Steve Addazio didn’t attract many fans during his time in Gainesville, but he certainly had plenty on the recruiting trail.
Last month, offensive linemen Chase Hounshell and Tommy Jordan were preparing to enroll early at Florida for the spring semester.
Then, Urban Meyer resigned and Addazio, the former UF offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, accepted the head coaching position at Temple. And the pair of three-star offensive linemen had a change of plans.
“The big thing about us was we lost coach Addazio,” Hounshell said. “He was the one who recruited us, and we built great relationships with him. We kind of knew things were going to change when he took the job at Temple.”
At the beginning of the month, the Gators expected nine oral commits to enroll early. Instead, two weeks into the semester, only seven are on campus, with Hounshell and Jordan as the missing pieces.
Jordan, a 6-foot-5, 280-pound tackle from Ridgefield (Conn.) High, arrived on campus the first week of classes but decided to return home amid Florida’s coaching turnover.
“I just thought it was better to come back here while all this was going on and they figure out how it is all going to work,” Jordan told the Ridgefield Patch.
Jordan said he plans on taking the semester off before enrolling at Florida in May, adding that he was excited about the staff new coach Will Muschamp was putting together with offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and offensive line coach Frank Verducci.
Hounshell, from Lake Catholic (Ohio) High, decided against enrolling early because he didn’t want to rush an important decision and had not built much of a relationship with Florida’s new coaches.
At the same time, he started considering Notre Dame, where the coaches wanted him to play defensive end.
“I was never really high on enrolling early,” Hounshell said. “It was always what Florida wanted, and I kind of had to do what they wanted. … When Steve Addazio left, I really didn’t become much of a priority to Florida.”
The 6-foot-5 Hounshell is listed by Rivals.com at 242 pounds but said he is now pushing 260. At his current weight, he said, he would not be physically ready to play offensive line for at least two years and would have had to redshirt at Florida.
After receiving a visit from Notre Dame coaches Monday night, Hounshell switched his commitment to Notre Dame, where he will enroll in the summer.
“It was rough,” Hounshell said of Meyer and Addazio leaving UF. “When they both left, it was almost like I had to start over completely.”
Oral commitments are non-binding until a national letter of intent is signed on or after National Signing Day on Feb. 2.
