/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/5MP5NUWELYYW7OA7OHKLON7XYI.jpg "Florida Gators coach Billy Napier finished his first full recruiting class Wednesday.")
Billy Napier’s first full recruiting class with the Florida Gators looks a lot like the ones Dan Mullen brought to Gainesville four years ago. That’s what you’ll see from a quick peek at the rankings after Wednesday’s national signing day.
Napier’s first full class sits 14th in the 247Sports composite (our source for all rankings in this story). Mullen’s three full classes ranked ninth, ninth and 12th.
The reality is more nuanced; Napier’s haul is deeper than what Mullen signed and has a higher ratio of blue-chip prospects.
Recruiting rankings are, of course, imperfect. The lowest-rated recruit of Mullen’s first class — Ethan White from Clearwater’s Calvary Christian High — started 21 games and was a second-team all-SEC offensive lineman last season. But Napier calls college football a talent-acquisition business, and this is a good time for a side-by-side assessment.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/NUVNOMERTMIZ6TG4LLUPGWJTTY.jpg "Ethan White, seen here blocking for Emory Jones, started 21 games for the Florida Gators despite being the lowest-rated recruit of UF's 2019 class.")
Two quick caveats: We’re excluding transfers because the portal climate has changed too much in four years to allow for an apples-to-apples comparison. We are, however, including the three Mullen signees who didn’t make it to campus that season (though four-star linebacker Diwun Black did join the Gators later).
National team ranking
Napier: No. 14
Mullen: No. 9
SEC team ranking
Napier: No. 5 (seventh, including future members Texas and Oklahoma)
Mullen: No. 5 (seventh, including the Longhorns and Sooners)
Ranking among coaches in first full cycle
Napier: Seventh (behind Oklahoma, LSU, Miami, Oregon, Notre Dame and USC)
Mullen: Third (behind Texas A&M and Oregon)
Top signee
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/OGGVGZOXW2F6CD7NQO2SQJ7T2Y.jpg "Kelby Collins was the Gators' top signee in the 2023 class.")
Napier: Four-star Alabama defensive lineman Kelby Collins (No. 42 overall)
Mullen: Four-star California defensive back Chris Steele (No. 42 overall)
Top-50 recruits signed
Napier: 1
Mullen: 2
Top-100 recruits signed
Napier: 2
Mullen: 4
Top-200 recruits signed
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/IIM2FB7J2VG4VKU2BURLK5H7HE.jpg "Florida Gators tight end Keon Zipperer was a top-200 recruit in Dan Mullen's 2019 class.")
Napier: 8
Mullen: 7
Top-300 recruits signed
Napier: 11
Mullen: 12
Top-500 recruits signed
Napier: 19
Mullen: 18
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/HGGIGRRJWZHLROCP7AXKKCJACU.png "Follow the state’s college football teams")
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Explore all your optionsAverage recruit ranking
Napier: 260
Mullen: 345.5
Average recruit rating
Napier: 92.04 (sixth nationally)
Mullen: 90.56 (13th nationally)
Blue-chip signees (four- or five-star recruits)
Napier: 18
Mullen: 16
Blue-chip ratio
Napier: 18/20 (90%)
Mullen: 16/24 (66.7%)
Top-10 Florida natives signed
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/N2X5GXPTKVGR5JPNAMVBDF532Q.jpg "Kaiir Elam, seen here at the 2019 Under Armour All-American Game, was one of the state's top recruits in his class.")
Napier: 1
Mullen: 2
Top-25 Florida natives signed
Napier: 5
Mullen: 4
• • •
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