments

  1. John S says:

    Welcome to Gator Nation Bullard. Watching the AA game, he could help immediately on the edge. Huge get, good job Muschamp and company.

  2. Marc Mac says:

    HUGE!!! He looked great in the game. So did Humphries and Taylor. I am excited that the former is and EE and I hope the latter sticks with us.

  3. Tony says:

    Awesome…now we need Jenkins on Monday and defense should be as nasty as it’s ever been! Josh Harvey Clemmons and Howard come on down also!

  4. CeeThree says:

    big time.

  5. Eli says:

    He’s a PTPer baby!!

  6. ncgator says:

    I hope all these lineman and safeties can catch and run because with the exception of Matt Jones I don’t see any skill players on the board. I understand you have to build a foundation, but the who the hell is going to put points on the board. Additionally, what’s Muschamp waiting for regarding an OC. Its January 7th already. Hard for the skill guys to commit when they don’t know who their coach is. Jesus, has anyone told him NSD is 2/1?

    • g8ter27 says:

      We have Gillislee and Brown with Jones at running back and a group of receivers that were high recruits last year that never saw the field this year. Plus Diggs and Agahlor are going to come to UF as long as WM doesn’t completely screw up the OC hire. I hope whoever it is will work with our young qbs unlike Weiss.

  7. Tony says:

    Geesh…enjoy it for a moment will ya? Without taking care of the both sides of the line of scrimmage it won’t matter what kind of skill players we get. Urban left us high and dry on the line of scrimmage. Otherwise you would have to wish the skill players could block and pass. Besides we have some depth on skill players(unlike both sides of the line)…we just need a real OC to who knows how to develop and coach them up and put together a game plan that gives us a chance. Awesome get coach Boom! Keep the foot on the peddle!

    • ncgator says:

      If you read my post, I said I understand you have to build a foundation. As much as Urban has turned out to be such a prick about this whole situation, he didn’t really leave us high and dry with regards to the offensive line. What he did was leave us with a bunch of guys that weren’t recruited for a pro-set . They were recruited for the spread and it makes a huge difference. As for depth at the skill positions, where’s it been? As far as backs go, Gillislee and Brown are mediocre at best. Dunbar and Hammond get manhandled against SEC defenses. That leaves us with Burton, Leonard, Reed and Hines. All four of which are TE’s. Dubose is the only deep threat receiver on the whole team and who knows when he’s healthy or if he’s in the mood to play. So……….I’ll say it again, where in the hell is our OC and what kind of impact will he have on the skill players still left on the board this late in the game.

  8. jay d says:

    glad to see us winning some recruiting battles….this kid wants more than football…he wants to be a rockstar……well welcome to our stadium where you will get to perform every sat of fall semester….work hard and you will become everything you had hoped….screw around with people who srew around on the football team and you will never amount to anything…no matter how many stars they give you……make the most of your opportunity!!

  9. Gatorbuck says:

    Always amazes me how some people can search for negatives in even the most positive stories. An awesome addition to an already strong class. And certainly could be more to come. Enjoy the good news!!
    BTW, not a disaster if no more RB’s this year. They say next year’s RB class is loaded!

    • scooterp says:

      Second that. Shaping up to be a really good class. Both lines will be significantly upgraded, though it probably won’t translate on the field till 2013. There are atleat 8 more big prospects that are strongly considering UF – getting half of them is very realistic. Trying to speed up the hiring for an OC just to satisfy recruits is a dumb strategy. Just get the right guy. If Muschamp hasn’t made up his mind on someone, then I don’t want him making a hasty decision. You put the right OC in place – we’ll move the ball in score points, regardless of who signs on 2/1…………….. and I don’t understand why Meyer still gets dragged in as the reason for our crappy season. He wasn’t on the sideline last year and you could make an arguement he wasn’t in 2010 either. If anything alot of the Gator fans are being pricks about him leaving.

  10. Gatorgrad79 says:

    Fast, nose for the ball, likes to hit people…yeah, baby!

  11. aziatic41 says:

    Great pick-up by Muschamp. Defense and line-of-scrimmage play wins championships, especially in the SEC. The last player we signed from Crest High School turned out to be a national champion and current NFL starter, and he goes by the name of BRANDON SPIKES. So hopefully this kid will be a program changing player like Spikes. We need a few more explosive offensive players now. If we can land either Agholor of Diggs that would put the icing on the cake for an already strong class. I really think Agholor or Diggs would be a day 1 starter for us, and provide a boost for our anemic offense. But on another note, man I am so happy the Brantley era is over. Cheers to the new year!!

  12. Garorboy says:

    Ncgator…. We still have two elite wrs on the board with algothor and diggs. Have you seen the 2013 rb class? We will get whoever we want. Be patient and great things will happen.

    • ncgator says:

      Trying to be patient. To be honest, I’m concerned Muschamp’s over his head. His decision to stay with Brantley thru the entire season was ridiculous. I know Weiss was the OC, but at the end of the day the head coach approves the game plan…..and the game plans stunk! He never once made half-time changes this year that made a difference. He waisted an entire season on Brantley when he had two of the highest rated QB recruits in the country sitting on their asses. He also let Weiss cozy up to Brissett and alienate Driskel. What was that all about? When we go 6-6 next year all these sunshine blowers above will be bitching and wondering why we can’t score points. And it’ll because we pissed away 2011 on Brantley and we didn’t recruit anybody at the skill positions. Also glad to see Muschamp pulling in all those recruits from Texas. By the time he gets to the 2013 rb’s he may be looking for a job.

      • scooterp says:

        Did u watch any of the games this season!?!?! Brantley was the difference between 7-6 and a losing season. I’m as happy as anyone that that era is now over, but if he didn’t go down against Bama we could have very easily went 9-3. Both Frosh QBs saw plenty of action this year, which hopefully will mean an easier transition into next year. Playing JB gave us the best opportunity to win, period. If you would have rather gone 4-8 then move to Nashville and watch Vandy play. We don’t take losing seasons very well around here.

        • ncgator says:

          You need to take your 3-d glasses off and really watch a game. We ended up 7-6 because of the defense….not because of Brantley and the offense. That was the same crappy game plan we ran all season with the same results. Take away the two defensive scores and we probably end up 6-7. And yea, I would rather have gone
          4-8 knowing that Brissett and Driskel are game ready in 2012 than starting from scratch. You have no conception or understanding of how much playing Brantley this year put us behind the eight ball for next year. You are so typical of the no-nothing fan who wants immediate gratification at the expense of the long-term benefits. I’m sure you’re also one of the many clueless fans screaming to get Kerwin Bell as the new OC.

  13. Gatorbuck says:

    Thinkin Ncgator’s a troll. Either that, or one miserable pessimistic dude.

  14. Daniel M. says:

    Ncgator = troll

    Dump him Adam

  15. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. If you don’t like it, ignore him. He’s not breaking any rules. Some people are more pessimistic or see things differently – and that’s OK.

    • Daniel M. says:

      Watch this one fester. This cane troll will pollute your blog until you finally say “enough.”

      • He’s been posting here for a long time. I’ll keep my eye on it though just in case.

        • ncgator says:

          Keep a close eye Adam. Weed me out and you have a website for clones who have no original thought and can’t wait to agree with each other. When one disagrees or voices an opinion contrary to the masses they become a “troll” (whatever thats suppose to mean) or a cane or seminole in disguise dumping on the gator parade. When pessimism or criticism of a player or the staff is the theme of the day, you can bet all of the above posters are lining up to voice the same rants. As a journalist, you’re suppose to advocate and support debate, not sending subliminal threats that your, “keeping an eye out”.

          • Don’t start getting on my nerves now. I just wrote this:

            “Everyone is entitled to their opinions. If you don’t like it, ignore him. He’s not breaking any rules. Some people are more pessimistic or see things differently – and that’s OK.”

            So don’t get going with me. I advocate discussion and debate and have since this site started. I wasn’t sending a “subliminal threat” to anyone…just saying that I’ll pay closer attention, that’s all. I’m the one who said you were doing nothing wrong. Don’t get on MY bad side with comments like that.

  16. Gatorbuck says:

    Adam, think you do a great job handling the difficult task of being a moderator. Truly appreciate all of your hard work and really look forward to your articles.
    Think what gets me (and possibly many others) is why someone would read such a great, positive article and immediately decide that was the right time to vent. And the rants just got worse with each post, and less related to the original article. Maybe he’s not a troll, but do feel bad for someone who is so pessimistic and seems to have so much anger.

  17. collegeballdude says:

    reference ncgator: who cares! let him speak his mind as adam says. even a broken clock is right twice a day…..only time will tell and its fun to have a pessimist blog on the site. it’s what sports are all about as long as opinions are expressed with respect. GO GATORS!

  18. Bullard to Juco says:

    Sucks he cannot qualify at Florida and has to go to Juco!

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