Gators to add kicker Marvin Kloss as walk-on

By Adam Silverstein
February 16, 2010

UPDATE: Florida does not grant K Marvin Kloss admission

Though he was offered a scholarship and grayshirt by the South Florida Bulls, three-star kicker Marvin Kloss (Naples, FL) has decided to accept a walk-on offer from the Florida Gators and expects to make an impact right away, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

“If they can get me in, I’m going up there,” Kloss said of his pending admission status at Florida. “I want to play right away, and they’re a lot better [than USF] scholarship-wise with just one kicker and one punter on scholarship.”

His grade point average and test scores have already earned him a Florida Bright Futures scholarship, so it is likely that UF will grant Kloss admission soon. In fact, he told the Times that interim head coach and offensive coordinator Steve Addazio would be taking his paperwork to the admissions office on Wednesday. If Kloss shows promise on the field, he should have no problem earning a scholarship with the Gators.

UPDATE: The Naples Daily News reports that a low SAT score caused UF to initially decline Kloss’ enrollment application. “The only thing holding me back from making a clear-cut decision is that I got declined,” he told the paper. “[The Gators’ coaches] said it’s up to admissions to decide based on the number of students they have next year.”

Kloss had scholarship offers from the Purdue Boilermakers and Marshall Thundering Heard, which he declined in order to walk-on at Florida (or USF).

“With Marvin’s talent, if he does anywhere close to what he should do next year, he will [earn a scholarship],” Barron Collier High School coach Mark Ivey told the paper. “He has the opportunity if he performs to help on kickoffs next year at a minimum.”

ESPNU Evaluation: “Kloss has FBS leg strength and he has shown this at multiple camps. He is a very competitive athlete who gets great height on both his kickoffs and field goals. He has special leg speed and the ball comes off his foot very fast with a slow rotation. His control and accuracy on field goals are impressive. He is college-ready off the ground. […] Coaches will like his confident attitude.”

Photo Credit: David Albers/Naples Daily News

12 Comments

  1. Greg says:

    SPECIAL TEAMS…..I think this could be a very underrated recruit…

  2. dp says:

    This is good news…Sturgis scared me last season…this will either push Caleb to get more accurate or push him to the bench.

  3. Wingtee says:

    I like this guy, I do have confidence in Sturgis however. Caleb really does have a cannon for a leg and he will make some kicks for us next year

  4. Mark01 says:

    “I want to play right away, and they’re a lot better [than USF]

    He should have ended the sentence there

  5. Gatorgreeter says:

    This is important at the very least because it will give us a kicker next year with a year under their belt as opposed to having to bring in someone as a true freshman.

  6. Tanner says:

    Great pickup. I was kind of concerned about the experience factor at kicker once Sturgis left. He’ll be a junior next year, so I wasn’t in panic mode, but it’s nice to have the security. It’s also nice to have a little depth in case of injury.

  7. rich says:

    Lucky to have his services, welcome to the Gator Nation

  8. On Campus says:

    As he is a walk-on, this does not count towards our 28 count of scholarships, correct? If he does end up earning a scholarship, what class would he be from, 2010/11 and does he still have 4 years of eligibility left?

  9. The short answer: No. Kloss will likely be used as competition for Sturgis, who is expected to retain his job. If Kloss was to replace Sturgis or (let’s say) just do kickoffs during this season, he would lose a year of eligibility just like a scholarship player or any other student-athlete. However, if Sturgis keeps the job all year, the Gators can redshirt Kloss – that would preserve his four years of eligibility.

  10. On Campus says:

    Thanks for clearing that up Adam, sounds like a win win for both parties

  11. UF88 says:

    Here is a link to Marvin Kloss highlight film, this seems like a nice get for the Gators. Kloss has a super strong leg.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgvvApTMmsg

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