Is Florida’s recruiting edge shrinking? What that would mean for South Carolina
A wry smile formed across Shane Beamer’s face Tuesday afternoon.
Asked about recruiting, his philosophy on signing players and how a head coach balances the demands of in-season coaching while continuing to build a roster, Beamer riffed momentarily before launching into his answer.
“Good question,” he said, smirking. “I had a feeling I might get one of those.”
The question and Beamer’s more than two-minute response came just days before South Carolina takes on Florida and Gators head coach Dan Mullen — who has faced backlash over his comments on recruiting and a seemingly flippant response to another question about the talent gap between UF and Georgia in the wake of a 34-7 Bulldogs win.
“We’re in the season now,” Mullen said, cutting off a reporter’s question Monday. “We’ll do recruiting after the season. When it gets to recruiting time we can talk about recruiting.”
It was later perceived he was expressing he didn’t want to talk about recruiting with reporters until after the season — Mullen said as much in clarifying remarks on Wednesday’s SEC teleconference after Florida cancelled all in-house media availabilities for the rest of the week — but the subsequent media firestorm hasn’t given Florida’s head coach the benefit of the doubt.
With Mullen’s squad sitting at 4-4, on pace for its lowest recruiting rankings finish since 2015 and heading to Columbia on Saturday, what would a continued dip in Florida’s recruiting do for South Carolina? In short, it’d help kickstart Beamer’s vision for the program he’s building from the ground up.
“It’s every day, whether it be texting, FaceTiming, talking to high school coaches,” Beamer said of recruiting. “It’s nonstop and certainly as the head coach, I’ve got to set the direction. I’ve got to set the example for everyone.”
USC recruiting the state of Florida
South Carolina and Florida aren’t recruiting rivals exactly, but they crossover plenty in the Sunshine State and around it.
Since Mullen was hired in Gainesville in November 2017, USC has signed 15 prospects from Florida — including five players who are currently committed in the 2022 class.
South Carolina has also signed an equal number of five-star recruits (2) as Florida over that same span, but rank 15 spots lower than the Gators in 247Sports’ 2021 Team Talent Composite (which factors the number of five-, four- and three-star recruits signed by every program in college football).
USC’s recent dives into Florida are as much out of necessity as anything. In its best years, the state of South Carolina produces in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 SEC caliber players. Most seasons it’s less than that. Combine that with how Clemson has recruited under Dabo Swinney and USC is forced to extend its recruiting borders.
“It’s difficult, because a lot of really good players in the state of South Carolina either stay regional, or they leave the state for high school and their recruitment kind of turns into a real national battle,” Adam Friedman, Rivals’ national recruiting analyst and rankings director, told The State in June. “So it’s important for South Carolina, obviously, to recruit the Southeast — Georgia, Florida, those nearby states.”
By contrast, Florida is as talent rich a state as there is. Forty-one players in the 2022 class from the state received four-star ratings from 247Sports. Five were slotted as five-star prospects. Only Texas (eight five-star recruits) had more such prospects.
The Gators have targeted the talent in their backyard since Mullen arrived to mixed results. Since 2017, Florida has signed just shy of 65% of its prospects from in-state. However, UF has only signed the top-ranked player in the state once over that span and 247Sports Crystal Ball projections indicate five-star defensive lineman Shemar Stewart — the No. 1 player in Florida in the 2022 cycle — has a top-five that includes Texas A&M, Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia and Miami.
“You’ve got to have great players,” Beamer said. “We’ve got a great place to recruit to here at South Carolina and it was exciting to be able to get on the road last week and talk to high school coaches about that.”
How time at Oklahoma and Georgia helps Beamer, USC
This isn’t to say South Carolina is on the same par as Florida when it comes to recruiting. Really, they aren’t.
The Gators haven’t finished lower than 21st nationally in the 247Sports class rankings since 2015. The Gamecocks’ best finish in that time was No. 18 in 2018.
With Beamer at the helm and a slew of talented recruiters on staff, though, South Carolina is attempting to push its recruiting limits as it continues to sell the vision of a revitalized program.
“That’s what you hired (Beamer) for — his recruiting chops,” 247Sports director of recruiting Steve Wiltfong told The State in June. “One of the attractions of bringing in coach Beamer is that he was a good recruiter, and he’s been part of some of the biggest recruiting wins that South Carolina has had over the last couple decades.”
During the 2017 and 2018 cycles, when Beamer was an assistant at Georgia under Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs signed 10 five-star recruits and 30 four-stars. Comparatively, Florida didn’t ink a single five-star player in those two classes, although it did add 24 four-star recruits.
More recently, Beamer’s three seasons at Oklahoma saw the Sooners win 33 of their 39 games from 2018 and 2020 seasons. Head coach Lincoln Riley’s staff also signed four five-star recruits compared to Florida’s two in that span.
“If you don’t recruit, there’s no coach out there that can out-coach recruiting,” Smart said following Georgia’s win over Florida on Saturday. “I don’t care who you are. The best coach to ever play the game better be a good recruiter because no coaching is going to out-coach players.”
When asked about the talent gap between the Gators and Bulldogs after their game Saturday, Mullen replied, “We won last year and they won this year. That’s what it is.”
To say Beamer had a hand in all of those blue-chip recruiting wins at Georgia and Oklahoma is vastly overstating it. But being around football factories like those run by UGA and OU stands to translate to a job at South Carolina that has signed a top 25 class every year but one since 2011.
“Kirby said it after his game the other day about recruiting and the importance of it,” Beamer echoed on Tuesday. “And I learned that from him in my two years in Athens.”
Facing the Gators, Mullen in Columbia and on the recruiting trail
That Mullen bungled his public statements on recruiting or that Beamer remains persistent in his sales pitches aren’t so much surprises as they are glimpses into each coach’s persona.
Mullen is lauded in college football circles for his play-calling ability, but his reputation as a pure recruiter relies more on his talent development than it does securing top-end prospects dating back to his time at Mississippi State.
Beyond the Dak Prescott years, he’s perhaps best remembered in Starkville for his work with former All-SEC quarterback Nick Fitzgerald — a three-star prospect who 247Sports rated as the nation’s No. 1,556 recruit in the 2014 class.
“Who’d you have to beat (for Fitzgerald)?” a reporter asked Mullen after MSU’s 55-20 drubbing of Ole Miss in the 2016 Egg Bowl.
“On Nick Fitzgerald?” Mullen queried coyly while clasping a celebratory cigar. “UT-Chattanooga. They’re an excellent football team. ... FCS playoff team.”
That reputation, though, has come under even more of a microscope in Gainesville as the Gators — who won national championships in 2006 and 2008 — are off to a .500 start and are 2-7 in their last nine games against Power Five competition.
Beamer, meanwhile, has kicked it into high-gear on the recruiting trail at South Carolina with his energy and excitement toward the task despite his general greenness as a head coach.
“He always has been really personable,” former Gamecock and current South Pointe High School head coach DeVonte Holloman told The State in May. “He cares about you as a person just as much as he cares about you as a player.”
Albeit South Carolina isn’t recruiting at Florida’s level regularly by any stretch. There’s also more than a month until the early signing period in which class rankings can shift and Florida could fix its recent funk.
Right now, though, South Carolina’s 17 commits in the 2022 cycle make up the nation’s No. 21 class according to 247Sports. Right behind that? Florida at No. 22.
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 9:00 AM.
