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Earl Okine was never the biggest name in recruiting circles, never the first prospect talked about when discussing Florida's class, but to hear coach Urban Meyer tell it, much is expected from the Gainesville standout.
"He's a big dude," Meyer said Wednesday at his Signing Day news conference. "You watch him the next few years. Good student, good guy, high SAT, you watch Earl Okine the next few years…He's got a little of (Carlos) Dunlap in him; big, freak, fast, strong."
Maybe Okine deserves more credit. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound prospect finished as a four star and was rated as the 11th best weak-side defensive end nationally by Rivals.com. He was No. 38 in the Florida top 100. Not exactly at the top of the list but maybe he was a little undervalued in high school.
Okine, who performed well last spring at the Tallahassee Nike Camp, finished with 102 tackles and 12 sacks in his senior season. As a junior, he had 86 tackles. He was a third team all-state selection both years.
Florida State, Maryland, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech and others were involved with Okine, who verbally committed to Florida on April 19. In Florida's signing class, he was the first commitment and he is an early enrollee. Meyer said the Gators were involved with Okine for years and that it's important to land the local kids.
"He's doing well in school," Meyer said. He's got a smile a little more in the weight room. He's not used to getting bludgeoned like he is now. He's got a great mom and dad here in town…We knew about Earl a long time ago. Recruiting local, you better hit them as sophomores. (Assistant coach) John Hevesy has done a very good job with Earl.
"If there's someone coming up we're all over them. We have them in our camps. We get to know the high school coaches. You better take care of home before you go anywhere else. That's a sign of a problem if a guy in your backdoor wants to go somewhere else or it's a guy who doesn't want to compete."
Okine played well in his senior season and then he was outstanding in two post-season all-star games. The Gainesville native finished with 3.5 sacks in the FACA North-South Game and in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl in Miami. He was named defensive MVP at that game.
Okine was in Florida's recruiting class for a long time but the Gators were slow out of the gates in terms of numbers – probably by design – and Meyer said Wednesday he was pleased by how Florida closed. January was an especially busy month for the Gators, who received verbal commitments from seven players in their signing class.
Defensive back Adrian Bushell, athlete Jeffrey Demps, defensive end William Green, defensive tackle Omar Hunter, linebacker Lerentee McCray, offensive lineman Matt Patchan and linebacker T.J. Pridemore all picked Florida during that month.
Hunter and Patchan are five stars. Bushell, Demps, Green and McCray are four-star recruits. Pridemore finished as a three-star prospect but his versatility at either linebacker or fullback should allow him to make an impact.
"We closed real strong," Meyer said. "Not that I'm into the rankings but the competitive part of me, every time I'll hit that Rivals and see where we're ranked. I'm kind of concerned myself we're not highly ranked and then all of a sudden bang, bang, bang, five, six, seven commits later you are ranked and at some point we were ranked No. 1.
"Some guys are signing 35 players and we have 22. I'm not concerned about rankings but there is a part of me that I always check. When you start throwing in Omar Hunter, William Green, T.J. Lawrence jumped in there really late. That was a great day for us."
