2019 SIGNEES Name Position Height Weight Class Hometown/Previous School Black, Diwun LB 6-4 215 Fr. Forest, Miss. / Forest Bogle, Khris LB 6-4 209 Fr. Fort Lauderdale / Cardinal Gibbons Diabate, Mohamoud* LB 6-3 219 Fr. Auburn, Ala. / Auburn Elam, Kaiir DB 6-1 187 Fr. West Palm Beach / Benjamin Hammond, Deyavie OL 6-4 350 Fr. Lakeland / Lakeland Harrod, Will* OL 6-5 316 Fr. Clinton, Md. / National Christian Academy Henderson, Arjei WR 6-1 183 Fr. Sugar Land, Texas / Fort Bend Travis Hill, Jaydon* DB 6-0 167 Fr. Huntsville, Ala. / Bob Jones Hopper, Ty'Ron LB 6-2 202 Fr. Alpharetta, Ga. / Roswell Humphries, Jaelin DL 6-4 314 Fr. Lawrenceville, Ga. / Mountain View Jones, Jalon* QB 6-3 204 Fr. Richmond, Va. / Henrico Kimbrough, Chester DB 5-11 172 Fr. New Orleans, La. / Warren Easton Senior Marks, Dionte WR 6-1 180 Fr. Deland / Deland Pierre, Jesiah-Gabriel* LB 6-2 217 Fr. Mount Dora / Mount Dora Christian Academy Eguakun, Kingsley* OL 6-4 288 Fr. Jacksonville / Sandalwood Simonds, Riley OL 6-4 328 Fr. Buford, Ga. / Buford Steele, Chris* DB 6-1 184 Fr. Los Angeles, Calif. / St. John Bosco Summerall III, Lloyd LB 6-5 209 Fr. Polk County / Lakeland Tarquin, Michael* OL 6-6 275 Fr. Ocala / North Marion Weston, Ja'Markis WR 6-3 212 Fr. Clewiston / Clewiston White, Ethan* OL 6-5 390 Fr. Clearwater / Clearwater Whittemore, Trent ATH 6-3 187 Fr. Gainesville / Buchholz Wilson, Wardrick OL 6-4 323 Fr. Miami Gardens / Miami Carol City Wright, Nay'Quan RB 5-9 195 Fr. Miami Gardens / Miami Carol City Zipperer, Keon TE 6-2 242 Fr. Lakeland / Lakeland

TRANSFERS Greenard, Jonathan* LB 6-4 263 Hiram, Ga. / Louisville

* denotes that the individual has enrolled early 2019 SIGNEES INFORMATION

Pronunciations: • Diwun Black – Doo-wann • Khris Bogle – Chris Bo-gull • Mohamoud Diabate – MAH-mood Dia-bahh-tay • Kingsley Eguakun – Kings-lee Egg-wah-kahn • Kaiir Elam – Ky-year • Deyavie Hammond – Dee-ahh-vay • Will Harrod – Will Harrr-rod • Arjei Henderson – R.J. • Dionte Marks – Deonte Marks

Early Enrollees: • Florida’s 10 early enrollees is tied for the third most its had since 2004. o LB Mohamoud Diabate o LB Jonathan Greenard** o OL Will Harrod o DB Jaydon Hill o QB Jalon Jones o LB Jesiah-Gabriel Pierre o OL Kingsley Raitt-Eguakun o DB Chris Steele o OL Michael Tarquin o OL Ethan White

** -- Graduate transfer from Louisville

Off the Field Stories:

Lakeland, Fla. • Deyavie Hammond, Lloyd Summerall, III and Keon Zipperer are all from Lakeland, Fla, which is the hometown of Mike & , Ahmad Black and many other former Gators. These three signees have a strong connection with all former Gators from that area.

Black & Bogle • Played in the Polynesian Bowl together and attended the same official visit weekend in Gainesville. • Black’s commitment and relationship he created with Bogle helped draw him to Florida. o Bogle chose Florida over Alabama and Miami.

Kingsley Raitt-Eguakun • Eguakun’s great grandmother has a part of UF’s George A. Smathers Libraries named after her. • Eguakun’s grandmother attended UF. o Maiden name of grandmother and great grandmother, Price.

Kaiir Elam • His father, Abe Elam was a Super 11 pick and a first-team All-Area selection for Cardinal Newman in 1999 o Abe played at Notre Dame and Kent State before his seven-year NFL career. Totaled 408 tackles, five sacks and three between five teams and 104 games played. • His uncle, former Gators safety and NFL First Round Pick Matt Elam, was the Palm Beach Post 2009 Defensive Player of the Year, and Florida’s Mr. Football o Declared for the 2013 NFL Draft after he appeared in 39 games (26 starts at safety) in his Gators career, recording 176 tackles, 23.5 TFL, 13 pass breakups, six interceptions, three forced and one recovery. o As a junior in 2012, he finished second on the team with 76 tackles, including 2.0 sacks and 11.0 tackles-for-loss. In addition, he led the team with four interceptions, which ranked third in the SEC. o For his efforts, he joined Reggie Nelson as the only Florida safety to garner First Team AP All- America honors. o Finished his NFL career with 131 tackles, seven pass breakups, one INT and one forced fumble in 41 games played. • Started playing football in middle school, while also trying his hand in baseball, basketball, swimming, and track and field

Will Harrod • Harrod joins legendary Gators Teez Tabor and as well-known recruits from the Washington D.C. area.

Arjei Henderson • Henderson, who grew up a lifelong Gators fan, calls Florida his dream school. • UF was the only school where he took an official visit.

Jalon Jones • Jones was committed to when he was at Mississippi State. After Mullen took Florida’s head coaching job on Nov. 26, 2017, Jones de-committed from MSU and reopened his recruitment. It wasn’t long before he was committed to Coach Mullen at UF. o In total, Jones has been committed to Coach Mullen for about three years. • His sister, Jocelyn, plays basketball at North Carolina • His mother, Tanya Hughes, was a member of the 1992 US Olympic high jump team in Barcelona, Spain, 1994 NCAA Female Athlete of the Year, and a four-time NCAA Champion in the high jump at Arizona. • His father, Michael Jones, was a team captain and linebacker of the 1990 University of Colorado football team that was named national champions.

Off the Field Stories continued:

Chester Kimbrough • Kimbrough, who grew up a lifelong Gators fan, chose Florida over his home state Tigers. • Kimbrough and current Gators DB Brad Stewart have struck up a friendship. He admired Stewart’s game from afar and they will now be teammates at UF. o These two individuals will be the only individuals on UF’s 2019 roster from Louisiana.

Michael Tarquin • His father attended Michigan State as an undergrad, but received law degree from UF. • His mom is from Newberry, Fla. • When he was a kid and attending a game, he ran up to and for a photo after a game. • Has been a Gators fan his entire life.

Trent Whittemore • Grew up a Gator fan, living just a few miles down the street from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. • Mother, grandfather and great grandfather all attended UF. o His mother, Missy, played volleyball at Florida. • His Father is the head coach at Gainesville’s Buchholz High School.

Nay’Quan Wright • Very close friends and high school teammates with current Gators DB Randy Russell. o They have played football together since they were 10 years old.

Bio Information:

Diwun Black | 6-4, 215 LB | Forest, Miss. | Forest • Played in the 2019 All-American Bowl • Recorded 159 tackles and 10 tackles for a loss over two seasons, along with 12 interceptions as a sophomore, and 16 receptions for 304 yards and four as a junior at Forest High School in Mississippi • Played significant time at safety and wide receiver, as well as some time at linebacker • Transferred to Kissimmee Osceola High for his senior season • Played for coaches Jonathan Worrell (Forest) and Doug Nichols (Osceola) • Chose Florida over Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, USC, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 147 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 10 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 19

Personal Info • Lost his best friend (Landon McGee) to an accidental gunshot wound, at age 14, on Feb. 21, 2016, and now McGee’s death inspires him on the football field • Also played basketball at Forest

Khris Bogle | 6-4, 209 LB | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | Cardinal Gibbons • Played in the 2019 All-American Bowl, as well as the 2019 Polynesian Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii • Won the 2018 FHSAA 5A State Championship • Advanced to the 2017 FHSAA 5A Regional Final • Played in 32 games in his career, collecting 160 tackles, 41.5 tackles for loss and 29.5 sacks • Played for coach Matt Dubuc • Chose Florida over Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Mississippi State, Tennessee, and Texas A&M, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 60 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 3 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 9

Mohamoud Diabate | 6-3, 219 LB | Auburn, Ala. | Auburn • Playing in the 2019 All-American Bowl • Was a first-team All-State selection and finalist for Class 7A Lineman of the Year in 2017 • As a senior he has 35 tackles, including 10 for a loss, and seven sacks this season • Finished his junior season with 82 total tackles, including 20 tackles for loss and 10 sacks as he helped Auburn to a 10-2 record • Also forced one fumble and blocked three kicks • At The Opening Finals in Dallas in early July, he worked out as a defensive end and during one-on-one battles against the nation’s top offensive lineman, he won nine reps while losing five for the weekend • At The Opening Finals and Opening Regionals, he recorded impressive times, including a 4.59-second forty, 4.44-second short shuttle, and 38-inch vertical jump • Played for coach Adam Winegarden • Chose Florida over Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Penn State, and Texas A&M, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 166 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 8 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 8

Kingsley Raitt-Eguakun | 6-4, 288 OL | Jacksonville, Fla. | Sandalwood • Played center and guard • Helped Sandalwoood finish 7-3 his senior season • Played for coach Adam Geis at Sandalwood • Chose Florida over Auburn, Miami, Tennessee, and UCF, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 3 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 665 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 40 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 88

Kaiir Elam | 6-1, 187 DB | West Palm Beach, Fla. | Benjamin • Helped lead Benjamin to the 2018 FHSAA Class 3A Regional Final, and 2017 FHSAA Class 3A Regional Semifinals • Played both defensive back and wide receiver o Recorded nine interceptions (returning them for 123 yards), 71 tackles and three sacks o Totaled 97 catches for 1,490 yards and 15 touchdowns over four years on varsity • Played for former Gators quarterback Eric Kresser at Benjamin • Also played basketball and ran track for Benjamin, averaging 11.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game last basketball season; he finished eighth in the 100 meters at the 2018 FHSAA Class 1A State Finals • Chose Florida over 40 different offers including Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Notre Dame, and Ohio State

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 61 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 7 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 8

Personal Info • His father, Abe Elam was a Super 11 pick and a first-team All-Area selection for Cardinal Newman in 1999 o Abe played college football at Notre Dame and Kent State before his seven-year NFL career. Totaled 408 tackles, five sacks and three interceptions between five teams and 104 games played. • His uncle, former Gators safety and NFL First Round Pick Matt Elam, was the Palm Beach Post 2009 Defensive Player of the Year, and Florida’s Mr. Football o Declared for the 2013 NFL Draft after he appeared in 39 games (26 starts at safety) in his Gators career, recording 176 tackles, 23.5 TFL, 13 pass breakups, six interceptions, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. o As a junior in 2012, he finished second on the team with 76 tackles, including 2.0 sacks and 11.0 tackles-for-loss. In addition, he led the team with four interceptions, which ranked third in the SEC. o For his efforts, he joined Reggie Nelson as the only Florida safety to garner First Team AP All- America honors. o Finished his NFL career with 131 tackles, seven pass breakups, one INT and one forced fumble in 41 games played. • Started playing football in middle school, while also trying his hand in baseball, basketball, swimming, and track and field

Deyavie Hammond | 6-4, 350 OL | Lakeland, Fla. | Lakeland • Playing in the 2019 Under Armour All-America Game • Led a Dreadnaughts offensive line which helped their rushing attacking average roughly 270 yards a game • Helped Lakeland to its seventh state title, defeating St. Thomas Aquinas, 33-20, in the FHSAA Class 7A State Championship • Spent his junior year at IMG Academy honing his skills to return to Lakeland and help the Dreadnaughts get back to the state championship • Played for coach Bill Castle at Lakeland • Chose Florida over Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Mississippi State, Oregon, Tennessee, and Texas A&M, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 174 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 12 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 23

Will Harrod | 6-5, 316 OL | Clinton, Md. | National Christian Academy • Arrived at NCA as a nationally-ranked basketball player and moved to football his junior year after growing two inches and moving up to 285 pounds (reached 305 pounds after weightlifting during his junior year) • Helped his team to an overall record of 9-2 as a senior, in only the third year of football for NCA • Played for coach Andre Kates • Chose Florida over Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, and Tennessee, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 307 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 26 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 6

Arjei Henderson | 6-1, 183 WR | Sugar Land, Texas | Fort Bend Travis • Earned a spot in the Under Armour All-America Game • Had 38 receptions for 574 yards and 6 TDs in 5 games as a senior • Unanimous first-team all-district selection as a junior • First-team all-district selection as a sophomore • First-team MaxPreps Sophomore All-American • Caught 81 passes for 1,186 yards and 14 TDs in 10 games as a junior and helped Fort Bend Travis reach the 6A playoffs • Committed to Oklahoma early in 2017, only to decommitt a couple of months later. He then committed to Oregon (under FSU coach Willie Taggart) during that summer and withdrew his pledge in November prior to recommitting to the Sooners in April of 2018 and then decommitting again the day before Thanksgiving and then committed to Florida at the UA All-American Game • Chose Florida over 45 different offers including Oklahoma, Clemson, Georgia, Florida State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 140 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 23 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 22

Personal Info • Cousin, Hezekiah Jones, is a sophomore WR at Texas A&M

Jaydon Hill | 6-0, 167 DB | Huntsville, Ala. | Bob Jones • 2017 AHSAA Class 7A first-team All-State selection, as he tallied five interceptions (returning one for a ) and 26 pass breakups his junior year • Had 10 tackles and two pass breakups before suffering a season-ending torn ACL in September • Also a punt returner for Bob Jones • Played for coach Kevin Rose • Chose Florida over Michigan, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas A&M, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 279 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 29 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 12

Tyron Hopper | 6-2, 202 LB | Alpharetta, Ga. | Roswell • Playing in the 2019 All-American Bowl • Finished his senior season with 74 total tackles (7.8 per game), five interceptions, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery, leading Roswell to a 9-2 overall record • Started his high school career at safety, but moved to linebacker after his sophomore year • Played for coach Matt Kemper • Chose Florida over Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Tennessee, among others.

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 141 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 7 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 15

Jaelin Humphries | 6-4, 314 DL | Lawrenceville, Ga. | Mountain View • Played both offensive and defensive line for Mountain View • Known for his versatility and ability to play the inside and outside of a defensive line • Was invited to the Under Armor All-American Camp Series and Nike’s The Opening • Played for coach Rob Kellogg • Chose Florida over Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, and Tennessee, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 251 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 17 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 30

Jalon Jones | 6-3, 204 QB | Richmond, Va. | Henrico • Played his junior season at St. Francis High School in Baltimore, Md., before transferring back to his home in Richmond, where he finished his high school career at Henrico, where he previously played as a freshman and sophomore • Passed for 1,025 yards and 11 touchdowns, adding 819 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in his junior season, helping St. Francis outscore its opponents 342-50 en route to a No. 4 national ranking in USA Today’s Super 25 • Played for coach Gerald Glasco at Henrico • Chose Florida over Alabama, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Tennessee, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 262 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 6 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 7

Personal Info • Sister, Jocelyn Jones, plays basketball at North Carolina • Mother, Tanya Hughes, was a high jumper for the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team in Barcelona, Spain (finished 11th); she was also the 1994 NCAA Woman of the Year, a four-time NCAA Champion high jumper at Arizona, and held the American U20 high jump record from 1991 until 2015 • Father, Michael Jones, was a team captain and linebacker of the 1990 University of Colorado football team which captured the Associated Press national title

Chester Kimbrough | 5-11, 172 DB | New Orleans, La. | Warren Easton Senior • Played in the 2018 LHSAA 4A State Championship • Reached the LHSAA 4A State Semifinals three other times (2015, 2016, 2017) • Played for coach Jerry Phillips • Chose Florida over Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Mississippi State, and Texas, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 3 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 437 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 45 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 20

Dionte Marks | 6-1, 180 WR | DeLand, Fla. | DeLand • Totaled 45 receptions for 964 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior, helping DeLand to an 8-3 record and a berth in the FHSAA Class 8A playoffs • Notched 23 receptions for 444 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior, adding 248 yards in kickoff returns to garner second-team All-Area honors • Attended the 2018 U.S. Army National Underclassmen Combine in San Antonio, Texas, where he had a standing broad jump of 11-feet, 3-inches which him beyond the measuring board • Played for coach Steve Allen • Also a sprinter and long jumper for DeLand’s track and field team • Chose Florida over Florida State, Louisville, Mississippi State, UCF, and West Virginia, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 3 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 784 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 100 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 90

Jesiah-Gabriel Pierre | 6-2, 217 LB | Mount Dora, Fla. | Mount Dora Christian Academy • Compiled 131 tackles and 4.5 sacks in his freshman and sophomore seasons • Played in the 2018 Sunshine State Athletic Conference semifinal game • Helped Mount Dora reach the 2017 Sunshine State Athletic Conference quarterfinals • Played for coach Kolby Tackett • Chose Florida over Georgia, Kentucky, Miami, and Ole Miss, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 3 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 767 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 52 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 86

Riley Simonds | 6-4, 328 OL | Buford, Ga. | Buford • Helped Buford reach the 2018 GHSA Class 5A Regional Championship, as well as the 2017 GHSA Class 5A Semifinals • Also helped Buford to state runner-up finishes in 2015 (Class 4A) and 2016 (Class 5A) • Played for coach John Ford at Buford • Chose Florida over Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Missouri, and South Carolina, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 3 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 388 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 26 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 39

Chris Steele | 6-1, 184 DB | Los Angeles, Calif. | St. John Bosco • Led St. John Bosco to the state championship game in 2018 • Recorded 32 total tackles, two blocked field goals, and one during his senior season, finishing his career with 135 total tackles • Played for coach Jason Negro • Chose Florida over Alabama, Cal, Florida State, LSU, Stanford, UCLA, and USC, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 40 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 5 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 4

Personal Info • Writes a blog for USA Today High School Sports

Lloyd Summerall III | 6-5, 209 LB | Auburndale, Fla. | Lakeland • Transferred to Lakeland for his senior year after playing his junior season at Auburndale High School • Led Lakeland to the FHSAA Class 7A State Championship, where it beat St. Thomas Aquinas, 33-20 • Finished his high school career with 117 tackles,14.5 sacks (11.5 his senior season alone), four interceptions, and three forced fumbles • Played for coach Bill Castle • Also played basketball for Lakeland • Chose Florida over Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, and Ohio State, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 235 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 16 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 36

Michael Tarquin | 6-6, 275 OL | Ocala, Fla. | North Marion • Grew up a Gators fan • Missed his senior season with a torn labrum injury he sustained early in the year, as North Marion eventually lost in the FHSAA Class 5A State Championship • Played for coach Willie Offord • Chose Florida over Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 281 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 24 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 40

Ja'Markis Weston | 6-3, 212 WR | Clewiston, Fla. | Clewiston High School • Played for coach Brad Garrett • Chose Florida over Penn State, Tennessee, and UCF, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 3 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 636 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 84 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 70

Ethan White | 6-5, 390 OL | Clearwater, Fla. | Calvary Christian • In 2017 and 2018, White anchored Calvary Christian’s line and helped the Warriors win their first playoff game, alongside current Gator Amari Burney • Played for coach Donnie Mesick • Chose Florida over Louisville, Purdue, and West Virginia, among others • Also played basketball at Calvary Christian • Played with current Gators defensive back Amari Burney at Calvary Christian

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 3 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 1,108 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 95 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 135

Trent Whittemore | 6-3, 187 ATH | Gainesville, Fla. | Buchholz • Played at safety, , wide receiver and even quarterback for Buchholz, where he started on varsity as a freshman • Amassed 1,374 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns on 93 receptions, as well as three rushing touchdowns in his high school career • Also threw for 1,026 yards and 12 touchdowns during his time at quarterback • Recorded 196 tackles, seven tackles for loss, seven interceptions, 28 pass breakups, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and a blocked field goal in four varsity seasons • Played for coach Mark Whittemore, his father, for his entire life • Led the Buchholz basketball team in scoring as a sophomore with 19.9 points per game • Chose Florida over Army, Duke, Georgia Tech, and Yale, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 3 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 748 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 64 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 102

Personal Info • Grew up a Gators fan, living just a few miles down the street from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Mother, grandfather and great grandfather all attended UF o Missy played volleyball for UF from 1992-95. . Ranks ninth in program history in matches played (141) and third in career assists (4,474).

Wardrick Wilson | 6-4, 305 OL | Miami Gardens, Fla. | Miami Carol City • Helped Carol City win the 2016 FHSAA Class 6A State Championship • Reached the FHSAA Class 6A Regional Championship in both 2017 and 2018 • Played for coach Benedict Hyppokite • Chose Florida over Georgia, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan, and Tennessee, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 369 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 24 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 37

Nay’Quan Wright | 5-9, 195 RB | Opa Locka, Fla. | Miami Carol City • Helped Carol City win the 2016 FHSAA Class 6A State Championship, tallying 109 yards and scoring two touchdowns in the state title game • Early in the 2018 season he rushed for 163 and a touchdown in a win over American Heritage, ending the Patriots’ 28-game winning streak • Helped Carol City reach the 2018 FHSAA Class 6A Regional Semifinals • Played in the 2017 FHSAA Class 6A Regional Championship • Combined for 1,793 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns, along with 141 yards and a touchdown on 13 receptions in his freshman and sophomore seasons • Played for coach Benedict Hyppokite • Chose Florida over Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Tennessee, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 330 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 20 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 32

Keon Zipperer | 6-2, 242 TE | Lakeland, Fla. | Lakeland • Playing in the 2019 Under Armour All-America Game • Helped Lakeland defeat St. Thomas Aquinas to win the 2018 FHSAA Class 7A State Championship • Also helped Lakeland to the 2017 FHSAA Class 7A Regional Championship • Tallied 12 receptions for 256 yards and four touchdowns as a senior • Played for coach Bill Castle • Chose Florida over, Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, and Texas A&M, among others

247Sports Info • 247Sports.com star rating: 4 • 247Sports.com national ranking: 141 • 247Sports.com position ranking: 4 • 247Sports.com state ranking: 16

2.6.19 -- NSD PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

Head Coach Dan Mullen:

DAN MULLEN: As you wrap up signing day and get ready to catch your breath it's awful nice to be able to go home and have it be 80 degrees out here in Florida. That's why it's great to be a Gator. Exciting day for us. A lot of good things happened today. I think with early signing and with it split like this, with signing day, you don't get to go through as many guys. But a really great day for us when you look at some of the additions we had today are huge for us, huge for the future, big pieces for the future of how we continue to build this program and not just in guys on the field but the character of guys off the field. And you look at a guy of, you talk about character off the field and talk about the family and how important it is, as guys talk about what a family program we have and how the families are very involved in the decision. I'm really excited about that because I think that when you look and a lot of the stuff that goes on in recruiting parents come up here and see what our program's about, how their sons are going to be treated and taken care of, treated as part of our family, but also see beyond the field, at the , and what the University of Florida means to them, not just about playing football on Saturdays in the Swamp, but the education that you're going to get, which is the best education in the Southeastern Conference, with the alumni base, with the connections, the networking that it's going to give you for your future beyond football is so special. And I'm really excited. And the character of what guys believe in in the program. When you look at a Diwun Black that comes out and says, what do you feel about your commitment to Florida? I'm committed for infinity, I think is his one tweet was. So but really talented players and really excited for our future for the guys that are joining the Gator family. So questions.

Q. How significant is it just for today and for the long-term being able to beat out basically Alabama and Georgia for two key recruits? DAN MULLEN: Well, I think what we're trying to build. As I said we are here to build and bring back a program that competes regularly for championships and you've got to have good players to do that. If you go back and you look at the championships in the mid-2000s here, there were an awful lot of talent on those rosters. So recruiting is a major part of it. Developing, coaching, all of that is a big part of it. But also having the talent and a lot of that comes into recruiting. So I think that's huge for the program and it just shows the direction that we're headed as a program. I think the commitment our staff makes at recruiting, the quality of coaches that we have that are able to recruit, we spend a majority of today meeting and watching and recruiting in the 2020 class already and preparing for this time next year. So I think that's huge for us and those are, right now those are the teams that played for the SEC championship this year and that's the level we want to be on. So being able to win those recruiting battles is going to help to hopefully beat them on the field as well.

Q. I know you don't put much stock in rankings, but this will put the Gators in the Top-10 for the first time in five years maybe. DAN MULLEN: Good.

(Laughter.)

The funny one is, though, if you look at that in rankings in theory then, we probably shouldn't have finished No. 6 in the country this year so. But I think they're part of it. I think recruiting rankings, part of it is good, but it's also what, you know, it's more important what they become. And for us, because I also, I don't always get too caught up in all the rankings because there's guys, to be honest with you, out there that there are a lot of people, you don't call out one site or another, recruiting sites and all the different rankings systems that are out there, that I'll look and that we have ranked much higher than maybe other people do. And there's ones that have guys that we have ranked much lower than people outside of our staff do. So within our evaluations, I kind of trust our evaluations and we do and there will be some that -- I've gone in the past and looked at guys and said, hey, this guy's ranked as a five-star player and we just don't see that. There's other guys that we ranked as a three-star player and we'll sit there or two-star player. And I've sat in a staff room before and said, you know, this guy has no offers, he's not ranked very high. And we'll watch and I'm like, does anybody see -- you know, I rank him here a, position coach ranks him here, the coordinator ranks him here, we go around the room, does anybody see anything different? We have this guy ranked much higher. So, you know, hopefully it continues to translate. I mean for us, I want to build a program that's consistently ranked in the Top-10. I think this, very rarely do you see teams maybe that are going to go compete for championships that are unranked, unranked in the college football playoff. Unranked, unranked, in just regular seasons. It's teams, you're in the Top-10 consistently and that you have that year where you go make the playoffs and you're winning championships and so we want to consistently be a Top-10 program in every aspect.

Q. After the early signing period you said your two remaining needs were corner back and defensive line. And then after that, you lose your two assistant coaches at those positions and yet you guys still sign two top-50 guys at those spots. You won a lot of recruiting battles, but just how proud were you of winning those? DAN MULLEN: I think it shows about the two assistants we hired, maybe. I'm really excited about the guys that we have brought in on our staff. And you get the early signing, you have a high position need, and you bring in new coaches at that position and you immediately you address that. But I do, I am really excited. I know when you look at the guys we hired, you look at David Turner, a guy that has tremendous experience in the Southeastern Conference. But the great thing for me I think that there's a lot of times you can see guys have maybe a reputation out there or a guy can get on a board and draw pretty good and then they get on your staff and it's not all what you think it is. The great thing with David Turner is I know I've had him on my staff before. I know his ability to go out and recruit top talent. I know his ability to develop that and coach it. If you look at his track record of NFL superstars that maybe weren't the highest recruited guys, if you look at -- I always love the Chris Jones recruiting story, who when he finished his high school football, I think he was a zero star, but he did end up being a five star before signing day. But, so but you take a guy that really wasn't a big name guy and all of a sudden right before signing became it and develop him to really one of the top players in the NFL and he coached him and Fletcher Cox the same way, as well as a bunch of other guys that have played for us. But I think that and his development goes beyond. He and his wife and the family atmosphere, how they take the kids in and the connection that he has with those players is special. So really excited about him and I think the impact he can make on our defensive line. Here, not just the players that are here, but in the future in recruiting as well. Torian, one of the most I've never been in a situation where we lose a coach and basically every player on the team starts texting me, is there any way we can go hire this guy? And I'm like, okay, and then I'm like, you know kind of I had never met Torian and, but everyone of our players was like, but we have to get him, we have to get him. And I'm like, okay, well, he's currently the secondary coach of the Washington Redskins, so that sounds like a really good idea, but you know he was here and he went to the Washington Redskins. So I love the thought process behind that from our players. But as I started to research and as I talked to people, both in college and several people in the NFL about him, I thought, well, wow, it's a really unique deal of how highly everybody spoke of him. And one of the things that brought him down and got to meet him and his personality and be around him and see how he fits in our program. Because I think it's one that everyone, the current players speak really highly of him, guys that have worked with him in college say boy, what a great recruiter, great personality as a college coach. Talked to guys in the NFL and talk about his development and his ability to develop young players and all of that sounds great, but you also have to make sure they fit in within your program and your staff. And then his personality of how he fits in. I think we, I think for us it was, they're two great additions that have the ability to make us better immediately and long-term here in our futures.

Q. Obviously with recruiting classes it's a group of guys. I don't mean to single out anyone, but as you know Alabama has kind of made its living by coming into the Sunshine State and getting guys now two years in a row. You've beaten Nick Saban and his staff on signing day for a guy that they were really coveting. How key is that for you as a program to start winning those battles? DAN MULLEN: I think it is huge. I mean we are the University of Florida. I think for young men in this state, the opportunity to go -- you know what, there's, this coming Friday is a huge deal, because there are acceptance letters going out on Friday here at the university and there will be a lot of celebrating, like we had in our office today, about having people come to Florida. But there's also going to be a lot of people celebrating the opportunity to come to the University of Florida around the state. And you're talking premier students. I think that the young people in the state realize what a special place this is. Not just for the football side of it, but a special place as a university and what it can mean for them. I think when they look at their school and when the valedictorian of your high school they're jumping up and down and celebrating that they have the opportunity to go to the University of Florida. And here's somebody else that's worked their tail off in the classroom and they're an athlete. And so the premier student and the premier athlete in school and hopefully someone that's premier in the arts at the high school, and they're all celebrating together that we have the opportunity to go to the University of Florida and go to the premier university in the state is something special. I think for the young people, and I see not just, like I said, not just playing here, but it's the other doors that it opens for you, the connections that it makes, the networking that it's going to have. And for our guys that -- today's exciting, they got to put the hat on. But a couple years from now they're going to get to walk across the stage and hang on their wall -- they will probably keep that hat. This was my signing-day hat and right next to it more importantly is the degree from the University of Florida that they get to complete the full circle the power of what it is to be a Gator.

Q. Jonathan Greenard was a guy you added last month. How important was it in terms of getting him? DAN MULLEN: I think it's huge when you look at your roster and you look at CeCe, who goes on and he's graduating and going to the NFL, you can't always project everybody else and Jakai makes a decision to declare for the draft and leave early, kind of leaves a big gap at that spot. And to get a guy that with Jonathan coming in that has that experience, that has played at an extremely high level, that has been productive and can make an immediate impact, you look at some of our young guys that have the potential to do that with a Mohamoud that's on campus, Khris Bogle who we signed today, Lloyd Summerall is a pass rusher coming off the edge. We think those guys are going to have bright futures. But in the immediate they're still, they, they haven't been through it at this level and hopefully they are going to be able to make an immediate impact with us when they get here. But you're talking about a guy that has shown that he can do it at this level and is going to be ready to go play when we kick off the season next year. That's really an important addition for us.

Q. What is kind of your overall philosophy on transfers when it comes to building roster? You obviously benefited quite a bit last year as well. DAN MULLEN: Absolutely, well one of the things, whether it's a transfer, to me that also includes a lot of like junior college players as well, you know. We bring guys in -- and I sit with them, it's -- recruiting is a decision that you're looking and your family and there's a lot that goes on and you take all these visits and then it's very much a long-term decision. You're spending the next four years, three, four, some guys three maybe, but four to five years on campus and doing those things. When you look at grad transfers, you're looking at one year on campus. Or junior college players, it's a much more condensed window of what you look at. So to me you're not looking at programs where somebody, okay, this program can develop. I can have the opportunity to play short-term and develop me to be great long-term. A lot of times you're looking at a transfer is what's my immediate? Am I getting on the field immediately? So usually when I'm dealing with transfers, you're looking at immediate needs to play. I'm not looking to just build depth. I think a lot of people I look at, guys sometimes that programs like, boy, they transferred to a school and you know sometimes you wonder, you feel bad for guys. They're transferring to a school and they're going to add depth or be a backup at that program instead of have the ability to immediately help. Ours is if we're going to take a transfer, it's to take someone that's going to make an immediate impact.

Q. The kid Henderson from Texas. How did you guys end up with him? And I know he had decommitted a couple times from a couple different schools, so what was your thought process in taking his commitment and how worried were you about him? DAN MULLEN: Well, until the papers come through, you're always checking on things. But Arjei is a guy that we recruited early, had shown interest early, had committed elsewhere, and but we would always stay in contact with. I think one of the things that he wanted, that helped is him getting around some of our players at the All-Star Game and communicating and talking to those guys. And he really came out and came out strong and said, coach, I really want to commit to Florida. And I'm like, okay, but having -- he committed places, I said, you know, I kind of went through more the why. And he's a guy that jumped. When he said he jumped all in, the great thing is from the second he committed he's been awesome. He's been solid as can be in everything. Helping us recruit and what he does, obviously he's a very, very talented player, got tremendous ball skills as a wide receiver, and big play potential. One of the things to me that was huge is, as you said, like how confident do you feel when that happens. And from that day he and his family have been all Gator. So that's -- one of the things that you get to see that you respect a lot is when guys -- in the recruiting process I love guys that, everyone handles their process differently and it is, and there's a lot of pressure put on these young guys. I think a lot of people look and there's guys doing press conferences today and all of this and everybody forgets these are still like 17-year-old high school kids. And even though they get this attention and all this hype, there's lots of pressure that go on them. One of the things I love is guys that when they say something and it constantly follows through with what their word is that they're going to say. I have no problem with guys and guys change their mind, that's okay, sometimes that happens. But when you have conversations with them they're never wishy-washy conversations. This is why I'm doing what I'm doing. This is what I see. And this is -- you'll have guys commit and decommit. But I like guys that will decommit and say, coach, this is why I'm doing it. I have no problem with that. You would be shocked some of the conversations. Guys call and say, coach, I'm going to decommit, here's the reasons I'm decomitting, and I say okay. Coach, I still really like your school, and I want to pay attention to your school and here's how I see this process going moving forward. And I love guys that even though they committed and decommitted and this, as you see the process moving forward, and you see it work out the exact way they say. I have a lot of respect for guys that do that. I think those are guys that you feel confident are going to have good futures, too, because when they have a vision, they say they're going to do something, and they follow through with it in what they're going to do.

Q. You guys really addressed the edge rusher position. Fair to say the interior defensive line is probably the biggest focus for 2020? DAN MULLEN: That's going to be a focus for us is, is guys that, especially position flexibility. Not just the big guys inside, but the guys that can play end or tackle, a little bit bigger bodies, is going to be a huge part of this upcoming recruiting class for us in 2020. That, receivers is going to be a big aspect for us, with four senior wide receivers on the roster this year.

Q. If you could put a percentage on the recruiting you did between signing day A and signing day B on 2020's class and 2019's class. Was it like 50/50 or? DAN MULLEN: Well, if you go by numbers, no, because we're only, we were only recruiting a very small number of people between signing day A and signing day B for the 2019 class. Now we put a lot of effort into those small number of people. So time, you're very -- probably still more to 2020. But the amount of time you put in per prospect is much heavier in 2019 than 2020. But you're also limited. The thing is as the head coach you can make one visit to the prospect. Well, for the 2019 guys that means over that time frame there were only a couple of prospects I visited of 2019. So the majority of time you're going to see 2020. Only a couple prospects you're recruiting, where in 2020 you're recruiting an enormous amount. So you're probably spending a lot more time that way, even though time per prospect would be way heavy the other way.

Q. Do you think with the transfer rules getting easier it's easier and easier and easier to transfer? We see multiple people transfer, that it's almost harder to evaluate these classes now because it's almost like who are you going to have in three years, not how much -- DAN MULLEN: It's interesting. I think like everything it will go through its cycles. I mean to me for all the prospects when you look at it, is, again, you get to the whys. I certainly hope as people look at the transfer deal that they have a legitimate reason for why they are doing it. I've never had a problem with a guy, one, first off I look at it. I want guys that want to be here at Florida, want to be Gators. I think that is really important to our program, you know, and if you don't want to be, then it's, that's not fun for anybody. Our program's -- we're pretty demanding and we have high expectations and high standards here and want guys that really want to be a part of it. Now, guys that transfer doesn't mean they don't want to be a part of it. There's lots of different reasons that go into it and I love, I have no problem with guys transferring if it's all for the right reasons. One of the first things if a guy ever comes into me and says, coach, I'm thinking of transferring. I know it might be easier now than it used to be, but to me I don't view it any differently. I would make it just as easy a year ago or two years ago as I would today for guys. I just hope that you always hope it's for the right reason. I think that you hope today that they don't make it -- the new rule, everyone says it makes it easier -- does it allow guys to potentially transfer for wrong reasons and not for the right reasons. And I think that can be harmful for the development of young people. And it puts them in bad situations that they might not want to be a part of.

Q. And do you feel like getting to know these players that you feel pretty good about that part of it, you know what I mean? DAN MULLEN: Yeah. I think you know why. You know, I mean it's -- one of the -- I always go back and I learned as a younger coach, to me in the transfer rule and throw people up, but you know at the University of Utah you had Alex Smith as our starting quarterback back and he took over after Brett Elliott had been our starter and got hurt in a game. At the end of the season Brett Elliott walked in my office and he was older than Alex, and he said, coach, I'm thinking about transferring. I said well, that will put us in a tough situation, because we didn't have any other quarterbacks on scholarship and the only guy, we had a guy named Brian Johnson committed to us that was going to be, that was 16 years old at the time coming in would be the only other scholarship quarterback. And I said, Brett, I'm going to give you every opportunity to earn the starting job in spring. And he said, I know you will, coach, I believe in you, of course you will. He said, but here's the thing, Alex Smith is a really good player and he's younger than I am and if I don't earn that spot and beat him out and, which I might, I might not, I'm not afraid to compete, not afraid of anything, is, I'm sitting the bench with, he goes, and I love to play. I want to be on the field. I love Utah, I love the program, I love you guys as coaches, and I want to play. And he said, I don't ever want to sit here and look and say, my best opportunity to play is one of my best friends to get hurt. I said, you know what, that's a great point. And so we kind of went through everything, and he ends up transferring and ends up being a first team All-American and winning the National Championship at a smaller school. And I think from that day, as a young coach, I learned a lot of let's sit down and go through all of the reasons why and why that made sense. That made perfect sense. It ended up being really good for him. It hurt the depth within our personal program at the time, but it worked out to be really good for him and his future. So from that point I've always from this day built on that on transfers. First guy I want to transfer I said, why, where do you want to go, why do you think that's a better option for you, what are the issues. And I wanted this jersey number and I'm not wearing that jersey here. I said okay, well listen, that's a terrible reason. I've been here for six weeks, you know, and oh, that's not a good reason. Like I tell my kids, start and finish the year. A good time to transfer is, I've had guys come in and say I want to quit. You know, don't come in mid-March and say okay, let's finish it through and guess what? Let's finish it through and at the end of the semester let's look at something. If this isn't for you, here's why it's not for you, and let's find something good, but learn a lesson to just kind of finish. There's little segments that make sense for when you should look at those things. But to me that's all part of developing and parenting. One of our jobs on campus is to try to be a, somewhat be a parent model for a lot of the players that come here. We're not going to replace their parents, but we're going to be in that mold and helping them. So I treat everybody how I would want my own kids treated and the same way I would talk to my kids about making those decisions. So I just hope that it continues to move forward. I think it is good for guys because there are a lot of guys where there could be something that's a big positive that for them to be at a different school or a different program for the right reasons and you hope that that's why -- it continues down that path for people to make decisions in that way.

Q. During the early signing period you say defensive back depth is something you got to address in January. Two weeks later you got Chris Steele going on national TV announcing that in 48 hours he's going to be an early enrollee. What's that process like for you as a head coach and what are you getting in him? DAN MULLEN: Chris has done a really good job since he's been here and especially with the opportunity to enroll early for him is going to get him invaluable experience. When you look, especially with Marco still going to be coming back in spring, and not a hundred percent, he's going to have an opportunity to very much run with the 1s. And if you look at last spring, with Trey Dean coming in and getting reps with the 2s and getting a lot of reps with the 1s during spring ball, if you would have asked me this time last year boy are you going to have, do you think Trey Dean's going to start 10 games or 11 games for you as a true freshman at the corner position? Probably would have said, boy, that would be a stretch for us, but the opportunity he would have would be there for him to get that experience and get ready to go play. And I think Chris walks into that same situation right now where, because of some injuries, because of how we're going to move some things around, with the departure of Chauncey at the star position for us, that Chris is going to have that opportunity to get reps that are going to prepare him to be ready to go play and it was really good that Trey got all that experience in spring because lo and behold after three plays of game two, he was the guy. And so I think Chris is really walking into that situation. Trey's a guy we're going to looking to move to the star position potentially to fill that void that Sean Chauncey's leaving us moving forward which leaves an opportunity at corner for us to have guys that we need to go get reps for. And I think corner depth moving forward in spring is we need that depth. Last year if you looked, I think I mean C.J. was a guy, boy can I return punts? No. Can I return kicks? No, you're already playing 70 some plays. I would rather you not even play all the plays you're playing at corner for us and keep you a little bit fresher as the year goes on, but we didn't have the depth and Trey as a freshman had to go do that a lot last year. So I think the depth that we have brought in and the opportunity for these guys to play and the experience they're going to get in spring is going to allow us that depth moving forward at the corner position to potentially say, C.J., go catch a kick or a punt every once in a while or hopefully have him even be a better player next year because -- what's amazing is I expect him to have a better year and play less. Because we have built the depth up.

Q. You mentioned Arjei helped recruit other guys to the class or whatever? DAN MULLEN: I think other guys recruited Arjei and then Arjei being as positive as he was was huge.

Q. How big is that to have the class recruiting each other and is that something you guys push? DAN MULLEN: I do, I think the guys make relationships, I think if you look at Diwun black and the amazing job he, the positiveness of the person and the personality and how that can draw other people in and Diwun's an amazing story, I can't wait to get him on campus for us. He's one that just like Arjei but if you look and with all the stuff he's been through he goes to the Poly Bowl and puts on a show, but I think he's got that personality that as they go recruit, people want to be around. So I think that is huge and I think as guys look and these guys get to know each other travelling around and you look and I think even if you look in the state of Florida, there's a lot of great players in the state of Florida, a lot of great high school football players if not one of the best states, if not the best one of the best certainly in the country of high school players here. So it means a lot of a bunch of guys they get together and look and say, hey, we are from Florida and we're going to go to the University of Florida. And we're going to represent the Gator Nation and represent this state and go make a statement and those guys kind of stick together and recruit each other and stay together, that's huge. That can help lead to championships and put the Gators back into national prominence as a team that competes for championships on a regular basis.

Q. Can you talk about any specifics with Elam and Bogle and what you think won them over to come to Florida. DAN MULLEN: Well I think a lot of the guys that comes in, you look at bow jell and Chris bow jell especially, the family atmosphere of the program. That they have very close families, they have a great family unit at home, and I think when they come up on campus and see one of the things we talk to our guys about in recruiting is the development of what we're going to do and they see how, what our standards and expectations are, how hard we're going to push them, on the field, in the classroom, and those expectations. I think we stay away, our staff, a lot from a lot of the fluff in recruiting sometimes. But on top of that they do see the family part of the program. Of how coaches' wives and kids are around, how we have them over to the house. That feel how, if there is an issue that they're going to be taken care of. That they see that no matter what the situation, in our program -- to me, when I tell them, I don't tell the families, I'm responsible for your son's development as long as he's a first team all-conference player. Our commitment is, you know, when you join the Gator family, we're responsible for your development no matter what happens. And they look at maybe a guy like a Randy Russell, who joined our program and all of a sudden a week after being on campus his dreams kind of in one part of his life are shattered, yet he's still a major part of our program, so much so he was voted on to the leadership committee of our team by his teammates. And I think when a lot of the families, they come and they see that family aspect that we have here, of our commitment to developing young men, not just to be champions on the field but off the field, in the classroom, in the community, in every aspect of their life to develop them to become the best that they can be, I think that that is a very comforting feeling for families that have looked and worked and these young men that have looked and worked to make themselves successful in not just one phase, in every part of their life and have high aspirations for every part of their life that they see that they can accomplish that here within our program and that we embrace that and that we promote it and that they know that they're going to be taken care of here.

Q. By the way, up date, says they're 1,400 people in the transfer database. I just saw -- DAN MULLEN: There are what?

Q. 1,400. DAN MULLEN: People?

Q. Yeah. DAN MULLEN: On the database.

Q. That on transfer. I just saw a tweet -- DAN MULLEN: No, I think that is right.

Q. 1,400 sounds outrageous. DAN MULLEN: I know there's been over a thousand in the portal. Which, I don't know, it will be -- it would be interesting to see how all this shakes out for everybody. There's a lot of little details to it that I don't think everybody's experienced yet that go into that. That it will be interesting to see how that all continues to play out in the future. I saw there's a kid in the portal one day and out the next. Or I don't know. We'll see.

Q. My question though was, I was just letting you know because you had that spiel on transfers you might be interested in that. DAN MULLEN: But I mean think -- right? There's not that many scholarships. That's what's crazy. And that's a lot of people.

Q. So what kind of versatility do guys like Black and Hopper particularly bring to the defense? I mean I saw Diwun Black, his stats blew my mind he had like 12 picks and three touchdowns as a sophomore? DAN MULLEN: He was a six three and a half 225 pound safety. That gives you a lot of flexibility right there. But one of the things we look for, we even talked about where we're doing a lot, we're watching all the film doing a lot on 2020 class and one of the things we look for is where do you add position flexibility. The reason being is that one you don't want to be locked in that you can only play one player, you don't know where our needs are for the team, where we think this -- we might -- we're not always perfect in recruiting, where especially you look at guys that are great athletes and we say, okay, I project this guy to play this position. Right? And he comes and he's not very good at the one you thought he would be, but he's really good at something that you didn't, maybe you didn't think he would be at. So position flexibility is huge. And then the other part of position flexibility it allows you to create matchup problems. You look at a guy like even on our team, Kyle Pitts, what position does he play? He's kind of a tight end that plays wide receiver. That's a tough matchup on people. I still to this day don't know if people can define what position ever played here. You know? Was he a receiver, was he a running back, was he, you know, because, right? And it's, because it's a mismatch problem. Kadarius Toney. Boy, there's a lot of different little things we can do with him that creates matchup issues for people. So as a coach I love guys that have position flexibility because we can put you on the field and you can create matchup problems for other teams. And I think when you do those things, that's a huge advantage for you and so when you look at a guy like a Diwun Black like a Tyron Hopper that have DB's that played corner and safety, that have DB athleticism and physicalness and size to play linebacker, those are tough matchups for offenses. And it allows you a lot of time so that if you look on the defensive side of things and say, hey, okay, what position is Kyle Pitts going to play? Doesn't matter because I have a guy that can match up to him in either spot. I have a guy that can match the size to him. So you want to move him into the core, good, we're going to make this guy play linebacker. You're going to move him out of the core, good, this guy can play DB and we don't have to sub with you and get caught in a mismatch advantage the other way. So I think that's why it's huge for us.

Q. Speaking of that, how do you foresee some of these guys maybe fitting in a that safety role and providing depth there, maybe guys like Kiel or Steele or Kimbrough? DAN MULLEN: Well one of the things is, for me, is we had some decent depth at safety, last year, at the safety position. The star is the one to me that we got to go create the depth for. The stars and the corner more for that, that's why I look for those guys with the ability to come in and play corner for us right away for us on the perimeter because that gives you the flexibility to move, to get one of the corners into going to the star position. And safety's going to be a bigger need for us moving forward in recruiting, more so than now because you have every one of our safeties comes back, with, you know, so I don't think that's a huge immediate need for us right now.

Q. And then building off what he said, when you have guys out there that are recruiting alongside of you have you had any of them bring you someone that maybe wasn't on your radar or not as high on your list? DAN MULLEN: Absolutely, well you know what I check, when these guys go to camps and a lot of times they will go to these all-star games and I'll ask, tell me about this guy and I've, we have, more so than not, you eliminate guys than take guys, to be honest with you. Like, coach, that's not a guy that's going to fit in our program. That's not, his attitude his demeanor this is a guy that got in a lot of trouble, this is a guy that I don't know that we want around our team. This is a guy I have question marks about. Especially guys you really trust that have been in the program and you know and you know their personality, you know why they make decisions and they say, I question this guy's motive, his passion, whatever it is, there's little things. But it does work the other way, where I have guys that are at the all-star games and they say, coach, we should recruit this guy. One, he's interested. Because a lot of times you go these all-star games and you're looking and everybody's got offers from around the country, but they say, hey, this guy is really interested in us. Okay. Legitimately interested. Okay. And I ask why and he says, hey, and we really should recruit him, because of this, this and this. Boy, he's the hardest working guy, he's the toughest guy for me to cover, he's the toughest guy for, you know, he was the toughest guy to get open on, I tell you what. You go to one- on-one pass rushing, nobody can beat him. That type of mindset, the leadership of guys, it is, it's interesting and you hear that from the players and I like to hear what the players have to say. I do, after recruiting weekends, I always go ask our players what they thought about the guys that were in here visiting us and what their thought about those guys were. So all of that is part of the evaluation process during recruiting.

12.19.18 -- NSD PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

Head Coach Dan Mullen:

DAN MULLEN: All right. Where are we going today in are we going to recruiting first? I think a pretty good day for us today.

Obviously a good start, anyway to this signing class, you know, with the early signing period and we still got a bunch of work to do but I think our -- our coaches did a great job. Worked real hard. Put this class together. I know our support staff, everybody, there are a lot of people that are involved in it, in recruiting, whether it's from us traveling, from organization to recruiting weekends, I think everybody really put an unbelievable effort, you know and you got to see that with some of the success we had today with this recruiting class.

You know, I always love -- boy, what do we think of the class. Well, unfortunately, you're going to get the same, right. If you haven't heard me before, you'll get the same answer I give just about every single year. Come ask me in 2 to 3 years and I'll tell you if we had a good recruiting class or not.

These guys, you bring in young guys and we see where they are now and how they develop throughout their career and see how successful that they are. So also, you know, a lot going on with the practice. You know, we have one more practice tomorrow morning, kind much wrap up as we wrap up our Bowl prep here on campus. Guys will have a couple days off and then we'll report Sunday night up to Atlanta for the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl and continue preparation with practice starting on Monday with that.

So we've had a pretty good week of practice. I'm pleased with how our guys transition from kind of the pre-Bowl practice, developmental practices into the back into game week practices and so they have handed that pretty well and you know, it will be hopefully we get it all set.

It's all of our first time together for a Bowl game so they are kind of learning what it's all about, and hopefully they get used to this routine and we go to a lot of great Bowl games in years to come.

Questions?

Q. When you're looking at the early signings, is there any positions you feel like you're pretty much done now with? DAN MULLEN: Well, I don't ever say that but I think there's -- there's -- I think it's a great start and I think we strengthened a lot of certain areas with talent and depth for the future and then there's other areas, you know, that we still have, you know, we still need to fill several spots. The main areas that -- that I think we have to -- that we're going to look to focus on and as we continue in this -- to the second signing is going to be -- is obviously going to be secondary and defensive line for us.

Q. You signed three kids from Lakeland today. DAN MULLEN: Yeah.

Q. How much did you use what happened in 2007 as a recruiting pitch or how often did you talk to those kids about that? DAN MULLEN: You know, I mean, a little bit because here is the thing, I was here to sign those kids so I knew the situation. I know the players. There are guys that in high school, the 2007 guys, guys that won back-to-back high school state and national championships and then came to Florida and won a National Championship, you know and it was great, the guys at Lakeland were able to win the state championship this year, so hopefully we can continue that and they help the -- the opportunity to help lead us to a National Championship in the future.

You know, I think when you look at that a lot of times, they were guys that were young and growing up and looking up to, you know, guys like and the Pouncey brothers and Ahmad Black and all the success those guys have and now, you know, they are carrying on the tradition to come here to Florida and, you know, hopefully they get the opportunity to win a National Championship here, as well.

Q. There's always a ton of angst from fans about recruiting, irrational angst -- DAN MULLEN: Hey, you know what three years from now, it's either very rational or very irrational.

Q. So what was your feeling about the way everything came together? DAN MULLEN: You know, I don't know if there where are a lot of surprises to be honest with you, and that's kind of what you look for. I thought it was a pretty solid day.

I still think, you know, I still think there's additions we're going to make to this class, I think with the early signing, with the two signing days, I think everybody gets so excited today, okay, how was the signing class, where are you. Well, we're partially there, you know what I mean.

There's still going to be more additions to this -- this recruiting class moving forward. I don't know, you know, I mine, the hardest one for me is I'll go back and I remember sitting there and there was a lot, as you say, the angst with everybody, signed a recruiting class, and you know, according to rankings, it was probably one of the lowest classes I signed in my career and I had this quarterback no one had heard of, Prescott, and I had a running back and two-star running back, Josh Robinson, who is this Preston Smith kid, he's not a highly ranked kid on his high school team. And that's a group that went on to rebound the No. 1 team in the country for half a season.

And so a lot of NFL players, there are a bunch more I'm missing but McKinney who is a two-star, who is this two-star quarterback athlete kid. And you know, because I think there were a lot of things in those guys that we saw, that may be weren't shown in high school or camps or in the star rankings but you know, as we got to know them and knew what they would -- how they would develop and fit our program, would be more successful. You know, I don't -- we'll see.

We'll see. To be honest with you, I don't know whether our fans are happy or sad or excited or nervous or, you know, and I'm sure I can get on my Twitter feed tonight and see a little bit or a lot of both, you know. So we'll see.

Q. By the same token, you talk about being such a competitor. I remember when Urban used to come in his first couple years, he'd be admittedly had been looking at the rankings like crazy and all that. Do you look at him and do you have a -- do you feel compelled to move up as high as you can go? DAN MULLEN: No, because I -- I -- you know, the hard one for me. You know, we might have guys that are ranked higher than I would have ranked them and we have guys that are probably ranked lower than I would have ranked them.

You know, it's funny, it depends what website you go to. It depends how guys are ranked and if you came -- so you know, it's kind of a functional -- a functional thing and with players.

Now obviously there are some that are easy to figure out that, boy, this guy, the three-play guys or four-play guys, they are not to evaluate, this guy's a freak show, but a lot of the other ones are you've got to really pay attention to what's going on and your thoughts and where the development of them can come.

Q. That year was your lowest class by the way. DAN MULLEN: Boy, why you just call it up?

Q. Did my homework earlier. DAN MULLEN: And there were some pretty good players, Dak was a pretty -- well I guess if you're a one-name athlete, you're a pretty big name. When you say Dan -- (Laughter).

I know y'all jump right to me but there are some people that don't jump right to me that think that way.

Q. This one's for you, Dan. The coaching carousel, obviously a big thing every year and not any turnover in the SEC but when you look back at last year, how much different for you was this month of December when you're not having to hire a full set of coaches, move? DAN MULLEN: Totally different deal. I'm still moving because I'm still not in my house yet, but, right -- working really hard to get me in there, so that's a good thing.

But this year, this year is exhausting a little bit. Even though last year, you know what I mean, because last year you come in and you're on adrenaline, but you know, there's a lot of little things this year, you know, especially Bowl prepare, practice, dealing with all our players.

That was probably a little different than last year, you know and so the -- when you look last year over the course of the period, you're exhausted and all of a sudden Sunday hits when it goes quiet and there's no one around campus. Sunday hit this week, I think I got to bed about 4:00 in the morning, a little after four last night and was in the office by 6:30 this morning. Because you know, you're doing both ends of it right there. I think that's what's a little bit different.

Q. Last year you signed 13 in the early window, you signed 20, people speculate that had maybe in the second year of early signing it would kind of slow down a little bit. Do you see that for top teams that want to compete every year; they are going to be signing more often, full classes if they can, in December? DAN MULLEN: I don't know. I'm interested to see, I would bet, what is it last year, 74 percent, 75 say, signed early, nationally. I bet it's going to be in that same window -- how does it look so far?

Q. It's on track to be a little bit more. Last year it was 66 percent of 3-star prospects signed early, so now it's looking around 70, 75 percent of those. DAN MULLEN: Okay. Yeah, I think people are getting used to it and we'll see. So hard to say after year two, you know, of -- I think you give it a couple years and see where it's all at with -- with opportunity, and you know, I bet it will always stay around that same number. I don't know that it will ever go all the way up. But I bet it stays around that 70 -- I would bet 75 percent is about the number on an average year for, you know, overall, you know, that most schools will sign -- 75 percent of the guys will sign early and 25 percent will sign on the second signing window.

Q. 11 offensive linemen the last two years you've signed. Do you feel like you've established your line of the future and big a priority was that this year? DAN MULLEN: It's huge. We lose a bunch this season of offensive linemen graduating. But I think the foundation of a team is really at both lines of scrimmage. If you have a great foundation on the offensive and defensive lines, it's pretty easy to build the program around that. I think if you look at successful teams, they can control the line of scrimmage and control it on both sides of the ball. So you really have to have a great foundation on the offensive line.

Q. And just how big a priority, obviously you're losing a lot of guys but even coming in last year and getting some guys and to have that many, I think you have five early enrollees coming in this year? DAN MULLEN: On the offensive line, yeah. Because we're going to need some of them to play right away and offensive line is one of those positions that guys that redshirt, and a lot of them come in want to redshirt and want to develop, and just because of the nature of the position, but for us, if you look at where we're at, you know, we're going to need a couple of those guys on the field playing next year for us that just sign, so it's great. We're hoping to get most of them, most of them in early and get them going through spring.

Also to replenish everything that we're going to lose on the offensive line.

Q. You had the Lakeland kid, you said there was not much surprise today. You had the Lakeland kids on campus. What was your sense when they left their official visit last weekend and you go into a quiet period? Where do you think they are leaning going into today? DAN MULLEN: I felt pretty good about it. One great thing for those guys, you know and guys enjoy the recruiting process. You know, and the one thing I appreciate, I think it's fun and I've loved guys to have a fun time with it but I'm also, you know, there's a serious aspect to it because it's -- you know, you're talking about people's futures and you're talking about these young men, their lives. It's not a game. It's their future and their life and it's going to have a huge impact, where they go to school has a huge impact on the rest of their life.

I really appreciate those guys. Those guys were nothing but straightforward with me, and everything they talked about and said they were going to do, they did right from the beginning all the way through the end. Now, personally for them, did it ever waiver and what was going through their mind and how they were getting through everything, possibly. But all I can go off of from them is all the conversations we had and all through the process, they were pretty steady in how the whole thing played out from -- from beginning to the end.

Q. From a recruiting standpoint, how important is it to have that pipeline and to recruit that area with Lakeland? DAN MULLEN: You look at the whole central Florida area is major Gator country, and so for us, to go down there and you look at the history and all the great players that have played here, and not just Lakeland, the whole part of the state, there's a lot of tradition, a lot of great players that have been here and that's really important for us to have -- to get the best players in the State of Florida from that area.

Q. Ten early enrollees, how big is that? DAN MULLEN: I think it helps for those guys. I'm not one that pushes it on guys because it's a very personal decision. Parents ask me, what do you think, I say, well, what do you think? What are you looking to get out of this?

You know, but the opportunity for these guys to come in, they get to go through an off-season. They will get to go through spring practice and get a jump start in the classroom on progress towards their degree. So I think that helps.

It certainly helps as you go through spring, having depth and repetitions for guys to get that work in in the spring and it helps jump start their career.

Q. And Jalon Jones, what kind of prospect do you think he is? DAN MULLEN: He's a guy I've known for quite a while. He's a very athletic, got great size, he's a guy that is always worked very hard at the discipline part of it, being a quarterback. You know, and what I mean by the technique and fundamentals and always improving himself, you know, he's one of those guys that's kind of fun. He works hard to play the position, technically at a high level but he has the athleticism and skill to improvise and make plays on his own.

Q. Can you talk about Wright? DAN MULLEN: Nay'Quan obviously is a guy you get to see, as a back, he has a great combination of power and speed, great quickness in how he plays the game. You're not going to look at him and say, boy, this is a big power back but he has the size to play physical. But he also has the make you miss and speed to be a dynamic player on the open field.

In camp he wanted to play wide receiver and do one-on-ones and you see the competitive edge first off and also the skill-set that he has to catch the ball coming out of the backfield, you know, and to be able to be a threat not just running the ball but as -- you know, as we use the tailbacks in the passing game.

Q. And then the linebackers was probably one of the more recruit the groups in this class, can you talk about them? DAN MULLEN: It's different, there's inside and outside backers for us with how those guys play. If you look at it, we have some older guys at that position. A couple of, you know, senior this year, but also next year, you're going to have a whole bunch of guys that are going to be walking out the door, so we had to make sure that as those guys are leaving, as they become seniors, the next guys are ready to step in and have got a little year under their belt ready to go.

Q. Getting Jaelin Humphries this year, he was coveted by everyone. How big to get his commitment and hang on to him? DAN MULLEN: It's huge. Like you said, he's a big athletic guy on the defensive line. That's a big position that we're not finished recruiting at yet for us, but it is huge because like I said, I mean, that's where you have to have a great foundation on -- I think we brought in some guys, some athletic guys, guys that can go rush the passer, whether it be we have some of those, whether they be defensive end or outside backers, we have a couple of those but it's the guys that can be big, physical and athletic difference-makers that can play inside and outside that as much as we really need to build on in the future.

Q. You already hit on Hopper and he blew up as his recruitment went on. How key was his commitment as well, I know you had to hang on his pledge, too. DAN MULLEN: It was. It was big. He's a guy we identified early that has a lot of potential. He's a guy that's played corner and safety in high school, had a great -- played everywhere, has great length and athleticism and I think he's a guy you're going to see as he gets here his ability to grow. You know, gets in our program and now you have a guy that has length and all of a sudden puts on the size but in -- and is a linebacker that, you know, had corner cover skills in high school, and so that type of athleticism is what we want to have on our defense.

Q. And then lastly, so much is made about the State of Florida and going to the powerhouses and getting those pipelines, but beyond Georgia, you guys hit it last year and this year and you go into Beaufort and get a player out of that powerhouse program. How big to recruit the peach state? DAN MULLEN: It's big. You really want to look at it, the rounded off number, you say five hours, put a five-hour radius around a campus, extend to six I guess, that really encompasses the entire state of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, even starting to touch on Mississippi, and parts of Tennessee and South Carolina and you get that radius of guys. That's where you'll build and where we'll recruit players. We'll recruit top players from all around the country but generally speaking that's your local area. It's easier for players to come to campus, easier for them to come visit and they can get in a car and parents can get in a car and drive and come to all the games. I think we're talking to these guys over the next three years, the freshmen class, it's something like we play something like 25 of 36 games in the State of Florida in their first three years. In that area, parents are not having to travel all around the country to see their son play, so you know, in that area, I think there's a big plus, but you know, it's important that you be strong in your local area, and then you can go and recruit -- then recruit the best national players outside of that area.

Q. Is there a certain number of defensive linemen you're looking for in the second period? DAN MULLEN: I don't have put numbers on stuff because we're going to look at guys that we think fit our program and go after those guys. I'm not going to put a number on it because if you say, hey, there's one, but, hey, the number's one, but there's two that we have the opportunity to get, we'll be really happy. You know, if you say the number is two and we only get one, I'm not going to force somebody that won't fit our program just to fill a number.

So what we do is you kind of build around and you're going to get guys that really fit your program. But that is a need for us.

Q. Is that an advantage or disadvantage to having I guess more people focusing on those last few prospects? DAN MULLEN: I think one thing and I do think that's a lot of prospects, if you look and you play one of these positions, some of the guys waiting for the second signing period are looking at where people went, you know, what -- okay, so I think a lot of people, this school is telling me this and all of a sudden, they said I'm going to be this one guy they are going to sign to that position and all of a sudden they signed four guys to that position.

As they look at it going forward, I would imagine in lot of guys wait until the second signing period are going to look at where the depth chart; how they fit in, the opportunity to play and what the need of the school is going to be.

I think that part of it makes it easier for us to focus our attention and for them to focus the attention on us and say, okay, coach, I understand what you're saying now, here is the need at your school, this is exactly where I fit in with every other prospect and how it's going to play out in the future.

Q. I think each of the Lakeland kids might have mentioned the family atmosphere here is a big reason. How do you create that? It can come off as like, oh, yeah, of course, kind of cliché, but how do you guys truly create that and go about that when you have recruits here and just to show it to them, portray it? DAN MULLEN: That's one thing I try to -- hopefully it's real. That's one that's important to me and guys within our program. That's a big thing for me many hiring coaches and as we put a staff together and that's one thing we talk about, we want you to treat players like you would treat your own son. We want coaches families around, wives around the program as much as possible and not just recruiting, but around all of our players on the team.

And you know, I think it's kind of how I've run the program. Megan, I mean, she's -- that's how she knows how to run the program. She's around not just in recruiting. She's around the players. She's around all the time, and you know, but I tell them that, a lot it, in the family program, we treat them like our own son. Means we're going to have really high expectations. We're not a family program that's just all lovey-dovey.

I don't know, if you ever see me and Megan together after the game, you'd probably laugh. Guys come by, she'll be like, oh, my goodness, you did so amazing, give him a big hug; I'm like, he dropped a pass in the third quarter. Oh, and you did such a great job; I'm like, he jumped off-sides. I'm probably a lot more critical and she's extremely loving. But we're a pretty good team that way.

Q. What makes Robinson such a good recruiter? DAN MULLEN: As a young coach coming in here, it was one of the things in knowing about him that I spent a bunch of time with him on in coming in is, one, asking a lot of questions, how to recruit, how to do it the right way, how to, you know, especially young coaches, there's a lot that goes on out there that make sure to be careful of putting yourself in a bad situation, and I think one, he's very intelligent, very motivated. I think you see that as a position coach on the field, he's got a huge future. But I think that, you know, what you're seeing is him growing and being able to handle those situations and I think his mature, he's a very young man that he's able to handle the situation he gets put in.

But also, we all try to stay young with it and keep a young mindset, whether you're wearing -- I wear my Jordans and all that. I try to keep a young mindset because you're around -- I'm going to spend my life around 18- to 22-year-olds, and I think for him, the ability is he can look at guys and he was -- he's played in this league. He's had success in this league and that wasn't that long ago and I think his ability to relate really helps as well with the players.

Q. Ja'Markis was a guy that was off the radar throughout his recruitment and never went to camp. How were you able to keep -- DAN MULLEN: I'm a huge Ja'Markis Weston fan. What's his ranking? Okay, good, we'll see. I'm a big fan of his. I think he's a tremendous young man, has great potential, great athleticism, great size, but most importantly amazing character and work ethic for a young guy.

You look at him, academically, takes care of his business. You go down and how people talk about him around the school, how he's respected in the town is pretty special. How he handled the whole recruiting process, first class, and his image, if you want to -- if you look at what your brand is, he's got a first-class brand. I'm really happy to have him part of the family. He's got potential to have a pretty special career here at Florida.

Q. You talked about taking care of your own backyard. DAN MULLEN: You know, Trent is a guy that everybody you talk to, you know, boy, he's an amazing athlete, not just -- I mean, football, basketball, and you know, when he gets to concentrate on one sport, I don't think he's probably ever lifted a weight in his life. He's going to get here and when he gets on that training program, physically going to be a different guy. He has great size and athleticism, played all over the field in football, he's a phenomenal basketball player. You know, we've got to see where he's going to end up playing for us. You know, I have an idea where we're going to start him but it's not even fair to label that right now for him because I want to see him as I starts going through workouts and as he grows and progresses, so I think he's got a really -- a really bright future. You look at those guys, and you look at Trent and you look at Ja'Markis, they were committed before I got here. It shows, they want to be Gators. You know, there's something about that, when you have that extra pride in there and what it means to be a Gator, I think that's great to have in the program of guys that believe in that and I think that, you know, those are guys that end up being great leaders, not just great playmakers, talented guys, they end up having a little bit of leadership in them because of what it means to put on that uniform and that helmet.