After conflicting reports surfaced early Monday about his status for next season, Florida Gators junior safety Major Wright told Joe Schad of ESPN that he has decided to forgo his final year of college eligibility and declare for the 2010 NFL Draft. “I’m going to the NFL,” Wright said in a text message to Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald.

“I enjoyed my time in Gainesville, they were some of the best years of my life,” Wright said in a University of Florida release. “Beyond winning championships, I will take with me some great memories of personal friendships from my teammates and lessons learned from the coaching staff. I will always be a Gator and look forward to watching them play from the sidelines in the future.”

Wright is the third Florida junior to declare Monday, joining defensive end Carlos Dunlap and center Maurkice Pouncey whose announcements were made earlier in the day. Five juniors in total are making themselves eligible for the draft – cornerback Joe Haden and tight end Aaron Hernandez are the other two.

“Major will be missed in our secondary and by his teammates,” said head coach Urban Meyer. “He was a physical player who had a presence on the football field and was someone our players looked up to and gravitated to. They enjoyed being around him both on and off the field. We wish him the best of luck.”

Fellow junior S Ahmad Black, Wright’s 2008 running mate and one of three starters at the position in 2009, has “decided to stay in school and get his stock up in next year’s NFL Draft,” his father Bruce Black told the The Miami Herald Saturday night. Black will likely start at safety along with sophomore Will Hill.

The Gators’ 2010 starting secondary will likely consist of Black and Hill along with sophomore CB Janoris Jenkins and redshirt freshman CB Adrian Bushell on either side. That is, of course, unless one of Florida’s four incoming freshman at the position do not usurp one of their roles.

Take a moment and enjoy the best play of Wright’s Gators career:

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Adrian Bushell, Ahmad Black, Bruce Black, Carlos Dunlap, Draft, Janoris Jenkins, Joe Haden, Major Wright, Maurkice Pouncey, NFL, University of Florida, Urban Meyer

1 » As previously reported by OGGOA, Florida Gators quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler has removed his name from consideration for the Central Michigan Chippewas‘ head coaching job. Instead, his duties at Florida will be increased and he will assist interim coach and offensive coordinator Steve Addazio with play calling. Loeffler, Addazio and new wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni all worked together on game planning for the 2010 Sugar Bowl against the Cincinnati Bearcats.

2 » Staying on the coaching front, assistant head coach and defense/defensive line coach Dan McCarney will be seriously considered for the top job with the USF Bulls. McCarney, who coached at USF in 2007, is a prime candidate for the position because of his experience both in Tampa and coaching college football in general. However, he is not the only option for the Bulls and whether or not he gets an offer remains to be seen. McCarney is also said to be very happy in his role with Florida and may not necessarily be interested in becoming a head coach again when he is already working in a comfortable situation.

3 » Gerry Hamilton of Scouts, Inc. has taken a long look at the Gators’ 2010 recruiting class, calling it one for the ages. Florida “already [has] the nation’s top class, but this could turn into the best of all time,” he writes. The Gators are still in the running for top prospects at linebacker, offensive line, defensive line, QB and WR.

4 » Should you be on campus in Gainesville, FL, expect to see at least three more high schoolers walking around this week. Newly re-committed five-star safety Matt Elam, four-star tight end Gerald Christian and four-star defensive back Jaylen Watkins are all traveling to school from the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl that took place Saturday in San Antonio, TX. They will join the eight other early enrollees already taking classes at the University of Florida.

Tags: Central Michigan Chippewas, Cincinnati Bearcats, Dan McCarney, Gerald Christian, Jaylen Watkins, Matt Elam, Scot Loeffler, Steve Addazio, Sugar Bowl, University of Florida, USF Bulls, Zach Azzanni

1 » Hiring George Edwards as the Florida Gators defensive coordinator may or may not determine current assistant defensive coordinator and safeties coach Chuck Heater‘s future with the team. Will Heater share the role with Edwards, take on other responsibilities with the team, have his job remain the same or even leave for another opportunity? Right now, Gator Nation does not know. What is apparent is that Heater openly campaigned for the defensive coordinator position prior to the 2010 Sugar Bowl. “I’m interested in having a leadership role, whatever it might be,” Heater said in December. He reportedly turned down an offer to join Doc Holliday‘s Marshall Thundering Herd staff as defensive coordinator – does that become a more attractive option for the 33-year coaching veteran?

2 » Losing four assistant coaches (and one graduate assistant) after the 2009 SEC Championship, head coach Urban Meyer has replaced all of them post-haste. Even so, his cornerbacks coach position apparently remains vacant and additional coaching turnover in Heater and/or assistant head coach and defense/defensive line coach Dan McCarney (whose name has popped up as a candidate for the recently available head job with the USF Bulls) may very well occur. Perhaps McCarney would even take Heater as his defensive coordinator? There is still a ways to go before this situation is settled.

3 » Florida women’s basketball (9-6, 2-0 SEC) turned in a thrilling 71-68 double-overtime victory against the Auburn Tigers (9-6, 0-2 SEC) Thursday evening in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Senior guard Steffi Sorensen began the second overtime without a point in the contest but drained three treys to lift her team to victory. The Gators led by 20 points in the first half but gave up the lead in the second half as the Tigers won the rebound (58-46) and turnover (22-15) battles. Sophomore center Azania Stewart led Florida with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

4 » Football has the Swamp Things, basketball has the Rowdy Reptiles, but baseball’s student section remains unnamed – until now. The baseball team is set to throw its first pitch of the 2010 season in just over a month’s time, and the University of Florida is looking to the student body for suggestions on what to name McKethan Stadium’s student section. The winning entry will receive a baseball autographed by head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, Nike Gators gear and the opportunity to throw out a first pitch before a game this season. Submissions are being accepted through Jan. 15 with the voting lasting from Jan. 19-22. An announcement will be made on Jan. 25. Only students are able to apply – visit GatorZone.com for more information.

Tags: Auburn Tigers, Azania Stewart, baseball, Chuck Heater, Dan McCarney, Doc Holliday, George Edwards, Kevin O’Sullivan, Marshall Thundering Herd, McKethan Stadium, O'Connell Center, Rowdy Reptiles, SEC Championshiop, Steffi Sorensen, Sugar Bowl, Swamp Things, University of Florida, Urban Meyer, women's basketball

Five-star defensive end recruit Ronald Powell (Moreno Valley, CA) is reportedly ready to make his commitment official. If he is feeling the same as he did on Dec. 18, then the Florida Gators remain “most definitely at the top” of his list, and all reports coming out of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl practice sessions this week indicate that Powell will be wearing Orange and Blue next season.

Visited by Gators head coach Urban Meyer in California three weeks ago, Powell raved about the meeting. “It hasn’t been anything negative from them for one, anything at all,” Powell told Rivals at the time. “Coach Meyer is a hell-of-a coach. The college is in a college town. The players, the players definitely make you feel at home. I mean just all around, it’s a great school, a great place to be.”

Read the remainder of this story after the jump…
Continue Reading » Is Ronald Powell headed east to Florida?

Tags: All-American, Army, Pete Carroll, Pete Duffy, Rancho Verde, Ronald Powell, University of Florida, Urban Meyer, USC Trojans

Former Florida Gators running backs coach Stan Drayton has been rehired to his former job according to three sources close to the team. Drayton, who spent last season in the same position with the Syracuse Orange, left the Gators in a lateral move to the Tennessee Volunteers before the 2008 season. Florida’s running backs coach position opened after current assistant Kenny Carter decided to accept the same job with head coach Charlie Strong and the Louisville Cardinals.

Drayton, a member of the Gators coaching staff for three seasons from 2005-07, left in 2008 after he attempted to leverage a job with Tennessee to increase his salary and responsibilities at Florida. Head coach Urban Meyer did not fire Drayton but instead suggested he take the position made available to him. “I can’t go into too much detail, but it was a little rough, a little rocky,” Drayton said at the time. “He had a coach that was getting ready to entertain a situation at his rival school. I understood that completely.”

Other stops Drayton has made include Mississippi State (2004), the NFL’s Green Bay Packers (2001-03), Bowling Green (2000) and Villanova (1996-2000). While with Green Bay, Drayton was the offensive quality control and assistant special teams coach.

Upon departing Gainesville, FL, Drayton slighted the Gators while propping up Meyer to the Nashville Tennessean, saying that Florida was not a program that nurtured running backs. “The offense that we were running at Florida didn’t have much involvement from the running back,” Drayton said. “There was some frustration there, to be honest with you. But you’re in a community that’s very supportive of Florida. Florida’s been good to me for three years. It was a very comfortable situation, it really was. Urban Meyer made it a very comfortable situation for me.”

Gators running back Anthony Gay spoke to the Sporting News in January 2008 about the rocky relationship between the two coaches. “They ain’t like this,” Gay said while holding up crossed fingers. “They’re not even really tight. A lot of days, I’ve seen Coach Drayton shed tears before. Not in front of [Meyer], but right after practice because of how he acknowledged him, because of how he belittled him.”

In a release from the University of Florida, Meyer welcomed Drayton and new linebackers/special teams coach D.J. Durkin to the staff. “Coach Addazio and I worked together on this and are excited to have D.J. and Stan join our coaching staff,” Meyer said. “Both guys are familiar with the plan we have for our program, our coaches and our student-athletes. It will be a smooth transition and they both bring a high level of expertise to the table and have proven to be good recruiters.”

UPDATE: Pat Dooley of this Gainesville Sun wrote the via his twitter account Tuesday evening – “I hear Urban Meyer apologized for cutting [Drayton] loose [two] years ago.”

Tags: Anthony Gay, Charlie Strong, D.J. Durkin, Kenny Carter, Stan Drayton, Syracuse Orange, Tennessee Volunteers, University of Florida, Urban Meyer

The Florida Gators may have lost their prize commitment of the 2010 cycle in five-star safety Matt Elam (West Palm Beach, FL), but the Orange and Blue gained declarations from two of the top players in the country on Saturday during the 2010 Under Armour All-American Game. Four-star wide receiver Chris Dunkley (Pahokee, FL) and four-star defensive tackle Dominique Easley (Staten Island, NY) both put on Gators hats to the delight of Gator Nation.

Though Dunkley had long been considered a Florida lean and possible silent commitment, he had been toying with the idea of committing to the Alabama Crimson Tide and was slightly taken aback by the announcements from Gators head coach Urban Meyer this week. Instead, he said that he was a mama’s boy, wanted to stay in-state and loved the program. “I was real, real, real happy and revealed to make my decision to play for the University of Florida,” Dunkley said after the game. “There was a moment [I wavered],” Dunkley said. “I know [Meyer]‘s working to take care of himself. I’ve got to do what’s right for me.”

“I’ve built a relationship with almost everybody on the team,” Dunkley told ESPN. So it’s like me going, basically, back to a home away from home. All the teammates are like my brothers, so everything feels comfortable there. I have been waiting to get this off of my chest for a long time. I fit in perfect. [Freshman WR Andre] Debose and I both do. I have gotten to know him well and we talk all the time. I talk to John Brantley all the time, too. Like I said, it’s like I’ve been on the team for a while. I am going in to compete. All the coaches at Florida know that. All of the players know that.”