Perhaps no position in Florida’s 2011 class has been struck harder by Urban Meyer’s departure than the offensive line, but new coach Will Muschamp and his staff are scrambling to reverse their misfortunes late in the recruiting game.
With National Signing Day a little more than a week away, the Gators coaches pitched their program’s future to Traverse City (Mich.) West High three-star offensive tackle Jacob Fisher during his official visit last weekend.
After struggling to recoup from Meyer’s resignation on Dec. 8, the Gators may actually be benefiting from a coaching change. Fisher, who orally committed to Michigan last summer, opened his recruitment after the Wolverines fired coach Rich Rodriguez.
“The whole thing, really, is really a funny business sometimes,” West High coach Tim Wooer said. “You think you have your future planned, and then everything changes just like that.”
Following Rodriguez’s firing, Wooer contacted several schools, including Florida. The day after he e-mailed Fisher’s highlight tape to the Gators, Wooer received a call from new offensive line coach Frank Verducci.
Fisher is interested in UF, Michigan State and Oregon, Wooer said, and Michigan is still in the hunt. New Wolverines coach Brady Hoke has talked on the phone with Fisher, and offensive line coach Darrell Funk tried to lure him back during an in-home visit. Wooer expects Hoke to visit West High on Thursday.
Regardless of where he chooses, Fisher will not make an immediate impact, ESPN recruiting analyst Craig Haubert said. At 6-foot-7 and 270 pounds, Fisher has impressed scouts based on potential, but he needs to bulk up and refine his technique.
Fisher plays tight end, defensive end and punter at West High, so he is inexperienced at offensive tackle.
“He’s a redshirt-type kid,” Haubert said. “He does a lot of things for his high school team, but I don’t think he’s ready for elite college football. You hear about these kids who are ready to help a program their freshman year. He’s not one of them.”
Fisher will take an official visit to Oregon this weekend.
