What We’re Hearing … from inside the Florida Gators beat
Welcome to What We’re Hearing, a deep look inside the Florida beat. The goal here is to provide you with exclusive and interesting intel in the space below on a wide range of topics relating to the Gators.
Let’s get started …
Two recruiting notes on a pair of targets who grew up Gator fans
The first: Ethan Calloway. He’s a 4-star offensive tackle at Mooresville (N.C.) Lake Norman and the No. 1 player in his state for On3. This is a guy high on the Gators’ recruiting board. VERY high.
Florida has done a great job thus far and will host him on an official visit June 2.
The other three programs to watch — Georgia (June 9), Penn State (June 16) and LSU (June 23.) — also will get officials.
According to our intel, this has the potential to become a Florida-Georgia battle. Proximity to home and the Bulldogs’ recent success are factors. But we’ve heard Florida was truly Calloway’s dream offer. Also, of the two programs, the Gators probably can offer more early playing time.
There are some in Florida’s camp who think Billy Napier and Co. sit in the top spot at this time. The official visits will be critical but Calloway has loved his previous time in Gainesville.
Now for the second: Five-star 2025 linebacker Zayden Walker of Ellaville (Ga.) Schley County.
For him, Georgia, Florida State, and Miami seem to stand out at this time. He’ll visit FSU this weekend. He’s been there a lot.
Walker last visited the Gators on March 25, but told us this week he hasn’t talked to Florida much since that trip. He didn’t say why that was so. In any event, Walker plans to be back in Gainesville “very soon.”
Florida has some catching up to do here, but as Walker noted, “That was my favorite team growing up.”
His brother is 4-star 2024 Gators receiver target, Jalewis Solomon. The Gators seem to be a bigger factor with Solomon right now, but keep an eye on FSU. — Keith Niebuhr
Gators think they hit on two in the transfer portal
It’s that time of year with whispers starting to surface ahead of the season. When speaking with sources this week, two names were brought to my attention and they both play along the defensive line: Caleb Banks and Cam’Ron Jackson. They brought up Banks’ freakish frame and categorized him as an “underrated gem.”
His positional versatility should be an asset for the Gators as well. Banks is expected to play a pivotal role this fall. As for Jackson, I was told it would be a surprise if he was in Gainesville for more than a year. He should be able to wreak havoc along the interior and was productive at Memphis when doing so. The Gators went into the portal looking for depth and experience and should be rewarded based off the latest intel coming out of Gainesville. — Corey Bender
Transfer portal buzz
The Gators are set to host their third transfer this spring in former Rhode Island defensive back Antonio Carter, who is flying from Baton Rouge to Gainesville on Sunday. Florida will get his final official visit following trips to Wisconsin, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, and LSU.
Carter’s recruitment is an example of Billy Napier’s evaluation process at work and not jeopardizing Florida’s chances. With most high school recruits and college transfers, UF coaches will ask players to film themselves doing a series of field workouts that are specific to their positions and then send the videos to the staff.
It’s unclear how common this practice is among college coaches, but this is part of Napier’s evaluation process before he will officially extend a scholarship offer. Carter sent the requested workout clips to Florida’s staff on Monday.
“I sent the videos and they loved them,” Carter told On3’s Matt Zenitz. “So that’s when they showed way more interest.”
After being evaluated by the personnel department that same day, Carter and Napier spoke on the phone for the first time and Napier offered him prior to his speech in Panama City. Carter then began scheduling his official visit to Florida.
In order to check out the Gators and his other new offers from Notre Dame (last Friday) and LSU (Tuesday), he also canceled his planned trips to Texas A&M, Kentucky and Iowa. In the case of Carter, who entered the transfer portal on April 16, the Gators taking their time to evaluate and extend an offer didn’t cost them a shot at him.
That will not always be the case, especially with transfers. Some players will be unwilling to send the staff individual workout videos or wait to be evaluated when they’re already landing offers from other schools and scheduling visits.
If the timeline for the Gators’ process prevents them from pursuing some players, then so be it. They’re not going to cut corners in the talent acquisition business.
“I would say one thing that I’m extremely particular about is our evaluation process and I think it’s one of the reasons we have this job,” Napier said last week prior to his speech in Sarasota, Florida. “You’ve got to flip over every rock. Sometimes our process doesn’t fit the timeline and we lose out on a situation. It is what it is. We’re not going to speed through that process.” — Zach Abolverdi
Florida-Georgia
We’ve covered this topic a lot this week but the writing is on the wall here. The city of Jacksonville wants to host another Super Bowl. The only way that is going to happen is if they renovate TIAA Bank Stadium. The city would also need to address the hotel issue. When Jacksonville hosted its only Super Bowl in 2005, the city had to have two cruise ships dock to act as temporary hotel rooms.
Regardless, the city intends on making wholesale renovations to the stadium, which would make it impossible to play games in. This would almost certainly mean a home-and-home for the Gators and Bulldogs. Personally, I love the idea. I would like to see the game on a four-year rotation: Athens, Jacksonville, Gainesville, Jacksonville. You still get the neutral site game every other year but a student-athlete at Florida or Georgia would get to experience all three environments.
Florida is also very interested in hosting the Jaguars’ home games. They will need to work out logistics but it could be a good source of revenue for Florida and a huge win for the local businesses in Gainesville. — Nick de la Torre.
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