UWF brings in solid number of players on National Signing Day, including three local alums

Now in his third recruiting cycle as head coach of the University of West Florida football team, Kaleb Nobles has come to expect the unexpected.

With the current landscape of college football and the transfer portal – with players leaving whenever they want to almost go wherever they want – college coaches have to be ready to add more players than were initially expected. And then possibly add a few more here and there after signing day if things just aren’t working out, or if players abruptly decide to leave or stop playing football.

Nobles compared the college football landscape to almost a farm system in a Major League Baseball organization. If there’s a good player at a lower level of college football – in this case, with the Argos being Division II – it’s very well possible a Division I coaching staff will come calling, especially if that player has multiple years of eligibility left.

“Whether that be illegally or legally, I can’t comment on that – but you better be prepared for that. You can’t guarantee someone will be with you the entire time,” Nobles said. “We love having young guys as all-conference players or playing early for us, but you better be prepared that there are some guys you can pinpoint and say, ‘All right, you better find a replacement for that guy.’”

Even with the chaos that the transfer portal sometimes brings to college athletics now, Nobles admitted this was “probably the least stressful” of the three recruiting cycles he’s gone through since coming back to Northwest Florida prior to the 2023 season.

UWF already brought in 21 mid-year transfers that have been working out and going through meetings with coaches, Nobles said. That’s on top of the 21 high school athletes that were signed officially on Wednesday during National Signing Day. A strong majority…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/uwf-brings-solid-number-players-103939591.html

Author : Pensacola News Journal

Publish date : 2025-02-06 10:39:00

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