Coach Steve Addazio can be credited for the nation’s top recruiting class of 2010. Addazio and the rest of the Gator staff brought in 28 recruits including four 5-star prospects. This recruiting class was reported as possibly the best in history by any team. Because of the number of high rated recruits brought in, Steve Addazio is the Recruiter of the Year.
After Urban Meyer declared he would retire in December of 2009, Addazio was to be the new head football coach at the University of Florida. A day later, Meyer decided to take a leave of absence. Along with vivid Meyer saga, the former defensive coordinator, Charlie Strong, left the Gators to become the Louisville head coach. He brought along with him assistant head coaches, Vance Bedford and Kenny Carter. Billy Gonzales, who coached the receivers, also left for a position at LSU. Even through all of these stunning events, most people would expect for the Gators to have a slow season and a bad recruiting class for 2010. Although, Steve Addazio would stick with the Gators and reel in the the best recruiting class in 2010, if not the best in history.
Urban Meyer praised the assistant head coach by saying, “Steve Addazio is certainly one of the very best recruiters I’ve ever been around. He brings the same passion and excellence to the recruiting trail that he does to coaching on the field. Our guys love him because he connects with them and cares about them, and that’s very evident to anyone who spends time around our program.” The Gators brought in numerous recruits from their home state along with a few prospects from California, New York, Connecticut, and Philadelphia. From California, the Gators managed to get letters of intent from defensive end, Ronald Powell, and Joshua Shaw, who is a corner back, out of Palmdale High School.
“Recruiting is a relationship business and there are lots of components to it. You have to build relationships. Otherwise, you are a stranger in a strange land,” Addazio said. “I am one of the guys that has been recruiting the Northeast for that long of a period of time.” Because of Addazio’s relationship building skills, he was able to get players such as Sharrif Floyd and Tyler Murphy. Sharrif Floyd was reported to say, “Whatever would have happened with Coach Meyer, I knew I wanted to be at Florida and Coach Addazio was a big part of that.”
It seems as if the 2010 Gator recruiting class would have been nothing but another average years for the 3-time National Champion Gators. Coach Addazio spent hours on end building strong, family-like relationships with the high school seniors. Gator Sports Nation would like to congratulate Addazio on his accomplishment as the Recruiter of the Year.
(Information collected from ESPN.com and Rivals.com)
By: Justin Rectenwald
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