Previewing the Florida Gators Star-Studded Weekend of Official Visitors

The Florida Gators are set to host a bevy of top 2022 targets on campus Jan. 14-16.

Florida Gators recruiting has experienced a facelift during the early days of Billy Napier’s reign as the head ball coach.

Asserting themselves into the mix for top-tier athletes and valuable rotational pieces in the late stage of the 2022 cycle, Florida is on a mission to compile a serviceable transition class to head into the future with foundational elements.

The Jan. 14-16 weekend is crucial to the Gators' ability to do just that. In fact, it’s the most critical weekend of Napier’s reign as head coach thus far.

With a crowded slate of official visitors for the weekend, AllGators looks at the recruitment of the 12 targets/commits attending Gainesville Friday through Sunday.

Targets

LB Harold Perkins

SI All-American’s No. 3 linebacker in 2022, Harold Perkins is the Gators' top priority down the stretch of the recruiting cycle.

Despite committing during the Under Armour All-America game, where he pledged himself to Texas A&M, Perkins didn’t sign with the Aggie. Effectively allowing himself to continue exploring the market until the closing days of the 2022 cycle, Perkins heads to Gainesville with a string intrigue in what Florida has to offer him.

“I mean, anything can happen between January and February,” Perkins told AllGators on Dec. 29.

While in many cases like Perkins’ the Gators would have to make up considerable ground to land his commitment, this recruitment feels different.

Florida is still a strong contender in the race.

Showing considerable interest in the Gators dating back to Dan Mullen’s reign as head coach, Perkins made it clear pre-commitment that Florida is the place he always wanted to go while growing up.

That has become more evident since the new regime stepped in. Napier and staff will hope to capitalize on his previous fandom to draw the versatile linebacker prospect away from their cross-divisional foe.

Perkins confirmed his attendance via Twitter.

S Jacoby Mathews

With Perkins slated as priority No. 1, safety Jacoby Mathews is undoubtedly No. 1b.

Previously showing considerable interest in Florida around this time last year, Mathews scorned the Gators when he committed to his hometown program in LSU in April 2021.

Getting cold feet in the summer, Mathews reopened his recruitment. Texas A&M asserted themselves as the presumable leaders for his services soon after, where they stood for much of the fall.

Recently, the door has progressively been pushed wide open for others.

Everything has come full circle, as a result, with Florida reentering the fold when the new staff took over in Gainesville. The Gators have been aided by the previous connection of cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond made during his longstanding tenure at LSU. Raymond served as his primary recruiter, as he does for UF, when he was in Baton Rouge.

Mathews would be another monumental addition to the Gators class. His addition alongside early-enrollee Kamari Wilson in the secondary would speed up Florida’s roster retooling efforts.

The Gators get a valuable opportunity to close on the Ponchatoula safety as the second to last visit on his slate. He’ll choose between Florida, LSU, Texas A&M, Alabama, Texas, Georgia and others. He’s scheduled to commit and sign on Feb. 2.

Mathews confirmed his attendance with AllGators.

Related: Jacoby Mathews Previews Florida Gators Official Visit

ATH Miguel Mitchell

Mitchell, a former SEC commit, looks for an upgrade as we enter the final stretch of the 2022 cycle.

Initially committing to Vanderbilt in July, Mitchell was slated to take his talents to Nashville to continue his collegiate career and receive an education from one of the top schools in the south.

However, after over five months of hearing from programs around the nation while committed, Mitchell stepped off his pledge to Clark Lea. Once he decommitted from the Commodores, Mitchell opened himself up to an onslaught of offers from a variety of top-tier Power Five schools.

Offered by Northwestern just four days later, Mitchell was slated to commit and sign with the Wildcats on Early Signing Day, until he saw his recruitment blow up in the late stages. Earning looks from USC, LSU, Florida, Oregon and, most recently, Tennessee, the Oxford (Ala.) defensive back has quickly become a hot commodity on the recruiting market.

His decision to hold off signing can pay dividends in the future.

When he talked to AllGators soon after receiving his offer from Florida, Mitchell coined it as something he had been waiting on and was excited to continue the long-standing relationship he and Napier had constructed dating back to his days at Louisiana-Lafayette.

Including the Gators in a newly released top two alongside Tennessee, Mitchell will head to UF with intentions to scope out his possible future home before making his final decision.

He looks to get a feel of “the culture and how everybody feels about the new staff,” he said.

Florida gets his second to the last visit with Mitchell visiting Knoxville on Jan. 28.

Mitchell confirmed his attendance with AllGators.

Related: Former SEC Commit Miguel Mitchell Details Offer From Florida Gators

WR Arlis Boardingham

When the new Gators staff stepped into place once Napier was officially announced as the next head coach on Dec. 5, Florida’s recruiting efforts quickly broadened beyond the southeast regions it had been limited to in the past.

Stretching across the country to the likes of California, Oregon and Washington state, the Gators have taken sizable steps in utilizing a broad range to pin down talented resources that fit the program's direction.

As part of that increased scope is California wide receiver prospect Arlis Boardingham.

Standing at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Boardingham has been near-exclusively pursued by several top Pac 12 schools, until now. Equipped with a desirable frame for Florida’s new style of offense — that leans on a heavy dose of the run to open up the passing game — the Van Nuys, Cali. native was offered due to wide receiver coach Keary Colbert’s ties to the west.

Down the stretch, Florida will hope to lean on Boardingham’s previous relationship with Colbert from his time at USC as they look to pry him away from the likes of the Trojans, Oregon, Arizona State, Colorado and others in the pacific time zone.

He is scheduled to take an official visit to Florida Jan. 14-16 and one to Oregon Jan. 21-23 before making his final decision in February.

Boardingham confirmed his attendance with AllGators.

DE Emarrion Winston

Emar'rion Winston, like Boardingham, falls into the newly widened scope of pursuing talent from across the country. Playing at Central Catholic in Portland (Ore.), Winston is another former Oregon commit the Gators have targeted.

Tied to the Ducks for nearly five months before backing off on Dec. 9, the Gators swooped with an offer with hopes to snag an underrated talent from the northwest.

Serving as an outside linebacker/defensive end prospect, Winston has the potential to be a game-changer off the edge for the Gators defense in the future. Standing at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds, Winston served as a versatile in his high school defense, showing skills as a traditional defensive end as well as a 3-4 outside linebacker that can drop into coverage. He pairs adequate speed, power as a rusher, and instinct to easily sniff out ball carriers.

Emar’rion comes from a family of athletes, with his brothers LaMar Winston (Oregon) and Eli’jah Winston (USC) playing Power Five football, respectively.

He will visit Florida, Nevada and Washington over the next three weekends.

Winston confirmed his attendance via Twitter.

WR Caleb Douglas

The ongoing theme for Florida’s recruiting efforts in their transitions cycle is to capitalize on previously established relationships. Caleb Douglas is a testament to that fact.

The recruitment of the Texas native has been a whirlwind of commitments and decommitments to this point. Initially pledging himself to Baylor in late June, the talented wide receiver prospect flipped to USC just over a month later.

Committed to the Trojans from Aug. 6 to Nov. 30, Douglas would again back off a pledge to look elsewhere. With Colbert coming over from Southern California, Douglas quickly became a top target to fill the void of Gators pass catchers in the 2022 cycle. Despite his move across the nation, their relationship has carried over and currently has the Gators in the driver’s seat for his services.

Standing at 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, Douglas possesses the length, speed and physicality that Napier and Colbert are attempting to bring in for the “wide blocker” position.

Douglas has been confirmed as a visitor.

Commits

LB Shemar James

Behind early enrollee Kamari Wilson, the highlighting act of Florida’s early signing period was the improbable signing of Alabama linebacker prospect Shemar James. Previously committed to UF in the summer of 2021, James stepped off his pledge in late October after an unofficial visit to Georgia just four days prior.

Distancing himself from Florida, Alabama and Georgia quickly became the front runners for James’ services when he made the jump to the collegiate level. Despite eliminating Florida in his final top two schools list, Napier and Co. stayed hot on his trail. Their effort went down to the wire. 

With reports surfacing that co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney stayed up late with James the night of ESD playing video games with him, the Gators' unorthodox strategy paid dividends in the end as they re-asserted themselves into the fold for SIAA’s No. 2 linebacker prospect.

James signed with UF over UGA and Bama on Dec. 15.

Now, James travels to Florida’s campus with a purpose: convince others, namely Perkins and Dudley, to join him at Florida. He has the potential to be a luxury for UF’s recruitment efforts during the monumental weekend.

RB Trevor Etienne

Trevor Etienne was a substantial late acquisition that Napier and Co. hope can kickstart a slew of unexpected landings to close out their transition process. Committing to Florida during the All-American Bowl game in San Antonio, Etienne became the first high school running back prospect to commit and sign with the Gators since Nay’Quan Wright in 2019. He chose Florida over LSU and Clemson, the alma mater of his brother and current Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr.

In his post-commitment trip to Gainesville, he — like James — will play a prominent role as player recruiters in an attempt to haul in other top targets on the star-studded weekend.

Etienne confirmed his visit via Twitter.

OL Jalen Farmer (Unsigned)

Committing to the Gators in September, Farmer — like the others in the trenches — has remained on Florida’s commitment list despite the coaching overhaul the program has experienced since November. Receiving late interest from other SEC schools, including Kentucky, Auburn and Mississippi State, Farmer elected to sign post-Early Signing Day to further evaluate his options at hand.

Florida will look to seal the deal with the 6-foot-5, 325-pound interior offensive lineman during the visit as they begin the process of improving talent and depth on the offensive line. Newly named offensive line coach Rob Sale will play a prominent role in Farmer’s pursuit as he attempts to quickly connect with the Eastside (Covington, Ga.) High School prospect.

DL Jamari Lyons

An unwavering piece of the Florida defensive line, Jamari Lyons takes advantage of his second official visit granted by the Gators coaching change to take in the spot he will continue his football career for the next three to four seasons. Lyons signed with the Gators during the Early National Signing Period. He will enroll at UF in the summer.

K Trey Smack

Trey Smack, who signed with the Gators on ESD, enters the fold with an opportunity to assume Florida’s kicking duties in 2022 immediately. According to Kohl's Kicking metrics, he’s ranked as the No. 5 kicker and is a five-star. He’s set to enroll in the summer.

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