Coaching Experience, Florida's QB Room Standing out for Five-Star WR

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The Florida Gators have had no shortage of success in recruiting the receiver position over the last few years, and it certainly helps that head coach Billy Napier is a former receivers coach himself with experience with legendary receivers such as Amari Cooper, Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley and Deandre Hopkins.

Combined with a veteran position coach in Billy Gonzales and a rising young star in quality control specialist David Doeker, five-star wide receiver Calvin Russell of Miami (Fla.) Northwestern knows there is a tremendous chance for development should he choose the Gators.

"The coaching staff, the history they've got with guys going in the draft," Russell said Sunday of what makes a school stand out when leaving his official visit at Florida. "Stuff like that... Coach Napier has helped the program go up and up ever since he's been here. He's been recruiting me since ninth grade, and ever since he's recruited me, the program has gotten better and better every year."

Gonzales' history, most notably in two other stints with Florida, is almost as impressive with experience coaching receivers such as Dallas Baker, Andre Caldwell, Percy Harvin, Louis Murphy, Van Jefferson, Kadarius Toney and Ricky Pearsall at Florida, Rueben Randle and Odell Beckham Jr. at LSU and De'Runnya Wilson and Fred Ross at Mississippi State.

"The history that he has is so great," Russell said. "He recently told me about all the history. He knows a lot. He's going to teach a lot. He's going to make sure you're going to get to that draft."

Russell also has family ties to UF with uncles Del Speer and James Speer previously playing for the program.

This experience, family ties and the opportunity to play with quarterbacks DJ Lagway and Tramell Jones Jr., who Russell spent a lot of time during the visit, makes Florida stand out among the schools fighting for his services.

"He's a great guy. You can tell he's a great leader," Russell said of Lagway. "You can tell the guys around him respect him a lot."

In March, Russell released a top 12 of Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon and USC. However, he plans on trimming down his list and finalizing an official visit schedule for the coming weeks with everything being "up in the air" at the moment.

He plans on committing on July 5.

Florida Gators on SI is keeping track of every recruiting move by the Gators, from commitments to prospects of note to the summer official visit schedule, on our 2026 Recruiting Tracker.

More From Florida Gators on SI