FOXnHenHouse's Blog

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida finished the recruiting season exactly where it ended last season -- on top.

The national champion Gators capitalized on last month's Bowl Championship Series title game upset of Ohio State to land the top recruiting class in the country Wednesday.

Coach Urban Meyer's third class was ranked No. 1 by Scout.com, Rivals.com, SuperPrep, National Blue Chips and others.

The 27-player group included four highly touted defensive linemen, three standout quarterbacks and seven players from three-time Florida state Class 5A champion Lakeland, including star running back Chris Rainey.

"I'd say quarterback and defensive line, off the top, are outstanding," Meyer said.

The Gators got several of the top players from Florida, added some of the best talent from around the country and essentially followed up last year's class -- which ranked second to USC -- with an even better bunch. The most notable additions came along the defensive line, Florida's biggest area of need after losing five of its top six linemen following a 41-14 drubbing of the Buckeyes in the national title game.

The Gators lost Ray McDonald, Steven Harris, Joe Cohen and Jarvis Moss in addition to having defensive tackle Marcus Thomas kicked off the team during the season. Without them, Derrick Harvey will have the most experience along the line next season.

But he should have plenty of talent surrounding him. Tackles Torrey Davis and John Brown and ends Carlos Dunlap and Justin Trattou were four of Florida's 10 five-star recruits, according to Scout.com.

Dunlap, the top recruit in South Carolina, went against his father's wishes to stay closer to home and decided to head south to Florida. Trattou had been committed to Notre Dame but changed his mind following a recent visit to Gainesville.

The Gators also signed three quarterbacks to play behind -- and maybe compete against -- starter Tim Tebow. Meyer said after the title game that "it is Tim Tebow's team as of right now." But the coach had no one else to even mention -- until now. The Gators signed Cameron Newton, junior college transfer Bryan Waggener and John Brantley IV.

"We knew officially after Chris (Leak) threw his last pass we were down to one scholarship quarterback and that quarterback likes to run and he's going to take shots and we're going to have a problem," Meyer said. "We'll redshirt one of those quarterbacks, maybe two of them."

Newton and Waggener were two of nine recruits who enrolled at Florida in January and will get a head start on the backup job in spring practice.

"This spring is going to be critical for Bryan and for Cam Newton," Meyer said.

Brantley made his pledge official Wednesday. He had committed to Texas but changed his mind in December because he wanted to be closer to home.

The 6-foot-4 quarterback grew up in nearby Ocala. His father, John Brantley III, was a quarterback at Florida in the late 1970s, and his uncle, Scot Brantley, was an All-American linebacker with the Gators. His mother graduated from Florida, and the family has had football season tickets for the past 18 years.

Also, Brantley's high school coach was former Florida quarterback Kerwin Bell and the team's receivers coach was former Florida receiver Ricky Nattiel.

So Brantley, who threw for 6,802 yards during in high school and led his team to three consecutive state title games, had plenty of advice about Gainesville.