Florida vs. Kentucky In Recruiting Battle

You win some, lose some.
That’s the way the recruiting game is played.
The Louisville Cardinals and Coach Charlie Strong won a major recruiting battle with Miami, convincing Miami Northwestern QB Teddy Bridgewater to de-commit from the ‘Canes and enroll early at the ‘Ville. Arguably, Bridgewater and Oviedo Hagerty’s Jeff Driskel were the state of Florida’s top two quarterback prospects.

Well, the tables were turned Friday when the state of Kentucky’s top quarterback, arguably DaMarcus Smith of Louisville Seneca de-committed from the ‘Ville and signed with a Florida school. It wasn’t Miami, however, it was UCF where Smith chose to sign closing out the Knights’ recruiting class of 2011 with an unbelievable run of talent that has Knight-watchers calling this group of 30 the best class ever. Yes, even better than the Jeffrey Godfrey signing class of last year. Wow!!

Smith (6-1/180) is one of those four-star recruits on Rivals.com who jumped on board the Knights train after watching their victory over Georgia in the Liberty Bowl. So how good is Smith? Rivals hints that the man from Seneca is comparable to other nationally-touted quarterbacks like Kiehl Frazier (Auburn signee) and Braxton Miller (Ohio State signee)
Smith signed on 24 hours after linebacker Leilon Willingham (6-3/240), another Rivals 4-star from Denver Mullen and one of the top prospects in Colorado, picked UCF over Michigani. Throw in early enrollee Toby Jackson, the MVP of the national junior college championship game and a big-time Rivals 4-star defensive end from Griffin (Ga.) who originally signed with the Bulldogs before going to junior college, and you have the makings of a nationally coveted class.

The Knights needed to get particular help at defensive end, linebacker, defensive backs and taller receivers. A little quarterback depth wouldn’t hurt, either. Thus the arrival of Smith, Willingham, Jackson and many others including a trio of legacy athletes. Defensive back Jeremy Davis of Cape Coral is the kid brother of ex-University of Miami and NFL defensive back Phillip Buchanon. Receivers Rayshun Williams (Denver, Co. Mullen) and Breshad Perriman (Lithonia, Ga. Arabia Mountain) also have those special genes. Williams is the “cousin” of Miami Dolphin standout Brandon Marshall, a former Winter Park Lake Howell and UCF star. Perriman is the son of ex-Hurricane and NFL receiver Brett Perriman.
Those types of relationships never hurt in recruiting. One of Jackson’s motivations to join the Knights was an opportunity to play with his brother Kentorius, a safety from Georgia Military College via Griffin.

Back to Charlie Strong for a moment. The long-time defensive coordinator at Florida finished off his Cardinal recruiting crop with a dozen signed athletes and running back transfer Jarvis Giles from Tampa who played briefly last fall at South Carolina. Included in his haul were Dade County products Bridgewater, receiver Eli Rogers and defensive back Jermaine Reve of Northwestern, offensive lineman John Miller and receiver Charles Gaines of state champion Miami Central. Much of Strong’s success, he concedes, is because of the relationships his staff has with Florida high school coaches and athletes. Clint Hurtt spent a ton of time coaching in South Florida, especially at the U. Ron Dugans played at Florida State and grew up in Tallahassee. Brian Jean Mary played at Apopka and recruited the state for Georgia Tech before arriving this year at Louisville.

So just how good is this UCF class? Like anything else in recruiting, the beauty is always in the eyes of the beholder. The Knights will probably finish somewhere between 35 and its current resting spot of 43. We really won’t know for a couple of years just how good but the gut feeling is if this group can stay healthy, their talent level is worthy of a top 25 ranking.
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We’re just into Day 2 of the Class of 2012 and two more Floridians announced commitments.
Safety/linebacker Shakeel Rashad (6-2/213) of Jacksonville Episcopal pledged to Butch Davis and North Carolina.
And corner back Donaldven Manning (5-11/180) of Miami Central committed to Virginia Tech. Manning, two weeks ago, transferred from Miami Edison to Miami Central.