College Football Recruiting: Texas Longhorns Hitting Florida Hard

With bowl season winding down and signing day a little over a month away, college football recruiting is heating up, and Charlie Strong and the Texas Longhorns appear to be solid position to land some key out-of-state recruits from one of the most talent-rich states in the country.

Just before Christmas Cecil Cherry, a four-star linebacker out of Florida, committed to play for the Longhorns, and since then he has already proven himself to be an invaluable recruiter and future leader for a Longhorn program looking to usher in a new era. Due in large part to Cherry, the Longhorns are now in good position to land several top recruits out of the State of Florida–a group that’s come to be known on message boards as the “Florida Five.”

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The new year started off well for the Longhorns, as Davante Davis, a 6’3″ four-star safety from Booker T. Washington in Miami, Florida, became the second player from the state to commit to Texas. Davis, who visited Texas the same weekend as Cherry, chose the Horns over Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Ohio State, and several other top programs.

The Longhorns also appear to have recently gained a lot of ground in the recruitment of Tim Irvin, also a four-star safety from Miami, Florida, who plans to announce his decision at the Army All-America Bowl on Saturday. Though Miami was thought to be the leader for Irvin, Texas has emerged as one of the two frontrunners to land the safety. Irvin, who was also in Austin for his official visit with Cherry and Davis, has been in close contact with them, particularly Cherry, ever since.

Pulling Irvin away from his hometown Miami Hurricanes won’t be an easy task, but again, the Longhorns have come up strong him in recent weeks, and there are some that say it could actually come down to Texas and Auburn instead, with the Longhorns sitting pretty.

"“All you’ll that’s hating, when Charlie Strong gets the Florida five and all other boys I bet we run the table and I put that on my life.”–Cecil Cherry Tweet following the Horns’ bowl loss"

Also announcing his decision at the game on Saturday is Davante Davis’ high school teammate, four-star tight end Devonaire Clarington. Clarington has been rumored to have a strong interest in the Horns for a while now. Although the Horns recently parted ways with TE coach Bruce Chambers, Clarington is intrigued with the Longhorns’ plans to use him as an H-back, an inside receiver, as well as a traditional tight end. The 6’5″, 222-pounder would certainly be a key factor in a Texas offense that is trying to reinvent itself.

The fifth member of the Florida Five is wide receiver Gilbert Johnson. Johnson originally committed to Georgia out of high school, but has spent the last year at Georgia Prep after failing to qualify. The Longhorns are targeting the 6’5″ receiver who visited Austin in November along with the others. Working in Texas’ favor is the fact that he has a previous relationship with Strong, who recruited him while at Louisville. Johnson has not yet set an announcement date.

As anyone who follows college football knows, some of the top talent in the nation hails from Florida. Opening a recruiting pipeline from there to Texas could only help to strengthen Charlie Strong’s attempts to rebuild this Texas program. Not to take anything away from Strong and his staff, but if they can get the Florida Five to Texas, he will owe a lot of it to Cecil Cherry; this program needs players like Cecil Cherry leading the charge into the new era of Texas football.

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