For some high school football players, a college team losing its recruiting coordinator can change their mind on what school they wish to attend after graduation. Florida Gators fans know this well, especially considering the recent news about the departure of wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales has been met with some interesting reactions from recruits across the country. However, it seems like the West Virginia Mountaineers losing associate head coach and top recruiter Doc Holliday to the Marshall Thundering Herd may have done a lot to help the Gators land three-star DB/WR/KR Robert Clark (West Palm Beach, FL) from Dwyer High School. Clark, who committed to head coach Urban Meyer on Wednesday while the coach was visiting Dwyer’s practice, had previously been committed to the Mountaineers and was also considering the Tennessee Volunteers.

“[Holliday] was my recruiting coordinator,” Clark told the Palm Beach Post. “We were really close. It changed my decision a lot.” Also affecting Clark’s decision was his official visit to Gainesville, FL, last weekend and the commitment status of his teammates five-star safety Matt Elam and four-star tight end Gerald Christian. “[Meyer] asked me how much I love Florida,” Clark said. “I told him I’m going to end up committing. I love Florida. Gerald and Matt are there and I already know them.”

OGGOA reported Tuesday that Clark seemed to be all Orange and Blue when he donned a No. 4 Gators jersey in the team’s locker room this past weekend. He plans to enroll at the University of Florida in January for the spring semester, along with Elam and Christian, in order to get a leg up on 2010. Clark is expected to officially announce his commitment to Florida before the Class 4A championship game on Saturday.

Tags: Billy Gonzales, Doc Holliday, Dwyer, Gerald Christian, Marshall Thundering Herd, Matt Elam, Robert Clark, Tennessee Volunteers, University of Florida, Urban Meyer, West Virginia Mountaineers

1 » According to Florida Gators strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti, the team’s liaison with the NFL, 8-10 juniors have submitted their paperwork for evaluation by the league’s Draft Advisory Board. One can assume those names include cornerback Joe Haden, defensive end Carlos Dunlap, tight end Aaron Hernandez, center Maurkice Pouncey and guard Mike Pouncey. Others who may have submitted their information include safeties Ahmad Black and Major Wright, defensive tackle Lawrence Marsh and offensive linemen Carl Johnson and Marcus Gilbert.

2 » Five-star offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson (St. Paul, MN), considered by many recruiting services to be the No. 1 overall recruit in the country, will be taking his official visit Gainesville, FL, this weekend. Henderson is also seriously considering the USC Trojans, Ohio State Buckeyes and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

3 » Florida quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler, who has only been on the job one year in Gainesville, is considered a top candidate for the Central Michigan Chippewas and Buffalo Bulls head coaching jobs vacated by Butch Jones and Turner Gill, respectively. Some believe a year with next season’s starting quarterback John Brantley could earn Loeffler a much better gig just 12 months from now.

4 » Another name being thrown around the CMU job is brand new Gators wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni, who joined the program one week ago after the departure of Billy Gonzales to the LSU Tigers. Suffice to say that Florida head coach Urban Meyer would be none to pleased to be forced to replace a second WR coach in a matter of days.

5 » Former Gators QB and current Jacksonville Dolphins head coach Kerwin Bell met with Louisville Cardinals head coach Charlie Strong on Wednesday about the Cardinals’ vacant offensive coordinator position. Though working with Strong could be considered a promotion of sorts, Bell may prefer being his own boss at Jacksonville. “Kerwin really likes running his own program and calling the shots,” his athletic director Alan Verlander told The Florida Times-Union. “Unless they throw a lot of money at him, I’m about 95 percent certain that he will be at JU next year.”

6 » ESPN analyst Mel Kiper’s latest NFL Draft Big Board has been published and little has changed for Florida’s players. Dunlap crept up one spot from his season-low of No. 17 to No. 16, with Kiper saying his “physical tools are off the charts” and that he “has unlimited upside.” Also on the list are Haden, a “polished cover corner with tackling ability to match,” who held strong at No. 7, and Hernandez, who also popped up a spot to No. 18.. Kiper says Hernandez has “great hands and excellent run-after-catch skills for a TE.” Noticeably absent from the board for a third-straight week is senior middle linebacker Brandon Spikes, who last appeared at No. 25 on Nov. 18.

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Ahmad Black, Alan Verlander, Big Board, Billy Gonzales, Brandon Spikes, Buffalo Bulls, Butch Jones, Carl Johnson, Carlos Dunlap, Central Michigan Chippewas, Charlie Strong, Draft, Draft Advisory Board, Jacksonville Dolphins, Joe Haden, John Brantley, Kerwin Bell, Lawrence Marsh, Louisville Cardinals, Major Wright, Marcus Gilbert, Maurkice Pouncey, Mel Kiper, Mickey Marotti, Mike Pouncey, NFL, Scot Loeffler, Seantrel Henderson, Turner Gill, Urban Meyer, Zach Azzanni

OGGOA UPDATE: Leon Orr clears up story behind troubling pictures
OGGOA UPDATE II: Lynden Trail also speaks on MySpace pictures

As if the Florida Gators needed any more distractions or additional bad press, two pictures in particular are making their way around the Internet allegedly featuring UF four-star commitments defensive tackle Leon Orr (New Port Richey, FL) and defensive end Lynden Trail (Miami, FL) in compromising positions. In the first picture, Orr is wielding a gun and some cash; the second pieced-together photo shows both players seemingly flashing gang signs. Deadspin picked up the story and pictures from 13psi, a site that seems to be on somewhat of a Gators witch hunt (at least with its last three postings).

Nevertheless, these pictures raise legitimate concerns not only about the players who are recruited by and committing to the Gators, but also the lack of due diligence being done by the recruiting staff. It is not difficult to gain access to and view MySpace and facebook pictures, so why have Florida’s recruiters and coaches not seen these already and in the very least instructed the recruits to remove them in the first place?

» The St. Petersburg Times reported Wednesday that Orr is trying to graduate early in order to join other Gators 2010 commitments on campus for spring practice. Even if he is not granted early admission by the NCAA Clearinghouse, Orr will wait to attend Florida next fall. “I know for sure I’m going to UF,” Orr said. “If I don’t go there in January, I’ll wait.”

Tags: Clearinghouse, Leon Orr, Lynden Trail, NCAA

Sports Illustrated came out with a number of college basketball All-Decade lists on Wednesday, and Florida Gators players earned their way toward a few notable distinctions. On the main list, where SI went over the “highlights and lowlights of the decade,” Florida’s “Oh-Fours” were named the 2000s’ best recruiting class. An obvious choice.

“When Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green all signed with Florida, nobody heralded this quartet as the Fab anything,” Seth Davis writes. “Yet, by the end of their junior year, they had led the Gators to back-to-back national championships. All except Green had the opportunity to be first-round draft picks as sophomores, but they came back for the chance to make history — and that’s exactly what they did. They were known as the Oh-Fours.”

Noah’s name was also mentioned on two other SI lists, as a reserve forward for SI’s All-Decade Team and at No. 1 in the “10 signature college basketball moments of the decade.” Of Noah’s entry on the All-Decade Team, Grant Wahl writes, “The most memorable team acts of the decade were Illinois in 2004-05 and Florida in 2005-07, and their all-time chemistry explains why so few of their individuals are making this All-Decade list. But if you’re going to pick one guy from these teams, you have to pick Noah, who could do so many things on the court and took over the 2006 NCAA final.”

As for the second distinction, SI recounts Noah’s now-famous dancing celebration after winning the 2006 SEC Championship. “Noah’s spastic, post-SEC tournament celebration on Selection Sunday did not go down in the annals of dance, but it did capture the essence of the star of Florida’s dynasty. Noah, the son of a French tennis and pop star, was brash and widely reviled by opposing fans — yet he was an unselfish player who admirably passed on the NBA draft as a sophomore, and backed up his antics by winning back-to-back national titles. After a shocked Verne Lundquist ceded the CBS stage by saying, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Joakim Noah,’ Bill Raftery asked Noah a question about seeding. The Gators, who’d slipped a bit down the stretch in ’06-07, were likely to enter their title defense as a No. 2 seed. Noah’s response? ‘Who cares! At the end of the day, it’s yours against mine — we’ll see who gets it!’ For two straight NCAA tournaments, the Gators got it.” They sure did.

Tags: Al Horford, All-Decade, Corey Brewer, Joakim Noah, Oh-Fours, SEC Championship, Taurean Green

OGGOA reported Tuesday evening that Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer was absent from his team’s first practice since its 2009 SEC Championship loss because he was in California on a recruiting trip likely visiting four-star cornerback commit Joshua Shaw (Palmdale, CA) and recruits five-star defensive end Ronald Powell (Moreno Valley, CA) and four-star wide receiver Kenny Stills (Carlsbad, CA).

Though the other team Powell is considering is the local USC Trojans, he has been leaning toward the Gators for some time according to recruiting analysts and has even gone out of his way to take numerous unofficial visits to Gainesville, FL, on his family’s own dime. Sports Illustrated recruiting reporter Kristian Dyer believes Powell is “most likely a silent verbal to Florida, as players have noted that he lobbied hard for them to join him in Gainesville when he took his official visit in September.”

When Shaw committed to the Gators exactly a month ago, he told reporters to expect others from his home state to join him across the country. “I’ll say this, there’s definitley more to come for the 2010 class,” Shaw said at the time. He also mentioned that he and Powell have made plans to attend the same school and room together as freshmen. Powell is considered to be the No. 1 available recruit on Florida’s board with four-star WR Chris Dunkley (Pahokee, FL) a close second.

UPDATE: Scouts, Inc. is reporting that Powell is indeed ready to make his college commitment official. He apparently tried to set up an announcement that would air on the ESPNU Recruiting Insider show this week but requested the time in too short of notice for the producers to make it to happen. OGGOA will keep you updated on Powell’s announcement as information regarding its occurrence is made available.

Tags: Chris Dunkley, Joshua Shaw, Kenny Stills, Ronald Powell, SEC Championship, Urban Meyer, USC Trojans

Three-star cornerback recruit Robert Clark, who had been committed to the West Virginia Mountaineers since July, recently opened up his recruitment and named the Florida Gators the second of his final two schools. Teammates at Dwyer High School with Florida commits five-star safety Matt Elam and four-star tight end Gerald Christian, Clark had the press put on him to join the Gators’ 2010 recruiting class when he visited Gainesville, FL, with Elam and Christian last weekend. Christian has been a solid commit for a while, and Elam all but signed on the dotted line over the weekend by donning a blue No. 22 Florida jersey and declaring his recruitment over. OGGOA has now uncovered a similar picture of Clark presumably from last weekend, also in the Gators locker room wearing his high school No. 4 on a blue Florida jersey. Clark plans to enroll at the university of his choosing in January for the spring semester in order to get a leg up on next season. As OGGOA reported early Monday, he has decided to officially announce his commitment decision before the Class 4A championship game on Saturday.

Tags: Dwyer, Gerald Christian, Matt Elam, Robert Clark, West Virginia Mountaineers

1 » Four-star offensive tackle Morgan Moses (Fork Union, VA) has narrowed his college choices down to the Florida Gators and Virginia Cavaliers, according to JC Shurburtt of ESPN. A prep school standout, Moses has been committed to Virginia for some time but decided to open up his recruitment after head coach Al Groh was fired. He visited Gainesville, FL, this past weekend and came away impressed with what the experience. Moses will announce his decision within the next week and could be a monster get for the Gators.

2 » Solomon Patton, a three-star wide receiver commit from Mobile, AL, speaks with The Birmingham News about his commitment to Florida and his plan to enroll early for the spring semester in January.

Extra Bit » Former five-star Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive end commit Chris Martin has given his pledge to the California Golden Bears. Though Martin’s choice was thought to be between the Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners, his decision to commit to Cal came after a recent visit and some encouragement by his parents.

Tags: Al Groh, California Golden Bears, Chris Martin, Morgan Moses, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oklahoma Sooners, Solomon Patton, Virginia Cavaliers

Speaking with Jeremy Fowler of The Orlando Sentinel on Monday, Florida Gators cornerbacks coach Vance Bedford said he was staying put in Gainesville, FL, and concentrating on recruiting the incoming 2010 class. “I’m a Gator,” Bedford said when asked if new Louisville Cardinals head coach Charlie Strong had contacted him to be a member of his new staff. “I’m trying to do everything I can to recruit well. I’m trying to get to Dade County.”

Bedford, a former defensive coordinator with the Oklahoma State Cowboys from 2005-06 and defensive backs coach with the Chicago Bears from 1999-2004, said he has neither been contacted by Strong nor any other coach about a promotion and has only been working on recruiting over the past two weeks. When asked if he was under consideration to replace Strong at Florida, Bedford said he “could be talking about [the job] in the near future” with head coach Urban Meyer, though he admitted the Gators’ No. 1 priority right now is recruiting.

Tags: Charlie Strong, Chicago Bears, Louisville Cardinals, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Urban Meyer, Vance Bedford