#16ATORS Class Complete
Thursday, February 4, 2016 | Football
The Gators signed 25 newcomers in the 2016 class.
Head coach Jim McElwain welcomed 25 newcomers to the Gators football team on Wednesday as part of 2016 National Signing Day.
"What a great time," said McElwain. "I love this time of year because we had an opportunity to add some new guys to our family, to our team, to Gator Nation."
The signing class Included 12 mid-year enrollees -- the most of any school in the country this year.
"Those guys that jumped on board early, those 12 guys, and the graduate transfers that are here right now to go through spring ball, I think that speaks a lot for who they are and what they are all about," McElwain said. "Those high school guys that went ahead and worked a little extra in the summer and stuff to get graduated so they can get here and be a big part of what we're doing, and they are already, you know, just integrated into our guys. It's been great."
The 25-member signing class includes 12 offensive players, 12 defensive players and a kicker. The offensive side of the ball gets a boost with five new wide receivers, three offensive linemen, two running backs and a pair of quarterbacks. In addition, not included in the signing class, the Gators added graduate transfer Austin Appleby from Purdue in January, where he started 11 games for the Boilermakers the past two seasons.
The defensive side of the ball adds six defensive backs, helping ease the loss of Vernon Hargreaves III, Keanu Neal and Brian Poole from last year's secondary. UF also adds a trio of linebackers and three defensive linemen to bolster the depth of the front seven.
"I think you can kind of tell what we were trying to do in this class," said McElwain. "We were trying to kind of restructure some of the rooms, get some new blood in there, get some guys as competition as we move forward. Excited about all the people who have been involved in making this a successful year."
Meet the Gators 2016 Signing Class:
"What a great time," said McElwain. "I love this time of year because we had an opportunity to add some new guys to our family, to our team, to Gator Nation."
The signing class Included 12 mid-year enrollees -- the most of any school in the country this year.
"Those guys that jumped on board early, those 12 guys, and the graduate transfers that are here right now to go through spring ball, I think that speaks a lot for who they are and what they are all about," McElwain said. "Those high school guys that went ahead and worked a little extra in the summer and stuff to get graduated so they can get here and be a big part of what we're doing, and they are already, you know, just integrated into our guys. It's been great."
The 25-member signing class includes 12 offensive players, 12 defensive players and a kicker. The offensive side of the ball gets a boost with five new wide receivers, three offensive linemen, two running backs and a pair of quarterbacks. In addition, not included in the signing class, the Gators added graduate transfer Austin Appleby from Purdue in January, where he started 11 games for the Boilermakers the past two seasons.
The defensive side of the ball adds six defensive backs, helping ease the loss of Vernon Hargreaves III, Keanu Neal and Brian Poole from last year's secondary. UF also adds a trio of linebackers and three defensive linemen to bolster the depth of the front seven.
"I think you can kind of tell what we were trying to do in this class," said McElwain. "We were trying to kind of restructure some of the rooms, get some new blood in there, get some guys as competition as we move forward. Excited about all the people who have been involved in making this a successful year."
Meet the Gators 2016 Signing Class:
| ENROLLED (12) | |||||
| Name | Position | Height | Weight | Class | Hometown/Previous School |
| McArthur Burnett | DB | 5-9 | 157 | Fr. | Pahokee, Fla./Pahokee |
| Stone Forsythe | OL | 6-7 | 309 | Fr. | Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange |
| Feleipe Franks | QB | 6-6 | 214 | Fr. | Crawfordville, Fla./Wakulla |
| Chauncey Gardner | DB | 5-11 | 197 | Fr. | Cocoa, Fla./Cocoa |
| Josh Hammond | WR | 6-1 | 179 | Fr. | Hallandale Beach, Fla./Hallandale |
| Dre Massey | WR | 5-9 | 184 | Jr. | Greenville, S.C./Mauldin HS |
| Eddy Pineiro | K | 6-0 | 178 | R-Fr. | Miami, Fla./Sunset HS |
| David Reese | LB | 6-0 | 240 | Fr. | Farmington, Mich./Farmington |
| Jordan Smith | DL | 6-5 | 225 | Fr. | Lithonia, Ga./Lithonia |
| Freddie Swain | WR | 6-0 | 177 | Fr. | Ocala, Fla./North Marion |
| Mark Thompson | RB | 6-2 | 228 | R-Jr. | La Mott, Pa./Cheltenham HS |
| Kyle Trask | QB | 6-4 | 230 | Fr. | Manvel, Texas/Manvel |
| SIGNEES (13) | |||||
| Name | Position | Height | Weight | Class | Hometown/Previous School |
| Antonneous Clayton | DL | 6-3 | 235 | Fr. | Vienna, Ga./Dooly County |
| Tyrie Cleveland | WR | 6-2 | 194 | Fr. | Houston, Texas/Westfield |
| Brett Heggie | OL | 6-3 | 314 | Fr. | Mount Dora, Fla./Mount Dora |
| Vosean Joseph | LB | 6-1 | 215 | Fr. | Miami, Fla./Norland |
| Quincy Lenton | DB | 5-11 | 207 | Fr. | Meridian, Miss./Meridian |
| C.J. McWilliams | DB | 5-11 | 163 | Fr. | Miami, Fla./Southwest |
| Jeremiah Moon | LB | 6-4 | 209 | Fr. | Hoover, Ala./Hoover |
| Lamical Perine | RB | 5-11 | 218 | Fr. | Theodore, Ala./Theodore |
| Jachai Polite | DL | 6-2 | 259 | Fr. | Daytona Beach, Fla./Mainland |
| Joseph Putu | DB | 6-2 | 195 | Jr. | Providence, R.I./Mount Pleasant |
| Jawaan Taylor | OL | 6-5 | 347 | Fr. | Cocoa, Fla./Cocoa |
| Jeawon Taylor | DB | 6-0 | 191 | Fr. | Montgomery, Ala./Park Crossing |
| Rick Wells | WR | 6-0 | 200 | Fr. | Jacksonville, Fla./Raines |
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