For those who don’t know or who haven’t experienced it, Friday Night Lights is basically the Rose Bowl for Gator recruiting fans. I went to the first Friday Night Lights last year and this one blew that one out of the water in attendance from both recruits and spectators (but unfortunately not weather). Ill try to share my observations and insights about what I saw and the performances of recruits as well as time they spent with coaches, attire and body language.
6:00ish
I showed up and there were already a ton of recruits on the field getting ready and quite a few fans and family sitting in the stands. The prospect yield this year was both of greater quantity and higher quality than what I saw last year. Meyer and his family were all there, his wife looking good as ever and his son running around on the field. He went up to sit with D’Angelo McCray in the stands for a bit and then back down to the field to check things out. All the Gatornaughts were there, the Rainey and the Pounceys were there to participate and had on their cleats (though after the thunderstorm the Pounceys changed to street clothes) and Wilks, Wilson and Black just hung out and watched. The whole time they ran shortened versions of the UT, UGA, FSU and Iowa game on the North Scoreboard screen. They had kids running the 40 too, it was pretty interesting to watch.
Probably the biggest name at Friday Night Lights this year wasn’t even a recruit, but future NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter who was there in an orange shirt and stayed the whole night talking to Meyer and recruits (especially Rainey). He came with Major Wright and I think his son, and Meyer and Cris go back to their days at Ohio State. Wright works out with Carter in South Florida and may even live with him I heard. But you could tell from all the whispers of “that’s Cris Carter” and watching recruits faces light up that he sparked a lot of excitement.
7:00ish
Biblical rain. It just poured for a good 45 minutes as you all know it does in July in Florida. Lots of fans took off and the recruits disappeared into the locker room till the rain and lightning subsided. After about an hour it cleared up and some kids played touch football on the field till the recruits reemerged from the locker room. It took a while for the recruits to all come out again, and some like the Pounceys decided not to drill after the rain.
8:00ish
Around 8:00 all the drill stations had been set up and Meyer called everybody to the South Endzone to take a knee and watch a video on the North Scoreboard (which is still too small, but I digress). The video was a long highlight of the season with clips from the Tennessee game, Georgia game, FSU game and Iowa game scored to loud (too loud really) rap music, it lasted about 5-6 minutes and after everyone’s ears stopped bleeding the recruits broke up into their groups. Also, by this time many of the players like Leak, Wynn, Siler and Kyle Jackson were out on the field watching the video and then the drills. A good chunk of the 06 class like Hornsby, Harvin, Fayson (always in the orange and blue), Anderson, Barrie, Hobbes, Spikes, Pupello, Cooper and a bunch of others showed up throughout the night. Though interestingly, Tebow did not show, which makes me wonder if he was asked not to come as to not make his presence known with the QB recruits. He may have had something else going though so who knows.
9:00ish-10:00ish
Drills were in full swing. They ran highlight clips on the scoreboard and pumped rap music (need to get a bigger playlist though). I will say I mostly watched QB’s, RB’s, WR’s and Safeties and didn’t really get to watch much OL, DL, LB or CB. So I will share my observations on who I saw and recognized and what I thought of them:
QB:
Stephen Garcia: First off this kid looks like a rock star. He wasn’t originally going to come then decided he would just come to watch (like Sam Young did last year). Once he was there, apparently he decided he would participate and he did so in sneakers on a wet field. With that in mind, he by far looked the best out of all the QB’s. His movement even without cleats was great, his lateral footwork was good and he throws one hell of a ball. It was pretty clear he was the best QB out of the lot and did well in the bag drills and later was the best in the 1 on 1 passing drills. Throws a nice deep ball with ease, and compared to what I saw from Tebow last year, Garcia is vastly more polished at passing. Most of the night he was chummy with Alton Voss and Cameron Newton. After the camp he talked with Meyer and Mullen a bit, nothing from his body language gave me any hints as to whether he wants to be here or whatever, but he then talked on his cell phone a lot after camp.
Cameron Newton: Second best QB there, really fast and athletic.
Alton Voss: Looked alright, he is a step slower, a bit shorter and has a less powerful arm than Garcia but he looked pretty decent. I don’t know what else to say, but I don’t think he wants to deal with Tebow.
Other QB’s: I really couldn’t recognize any of them, though I think one was Cadet. Most of them looked like they wouldn’t be playing D1A QB, but some looked fairly athletic and polished. There were a lot more than last years turnout of basically Tebow, Brantley and Fayson. All and all most looked like projects except this one tall guy.
Tall Guy: I don’t know who he was, but the tall guy with the soccer socks on looked like one of the fans snuck out there. His footwork was poor and he had ugly throwing mechanics and a worse spiral. I don’t mean to diss the guy, but either he had a bad night or he is a project guy.
RB:
Enrique Davis: This guy is huge, he was sporting a green Miami dolphins shirt and was one of the bigger backs out there. I watched him during his drills, his balance is questionable and he is definitely a north and south runner. During the drill where Coach Drayton throws a bag at their legs while running, he had problems staying up and during it a couple times but bulldozed through others and the cone slalom thing, his balance was off. But he looked very powerful and like a great “big back”. Looked good.
Bo Williams: Saw him look like he was going to participate but I didn’t see any of him afterwards.
Jonathan Dwyer: Looked very solid and pretty agile. Had a few issues with said drill with the bag being thrown at the legs, but like Davis he was a taller guy and this drill favored kids with lower center of gravity. Looked good.
Rudell Small: RB from TC. Looked like he injured his right ankle pretty bad during drills and had to get on crutches for the rest of the night.
Chris Rainey: For those who haven’t seen him, the only way I can describe him is that when he runs it looks like he is skating on ice. He just glides and it is amazing how fast and agile he is. I don’t understand how he is not a 5-Star player, and I am not just saying that because he wore an orange Rowdy Reptile shirt and talked to Garcia for us all night, but the kid is simply amazing to watch. He just does things I can’t explain.
WR:
Terrance Tolliver: Best WR out there, bar none. At first I was like, “who is the tall skinny kid in the wife beater?” Then he put on his Hempstead shirt, and it was clear. He is so fast and so quick and cuts so well and caught everything thrown at him. Kid is amazing.
Joe Haden: You can tell that the kid hasn’t played much WR but that he is very athletic. He was great sometimes in 1 on 1 passing drills and other times he looked lost. But this should be expected.
Greg Little: He made some amazing catches and is fairly mobile for a guy his size. He is not really a kid you send on deep routes though, he doesn’t have the speed or the stride to do it, but he catches very well and can turn around which makes him perfect for the short passes in our offense.
Dion LeCorn: Trinity Catholic product and like Little he is a big guy. He is very strong and is built like a taller RB. He dropped a few passes on slants, and I don’t know if that’s because he didn’t wear gloves, but I imagine he would be a great Safety or maybe even a LB (if he grows that big). I was sort of let down by him at WR at times though.
Also note that Coach Gonzales was text messaging (recruits probably) while doing the drills. These coaches are always recruiting.
Israel Troupe: Solid
OL:
Like I said, I didn’t really watch it. I saw Micah Grimes and Elvis Fisher there but didn’t see much of them in drills.
DL:
D’Angelo McCray: I was happy to see him there and happy to see Meyer with him. He is very athletic for a guy his size. Looked good.
Torrey Davis: Like McCray, is big and very athletic. He sort of averted his gaze on the opening video when they showed us manhandling the Noles, which isn’t a great sign, but I am happy he showed up. He dominated most of the time.
Ian Williams: Saw him, I think, that’s it.
Duke Lemmens: See Ian Williams.
LB and CB:
Didn’t see much of either. Spotted Auguste though.
S:
Lorenzo Edwards: I don’t know why they had him with the safeties, this kid is huge. There is no doubt he will be a LB. They had him doing some man to man on the 1 on 1 passing drills and he basically just manhandles WR’s for the first 5 yards, but is very susceptible to being burned. Not a good coverage player.
Major Wright: Decked out in brand new Florida gear (probably bought just for FNL) looked good in safety drills but like Edwards, suffers playing man to man coverage.
P:
Whoever that punter was had some awesome punts and Meyer spent a WHOLE lot of time just with him which makes me think.
11:00ish
Around 11, they stopped the drills and all got huddled around in the south side of the field. Meyer talked to the crowd and pointed out all the assistant coaches and then Cris Carter and CJ Leak talked to them. Meyer finished up by telling them to pick a school based on your family, not what others are telling you. He then had Chris Rainey lead them in a “1-2-3! Go Gators” break and they took off to go get food.
This year they didn’t have the grill out on the field, but the cooked hamburgers in one of the tunnels or around there and the kids all broke up to go get hamburgers and Gatorade and talk. The recruits all got Friday Night Light tshirts that said “Friday Night Lights” and University of Florida on the front and had a picture of Gators in the swamp on the back. Recruits formed a line to take a photo with Meyer and meanwhile he talked to that punter and Garcia a bit. I didn’t need to see how hamburgers are ate so I left around 11:20.
Last years Friday Night Lights was sort of secret and a lot more intimate. This year there were tons of people in the stands and a bunch more recruits. Unfortunately they had less time on the field than last year, but the field of prospects is a lot more impressive. After the rain the weather was pretty good and everybody seemed to be having a great time. If you ever want to see what’s right with America you should check out something like this, football, families and grilling. I know they have a Junior day tomorrow and a lot of the kids like Major Wright will be there (not Garcia though, hes going to the Elite 11 in CA). So we should be in for a good next week.
Also, I didn’t bring my camera but everybody else did. There should be PLENTY of photos of most players in action and talking to coaches and I know there were some people there video taping so that should be up soon.
Camp MVP: Tolliver
Notable no shows:
Sidell Corley
Armando Allen
Caleb King
Deonte Thompson
DeMarcus Van Dyke
John Brown (wasn’t supposed to come though)
If they were there, I didn’t see them.
So that’s it, these are my general observations and impressions from the night. Sorry if it’s unorganized and jumbled and poorly written but I wanted to purge all the info I had. I am sure I left out stuff and will remember more later. If you have any questions I will try to answer them.
This post was edited on 7/22 2:56 AM by Mark Wheelerif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
6:00ish
I showed up and there were already a ton of recruits on the field getting ready and quite a few fans and family sitting in the stands. The prospect yield this year was both of greater quantity and higher quality than what I saw last year. Meyer and his family were all there, his wife looking good as ever and his son running around on the field. He went up to sit with D’Angelo McCray in the stands for a bit and then back down to the field to check things out. All the Gatornaughts were there, the Rainey and the Pounceys were there to participate and had on their cleats (though after the thunderstorm the Pounceys changed to street clothes) and Wilks, Wilson and Black just hung out and watched. The whole time they ran shortened versions of the UT, UGA, FSU and Iowa game on the North Scoreboard screen. They had kids running the 40 too, it was pretty interesting to watch.
Probably the biggest name at Friday Night Lights this year wasn’t even a recruit, but future NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter who was there in an orange shirt and stayed the whole night talking to Meyer and recruits (especially Rainey). He came with Major Wright and I think his son, and Meyer and Cris go back to their days at Ohio State. Wright works out with Carter in South Florida and may even live with him I heard. But you could tell from all the whispers of “that’s Cris Carter” and watching recruits faces light up that he sparked a lot of excitement.
7:00ish
Biblical rain. It just poured for a good 45 minutes as you all know it does in July in Florida. Lots of fans took off and the recruits disappeared into the locker room till the rain and lightning subsided. After about an hour it cleared up and some kids played touch football on the field till the recruits reemerged from the locker room. It took a while for the recruits to all come out again, and some like the Pounceys decided not to drill after the rain.
8:00ish
Around 8:00 all the drill stations had been set up and Meyer called everybody to the South Endzone to take a knee and watch a video on the North Scoreboard (which is still too small, but I digress). The video was a long highlight of the season with clips from the Tennessee game, Georgia game, FSU game and Iowa game scored to loud (too loud really) rap music, it lasted about 5-6 minutes and after everyone’s ears stopped bleeding the recruits broke up into their groups. Also, by this time many of the players like Leak, Wynn, Siler and Kyle Jackson were out on the field watching the video and then the drills. A good chunk of the 06 class like Hornsby, Harvin, Fayson (always in the orange and blue), Anderson, Barrie, Hobbes, Spikes, Pupello, Cooper and a bunch of others showed up throughout the night. Though interestingly, Tebow did not show, which makes me wonder if he was asked not to come as to not make his presence known with the QB recruits. He may have had something else going though so who knows.
9:00ish-10:00ish
Drills were in full swing. They ran highlight clips on the scoreboard and pumped rap music (need to get a bigger playlist though). I will say I mostly watched QB’s, RB’s, WR’s and Safeties and didn’t really get to watch much OL, DL, LB or CB. So I will share my observations on who I saw and recognized and what I thought of them:
QB:
Stephen Garcia: First off this kid looks like a rock star. He wasn’t originally going to come then decided he would just come to watch (like Sam Young did last year). Once he was there, apparently he decided he would participate and he did so in sneakers on a wet field. With that in mind, he by far looked the best out of all the QB’s. His movement even without cleats was great, his lateral footwork was good and he throws one hell of a ball. It was pretty clear he was the best QB out of the lot and did well in the bag drills and later was the best in the 1 on 1 passing drills. Throws a nice deep ball with ease, and compared to what I saw from Tebow last year, Garcia is vastly more polished at passing. Most of the night he was chummy with Alton Voss and Cameron Newton. After the camp he talked with Meyer and Mullen a bit, nothing from his body language gave me any hints as to whether he wants to be here or whatever, but he then talked on his cell phone a lot after camp.
Cameron Newton: Second best QB there, really fast and athletic.
Alton Voss: Looked alright, he is a step slower, a bit shorter and has a less powerful arm than Garcia but he looked pretty decent. I don’t know what else to say, but I don’t think he wants to deal with Tebow.
Other QB’s: I really couldn’t recognize any of them, though I think one was Cadet. Most of them looked like they wouldn’t be playing D1A QB, but some looked fairly athletic and polished. There were a lot more than last years turnout of basically Tebow, Brantley and Fayson. All and all most looked like projects except this one tall guy.
Tall Guy: I don’t know who he was, but the tall guy with the soccer socks on looked like one of the fans snuck out there. His footwork was poor and he had ugly throwing mechanics and a worse spiral. I don’t mean to diss the guy, but either he had a bad night or he is a project guy.
RB:
Enrique Davis: This guy is huge, he was sporting a green Miami dolphins shirt and was one of the bigger backs out there. I watched him during his drills, his balance is questionable and he is definitely a north and south runner. During the drill where Coach Drayton throws a bag at their legs while running, he had problems staying up and during it a couple times but bulldozed through others and the cone slalom thing, his balance was off. But he looked very powerful and like a great “big back”. Looked good.
Bo Williams: Saw him look like he was going to participate but I didn’t see any of him afterwards.
Jonathan Dwyer: Looked very solid and pretty agile. Had a few issues with said drill with the bag being thrown at the legs, but like Davis he was a taller guy and this drill favored kids with lower center of gravity. Looked good.
Rudell Small: RB from TC. Looked like he injured his right ankle pretty bad during drills and had to get on crutches for the rest of the night.
Chris Rainey: For those who haven’t seen him, the only way I can describe him is that when he runs it looks like he is skating on ice. He just glides and it is amazing how fast and agile he is. I don’t understand how he is not a 5-Star player, and I am not just saying that because he wore an orange Rowdy Reptile shirt and talked to Garcia for us all night, but the kid is simply amazing to watch. He just does things I can’t explain.
WR:
Terrance Tolliver: Best WR out there, bar none. At first I was like, “who is the tall skinny kid in the wife beater?” Then he put on his Hempstead shirt, and it was clear. He is so fast and so quick and cuts so well and caught everything thrown at him. Kid is amazing.
Joe Haden: You can tell that the kid hasn’t played much WR but that he is very athletic. He was great sometimes in 1 on 1 passing drills and other times he looked lost. But this should be expected.
Greg Little: He made some amazing catches and is fairly mobile for a guy his size. He is not really a kid you send on deep routes though, he doesn’t have the speed or the stride to do it, but he catches very well and can turn around which makes him perfect for the short passes in our offense.
Dion LeCorn: Trinity Catholic product and like Little he is a big guy. He is very strong and is built like a taller RB. He dropped a few passes on slants, and I don’t know if that’s because he didn’t wear gloves, but I imagine he would be a great Safety or maybe even a LB (if he grows that big). I was sort of let down by him at WR at times though.
Also note that Coach Gonzales was text messaging (recruits probably) while doing the drills. These coaches are always recruiting.
Israel Troupe: Solid
OL:
Like I said, I didn’t really watch it. I saw Micah Grimes and Elvis Fisher there but didn’t see much of them in drills.
DL:
D’Angelo McCray: I was happy to see him there and happy to see Meyer with him. He is very athletic for a guy his size. Looked good.
Torrey Davis: Like McCray, is big and very athletic. He sort of averted his gaze on the opening video when they showed us manhandling the Noles, which isn’t a great sign, but I am happy he showed up. He dominated most of the time.
Ian Williams: Saw him, I think, that’s it.
Duke Lemmens: See Ian Williams.
LB and CB:
Didn’t see much of either. Spotted Auguste though.
S:
Lorenzo Edwards: I don’t know why they had him with the safeties, this kid is huge. There is no doubt he will be a LB. They had him doing some man to man on the 1 on 1 passing drills and he basically just manhandles WR’s for the first 5 yards, but is very susceptible to being burned. Not a good coverage player.
Major Wright: Decked out in brand new Florida gear (probably bought just for FNL) looked good in safety drills but like Edwards, suffers playing man to man coverage.
P:
Whoever that punter was had some awesome punts and Meyer spent a WHOLE lot of time just with him which makes me think.
11:00ish
Around 11, they stopped the drills and all got huddled around in the south side of the field. Meyer talked to the crowd and pointed out all the assistant coaches and then Cris Carter and CJ Leak talked to them. Meyer finished up by telling them to pick a school based on your family, not what others are telling you. He then had Chris Rainey lead them in a “1-2-3! Go Gators” break and they took off to go get food.
This year they didn’t have the grill out on the field, but the cooked hamburgers in one of the tunnels or around there and the kids all broke up to go get hamburgers and Gatorade and talk. The recruits all got Friday Night Light tshirts that said “Friday Night Lights” and University of Florida on the front and had a picture of Gators in the swamp on the back. Recruits formed a line to take a photo with Meyer and meanwhile he talked to that punter and Garcia a bit. I didn’t need to see how hamburgers are ate so I left around 11:20.
Last years Friday Night Lights was sort of secret and a lot more intimate. This year there were tons of people in the stands and a bunch more recruits. Unfortunately they had less time on the field than last year, but the field of prospects is a lot more impressive. After the rain the weather was pretty good and everybody seemed to be having a great time. If you ever want to see what’s right with America you should check out something like this, football, families and grilling. I know they have a Junior day tomorrow and a lot of the kids like Major Wright will be there (not Garcia though, hes going to the Elite 11 in CA). So we should be in for a good next week.
Also, I didn’t bring my camera but everybody else did. There should be PLENTY of photos of most players in action and talking to coaches and I know there were some people there video taping so that should be up soon.
Camp MVP: Tolliver
Notable no shows:
Sidell Corley
Armando Allen
Caleb King
Deonte Thompson
DeMarcus Van Dyke
John Brown (wasn’t supposed to come though)
If they were there, I didn’t see them.
So that’s it, these are my general observations and impressions from the night. Sorry if it’s unorganized and jumbled and poorly written but I wanted to purge all the info I had. I am sure I left out stuff and will remember more later. If you have any questions I will try to answer them.
This post was edited on 7/22 2:56 AM by Mark Wheelerif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
