Michigan Football: Jim McElwain's Recruiting Classes At Florida
There are a lot of questions surrounding new Michigan wide receivers coach Jim McElwain, who previously was head coach at the University of Florida, and his ability to recruit.
He was coach at Florida from 2015-2017 and had a transition recruiting class in 2015 and full classes in 2016 and 2017. We examine each class below.
2015 Class
| Number of Recruits | National Rank | SEC Rank (Out of 14) | Average Star Rating | Five Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
21 |
23 |
10 |
3.29 |
2 |
Highest Rated Recruit(s):
• Five-star offensive lineman Martez Ivey (6.1 rating)
• Five-star defensive end CeCe Jefferson (6.1)
Best Players: Both Ivey and Jefferson lived up to the hype and after contemplating early entry to the NFL Draft, both decided to come back to Florida for one more year. Jefferson had a team-high 4.5 sacks in 2017.
Notable: Wide receiver Antonio Callaway and running back Jordan Scarlett, both four-stars, were a part of this class. Both were expected to be starters and potential stars for the Gators this season, but were suspended for the entire season for credit card fraud. Other players from this class suspended are three-star offensive lineman Richerd Desir-Jones and two-star defensive end Keivonnis Davis.
2016 Class
| Number of Recruits | National Rank | SEC Rank (Out of 14) | Average Star Rating | Five Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
25 |
14 |
6 |
3.36 |
1 |
Highest Rated Recruit(s):
• Five-star defensive end Antonneous Clayton (6.1 rating)
Best Players: There are a number of ways to go here. Three-star linebacker David Reese, from Farmington, Mich. led Florida in tackles this season with 104 and tallied 10 tackles for loss. Four-star safety Chauncey Gardner Jr. was second in tackles, recording 58 and two interceptions.
Notable: Florida kicker Eddy Pineiro was a three-star prospect in the 2016 class. He came to Florida as a JUCO transfer and declared for the NFL Draft in December. He was the most accurate kicker in the nation, making 94.4 percent of his attempts in 2017.
Four-star quarterback Feleipe Franks was the second-highest rated recruit in this class. He became the starter in 2017 as a redshirt freshman and threw for nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Players suspended from the credit card fraud scandal in this class are: four-star wide receiver Rick Wells and three-star defensive end Jordan Smith.
2017 Class
| Number of Recruits | National Rank | SEC Rank (Out of 14) | Average Star Rating | Five Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
23 |
9 |
4 |
3.61 |
0 |
Highest Rated Recruit(s):
• Four-star wide receiver James Robinson (5.9 rating)
• Four-star offensive lineman Kadeem Telfort (5.9)
• Four-star defensive end Zach Carter (5.9)
• Four-star offensive lineman Tedarrell Slaton (5.9)
• Four-star defensive back Marco Wilson (5.9)
• Four-star defensive tackle Kyree Campbell (5.9)
Best Players: Wilson was the best player as a true freshman. The cornerback is the younger brother of Quincy Wilson, who was drafted in the second round last year by the Indianapolis Colts. He tallied 34 tackles and 10 passes defended in 2017.
Notable: While this class didn't have any five-stars or even any 6.0 rated four-stars, it was very balanced at the top with 15 four-star prospects.
Players suspended in the credit card fraud scandal from this class are: Telfort, three-star linebacker James Houston and three-star linebacker Ventrell Miller.
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