For UF coaches, today could not come soon enough.
All year, while game-planning week to week and hoping to guide their players to a national championship, the UF staff has had Feb. 4 in the back of its mind. Today is the reason the staff has spent countless hours on phones, in living rooms and in the ears of high school coaches, all in the hopes of swaying teenagers to their side in a life-changing decision.
Today, Urban Meyer and company find out if it was worth it.
Across the nation, high school students will don baseball hats with a dress shirt and tie as they announce where they will spend the next three to five years, barring off-the-field setbacks. They will sign a contract that binds them to a football program in exchange for a fully paid education, books and housing included.
Until today, little is guaranteed. Some players have orally committed, but they can change their minds so long as they haven't signed a letter of intent.
The Gators enter Wednesday with 16 commitments. Of those 16, six are already on campus. These players either graduated high school early, came from prep school or transferred from junior college. They are the only sure things for UF.
Beside those six, UF enters today with 10 oral commitments, but there have been rumors of signing-day switches.
Andre Debose, a five-star wide receiver from Sanford, committed to the Gators last month, but took an official visit to Florida State last weekend. Nu'Keese Richardson, a wideout from Pahokee, had never visited another school until this past weekend, when he went to Tennessee. Both are still expected to sign with UF, but their actions over the last week have made fans anxious.
Another potential Gators de-commitment is Marsalis Teague, an athlete from Paris, Tenn. Rumors have been circulating that Teague, who is expected to play defensive back should he come to UF, would feel nervous about going to college far from his home.
"If (Teague) follows his gut, it's Florida," Jamie Newberg of Rivals.com said. "If distance plays a factor, it could end up being 'Bama or Tennessee."
While some UF commits have been getting cold feet, there are a few uncommitted players recruiting analysts think will become Gators.
Jelani Jenkins, a linebacker from Olney, Md., and the nation's No. 10 overall prospect according to Rivals, is believed to favor UF over Penn State.
Another potential UF linebacker is Jarvis Jones out of Columbus, Ga. But Jenkins is believed to be leaning more heavily toward than Jones, who has visited Texas and Louisiana State in the past two weeks and is also rumored to like Southern Cal.
Landing Jenkins and Jones would give UF a strong class of linebackers that already includes Jon Bostic, a four-star out of Wellington who is already on campus.
"(UF) needed linebackers, and it looks like they're going to get the best three in the country," Newberg said.
The Gators are also expected to score a commitment from safety Joshua Evans of Irvington, N.J.
If UF signs Jenkins, Jones and Evans, as well as its current commits, the school will have 19 signees.
But that might not be all.
The Gators are believed to have an outside chance at a few players: running back Trent Richardson of Pensacola, defensive tackle Brandon Moore of Montgomery, Ala., and wide receiver Marlon Brown of Memphis, Tenn.
Richardson and Moore look like Alabama commitments and Brown is rumored to be Tennessee-bound, but nothing is final until they sign their names to the letter of intent Wednesday.
