1 » Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp told the media on Monday that four-star safety Marcell Harris (Orlando, FL) and JUCO transfer offensive tackle Trenton Brown (Milledgeville, GA) have both enrolled in Summer A classes and therefore officially joined the football program. Both players were originally planning to enroll early in January but were not able to amass the necessary credits in time. Harris, the No. 67 overall 2013 prospect according to Rivals and the son of former Florida S Mike Harris (1994-97), will compete for playing time right away as the Gators look to replace two starters in the defensive backfield. Brown will have some work to do to prove he is deserving of immediate playing time but is expected to play as a reserve this season.

2 » If he wants to, quarterback Tim Tebow will be able to play football in 2013. Whether that is in the NFL is another topic altogether. Tebow, who has already received offers from the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes (to compete for a back-up job) and the AFL’s Orlando Predators (to compete for a starting job), has also been reached out to by the AFL’s Philadelphia Soul. Team co-owner Ron Jaworski, a former NFL quarterback who now works primarily as an NFL analyst for ESPN, told the Philadelphia Daily News that he has offered Tebow a roster spot. “I still haven’t heard back from him and I’m not going to push it,” he said. “If he decides he wants to play Arena Football, we’ll make a spot for him.” Jaworski added that the role would not be as a starting quarterback; rather, he and the Soul’s coach sent Tebow a list of plays he would run for the team should he accept the contract offer.

Check out two more Florida Gators news BITS…after the break!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Harris, Brown, Tebow, Bostic, Noah

Tags: AFL, CFL, Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Joakim Noah, Jon Bostic, Marcell Harris, Montreal Alouettes, NBA, Orlando Predators, Philadelphia Soul, Playoffs, Tim Tebow, Trenton Brown, Will Muschamp

Below is the 2013 post-spring practice version of the Florida Gators depth chart. Though some fans will be excited to see where the team stacks up below, head coach Will Muschamp cautions each year that feeling that way is not worth the energy.

Muschamp makes it quite clear that he does not put a lot of stock into depth charts, even those that are published after spring practice is over. In fact, back in 2011 and again on Wednesday, he stated it is “not worth the paper it is printed on.” In other words, the depth chart seen here is just a starting-off point for 2013 and plenty can change between now and the start of the season.

Nevertheless, below is the depth chart as it was presented on April 24. Notations marked with (») denote changes from the pre-spring depth chart released March 12. Players marked with (*) were out for all or most of spring practice.

OGGOA will update this post with more from Muschamp shortly.

OFFENSE

QB: 6 Jeff Driskel, 10 Tyler Murphy
» Murphy inches ahead of 17 Skyler Mornhinweg for the No. 2 job.
RB: 24 Matt Jones, 33 Mack Brown
» Brown understandably inches ahead of freshman 21 Kelvin Taylor.~
FB: 43 Hunter Joyer, 25 Gideon Ajagbe
» Ajagbe wins the second-string job over 29 Rhaheim Ledbetter.
WR (X): 1 Quinton Dunbar, 11 Demarcus Robinson
WR (Z): 13 Latroy Pittman, 4 Andre Debose, 83 Solomon Patton
» Debose switches from second X to second Z receiver though the players switch in those positions. Pittman takes over the top spot at Z from 15 Loucheiz Purifoy.
F Position: 8 Trey Burton, 13 Latroy Pittman
TE: 88 Clay Burton, 87 Tevin Westbrook OR 18 Kent Taylor OR 84 Colin Thompson

~ Muschamp on Brown edging past Taylor: “You’re not going to get through the SEC with one back. That’s not going to happen. Certainly Mack has distanced himself as a second-team back at this time, a guy that we’ve got a lot of confidence in, that we expect big things form in the fall to continue to progress. I think he’s done a nice job of running the football, and protections, catching the ball, finishing plays. Kelvin certainly has done some nice things and he needs to continue to progress – more than anything- mentally with the offense. Physically, he’s got some ability.”

LT: 70 D.J. Humphries, 74 Trenton Brown
LG: 76 Max Garcia, 77 Ian Silberman*
C: 72 Jonotthan Harrison, 64 Kyle Koehne
RG: 67 Jon Halapio, 63 Trip Thurman*
RT: 73 Tyler Moore OR 75 Chaz Green*
» Brown (an incoming JUCO transfer) replaces Thurman, who moves from back-up LT to back-up RG. Silberman replaces Koehne at back-up LG.

Continue Reading » Florida Gators 2013 post-spring depth chart

Tags: Andre Debose, Antonio Morrison, Austin Hardin, Brad Phillips, Brian Poole, Bryan Cox, Chaz Green, Clay Burton, Cody Riggs, Colin Thompson, D.J. Humphries, Damien Jacobs, Dante Fowler, Darious Cummings, Darrin Kitchens, Demarcus Robinson, Dominique Easley, Drew Ferris, Gideon Ajagbe, Hunter Joyer, Ian Silberman, Jabari Gorman, Jaylen Watkins, Jeff Driskel, Jon Halapio, Jonathan Bullard, Jonotthan Harrison, Justin Vogel, Kelvin Taylor, Kent Taylor, Kyle Christy, Kyle Crofoot, Kyle Koehne, Latroy Pittman, Leon Orr, Loucheiz Purifoy, Mack Brown, Marcus Maye, Marcus Roberson, Matt Jones, Max Garcia, Michael Taylor, Neiron Ball, Quinton Dunbar, Rhaheim Ledbetter, Ronald Powell, Skyler Mornhinweg, Solomon Patton, Tevin Westbrook, Trenton Brown, Trey Burton, Trip Thurman, Tyler Moore, Tyler Murphy, Valdez Showers

P Johnny Townsend: commit No. 30 | OL/TE Trevon Young: commit No. 29 | JUCO DT Jarran Reed: commit No. 28 | DT Jay-nard Bostwick: commit No. 27 | Muschamp discusses class; assistants evaluate signees | Video interviews with coaches | “Closing”, quarterback situation

Courtesy of the University of Florida‘s University Athletic Association:

EARLY ENROLLEES (8)

Alex Anzalone • Linebacker
6’3″ • 220 • Wyomissing, PA (Wyomissing Area)
PRIOR TO FLORIDA: Helped Wyomissing High to its first Class AA state championship in 2012, finishing 16-0, a school single-season record for wins…Selected to the 2013 Under Armour All-American Game…Finished his senior year with over 1,000 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns from the fullback position and registered more than 100 tackles…Earned a spot on the 247Sports Class of 2013 All-America team…Named senior Class AA Player of the Year as part of the 2012 Pennsylvania Sports Writers All-State Team…As a junior, was named first team all-state, all-region and all-county…In 2011, ran for over 900 yards and scored 13 touchdowns and was named to the all-state team…Invited to “The Opening”, an all-star summer prospect camp held on the Nike Campus…Chose Florida over Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, USC, UCLA, Miami, Tennessee, Pitt, Stanford, Georgia and Florida State…Coached by Bob Wolfrum.

Darious Cummings • Defensive tackle
6’1″ • 310 • Titusville, FL (Astronaut/Florida St./East Mississippi CC)
PRIOR TO FLORIDA: Played in all 10 games during the 2012 season at EMCC, tallying 26 tackles (12 unassisted) with 4.0 TFL (12 yards), 3.0 sacks, two quarterback hurries and one forced fumble…EMCC finished 8-2 on the year and ranked 15th in the final NJCAA poll…Anchored a defense that allowed just 74.2 rushing yards per game…Notched a season-high four tackles twice during the season, against Pearl River CC and Itawamba CC…Played under head coach Buddy Stephens at EMCC…Spent two years at Florida State before transferring to EMCC…Played in three games as a true freshman and two games as a sophomore before suffering an injury that caused him to miss most of the 2011 season…Totaled seven tackles in five career games at FSU…Missed the spring of 2012 at FSU after arthroscopic knee surgery and then transferred to EMCC in the summer of 2012…Entered his senior year of high school with 159 tackles, including 22 for loss and 15 sacks…Was the first commit in FSU’s 2010 signing class…Was a Florida Super 75 selection by the Times-Union…Named to SunStateFootball.com all-state first team in 2009…Attended the same high school as former Gator football players LB Wilber Marshall, WR Cris Collinsworth and TE Aaron Walker…Chose Florida over offers from Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Arkansas.

Continue Reading » Florida Gators 2013 National Signing Day bios

Tags: Adam Lane, Ahmad Fulwood, Alex Anzalone, Alvin Bailey, Antonio Riles, Caleb Brantley, Cameron Dillard, Chris Thompson, Daniel McMillian, Darious Cummings, Demarcus Robinson, Jarrad Davis, Jarran Reed, Jay-nard Bostwick, Joey Ivie, Jordan Sherit, Keanu Neal, Kelvin Taylor, Marcell Harris, Marqui Hawkins, Matt Rolin, Max Staver, Nick Washington, Octavius Jackson, Roderick Johnson, Trenton Brown, Tyler Moore, Vernon Hargreaves

Three of the eight early enrollees scheduled to join the Florida Gators as part of the 2013 recruiting class signed and submitted their National Letters of Intent to the school on Wednesday.

Four-star JUCO defensive tackle Darious Cummings (Scooba, MS), three-star JUCO offensive tackle Trenton Brown (Milledgeville, GA) and four-star transfer OT Tyler Moore (Clearwater, FL) signed and faxed in their letters as they prepare to enroll and join the Gators for spring practice.

None of the three players will be forced to take a redshirt season in 2013 as Cummings and Brown are junior college transfers and Moore spent 2012 at St. Petersburg College, a community school without a football program.

Moore started some games as a true freshman at Nebraska and would have started at left tackle this season had he not decided to take the year off for personal reasons.

All three will be competing for playing time right away at their respective positions.

Cummings, a member of the Rivals250 in 2009, will benefit from the likely departure of junior DT Sharrif Floyd as he looks to follow in the footsteps of JUCO teammate junior DT Damien Jacobs and make an impact right away as a member of the rotation.

Brown and Moore (Rivals100 in 2009) will try to find their places in a suddenly crowded and deep group of talented offensive linemen. Redshirt juniors center Jonotthan Harrison and Jon Halapio are entrenched as starters at center and right guard, respectively, but the other three positions are certainly up for grabs.

What Brown holds as an advantage over other players is his huge frame (6’8”, 350 lbs.). Moore has experience playing major college football but will have to work his way back after a semester off.

At least six other offensive linemen already on the roster will be competing for major playing time up front in 2013. Freshman D.J. Humphries, junior transfer Max Garcia and redshirt sophomore Chaz Green are the early favorites to start at left tackle, left guard and right tackle, respectively.

Tags: Chaz Green, D.J. Humphries, Damien Jacobs, Darious Cummings, Jon Halapio, Jonotthan Harrison, Max Garcia, Sharrif Floyd, Trenton Brown, Tyler Moore

The Florida Gators’ 2013 recruiting class is seemingly growing by the day with the team reportedly adding yet another prized commitment on Saturday from three-star linebacker Jarrad Davis (Kingsland, GA).

Jeff Herron, Davis’s head coach at Camden County High School, confirmed to 247 Sports (which first reported the pledge) that the player had decided to flip from Auburn to Florida after being extended an offer this week.

The Gators found a spot open in their recruiting class after four-star LB Quinton Powell (Daytona Beach, FL) decommitted on Monday. The coaching staff stopped by Davis’s house this week and gave him a scholarship offer shortly thereafter.

Florida has added five commitments and lost one since Dec. 9.

Three players – four-star LB Matt Rolin (Ashburn, VA) and three-star offensive linemen Roderick Johnson (Delray Beach, FL) and JUCO player Trenton Brown (Milledgeville, GA) – joined the team on Sunday.

Two days after Powell’s decommitment, on Wednesday, four-star wide receiver Demarcus Robinson (Fort Valley, GA) pledged to play for the Gators.

Of Florida’s five recent commitments, three were previously committed elsewhere – Rolin (South Carolina), Robinson (Clemson) and Davis (Auburn).

The Gators now have 26 total pledges including 25 that count as members of the 2013 recruiting class.

Davis joins Rolin and four-stars James Hearns (Tallahassee, FL) and Daniel McMillian (Jacksonville, FL) as linebackers committed in this class.

Tags: Daniel McMillian, Demarcus Robinson, James Hearns, Jarrad Davis, Matt Rolin, Quinton Powell, Roderick Johnson, Trenton Brown

The Florida Gators added a third new member to their 2013 recruiting class on Sunday – a player familiar to those that follow the process – as three-star offensive lineman Roderick Johnson (Delray Beach, FL) announced via social media that he has recommitted to continuing his career in Gainesville, FL.

“Its official gator nation Im back,” he tweeted.

Johnson was originally Florida’s 11th commitment for the 2013 cycle, giving head coach Will Muschamp his pledge on March 25. However, he began wavering in his decision after learning that recruiting coordinator Aubrey Hill resigned before the season.

He eventually decommitted on Aug. 13 with reports at the time noting that he had been put “on notice” by the Gators coaching staff due to concerns about the player’s supposedly shaky academic standing.

Now less than four months later, Johnson is back in the fold and has become the 24th member of Florida’s 2013 class and 25th new player set to join the program.

Listed as a four-star prospect by ESPN, he will be the fifth offensive lineman to join the Gators this offseason. Florida already had verbal pledges from three-star Cameron Dillard (Canton, MI), three-star Octavius Jackson (Moultrie, GA) and three-star JUCO transfer Trenton Brown (Milledgeville, GA). UF will also have Tyler Moore (Clearwater, FL), a four-star prospect who played for Nebraska in 2011, transfer in from a community college that does not field a football team.

Johnson is third player and second offensive lineman that committed to the Gators on Sunday. Brown announced his intentions early in the morning, and four-star linebacker Matt Rolin (Ashburn, VA) switched his pledge to Florida in the afternoon.

Tags: Aubrey Hill, Cameron Dillard, Matt Rolin, Octavius Jackson, Roderick Johnson, Trenton Brown, Tyler Moore, Will Muschamp

Just hours after the Florida Gators received a pledge from junior college offensive lineman Trenton Brown (Milledgeville, GA), the team added another 2013 commitment from four-star linebacker Matt Rolin (Ashburn, VA).

Long rumored to be considering a switch to the Gators, Rolin announced Sunday on Twitter that he decided to decommit from South Carolina and commit to Florida.

“Going back on my word is something I never imagined myself doing and it hurts me to do it, bu in end I have to do what’s best for me,” he wrote. “That being said. I would like to let everyone know that I have decommitted from The University of South Carolina. I would like to thank the Carolina coaches an fans for all the support and hope you understand that I prayed about this an it’s best for me.

“I have officially committed to THE University of #Florida. I will be wearing #9 as I continue to chase my dreams at #Florida #GatorNation”

Rolin originally committed to the Gamecocks on May 25 but got a hard sell from the Gators in late November when he was visited by linebackers coach D.J. Durkin just two days before he went on his official visit to Florida. He paid an unofficial visit to South Carolina last week and apparently made his mind up this weekend.

Rolin is officially the 23rd member of Florida’s 2013 class and the 24th new player that will join the program before next season. He is the fourth linebacker to commit to the Gators for 2013, joining fellow four-star pledges James Hearns (Tallahassee, FL), Daniel McMillian (Jacksonville, FL) and Quinton Powell (Daytona Beach, FL).

He is ranked No. 76 on the ESPN 150 but is not listed on the Rivals250. Rolin’s commitment has since been confirmed by Rivals.

Tags: D.J. Durkin, Daniel McMillian, James Hearns, Matt Rolin, Quinton Powell, Trenton Brown

The No. 2-ranked recruiting class in the nation added another big name on Friday as three-star offensive lineman Trenton Brown (Milledgeville, GA), a junior college transfer, pledged to play for the Florida Gators in 2013.

At 6’8” and 350 lbs., Brown is a massive offensive lineman who will be able to enroll early at Florida as he is graduating from Georgia Military College in Dec. 2012.

He chose UF over Florida State and Oklahoma and will be in the mix right away at the tackle position, likely on the left side of the line.

Brown is a huge addition to the Gators’ offensive line – literally and figuratively. He adds quality depth to a unit that was depleted of talent and experience just two seasons ago.

He will be one of five players added to active duty on the line next year, joining junior Max Garcia (a transfer out of Maryland who took a redshirt in 2012), four-star Tyler Moore (a member of the 2011 class who played for Nebraska but spent 2012 at a community college) and 2013 commitments three-stars Cameron Dillard (Canton, MI) and Octavius Jackson (Moultrie, GA).

Brown originally committed to Georgia in August but took an official visit to Florida on Aug. 31 and soon after named the Gators his leader. He continued taking visits and meeting with coaches, though a visit from head coach Will Muschamp on Dec. 4 likely sealed the deal for the JUCO transfer.

He is officially the 22nd member of Florida’s 2013 class and plans to sign on Dec. 19. Moore’s transfer from a community college without a football team does not count against the Gators’ numbers for this recruiting cycle.

Brown announced his commitment via Twitter early Sunday morning with the following statement: “Gator Chompin’ #GatorNation join me Oh and add me to that #1 recruiting class.” He later confirmed his decision first to ESPN.

Tags: Cameron Dillard, Max Garcia, Octavius Jackson, Trenton Brown, Tyler Moore, Will Muschamp