GAINESVILLE – After Florida's acceptance of a Gator Bowl bid had been announced Sunday night, coach Will Muschamp concluded the call by saying how well recruiting was going.
About an hour later, Florida lost the commitment of one of two running backs in the 2012 class. Stone Mountain (Ga.) Stephenson running back Mike Davis tweeted, "No longer committed to florida."
Rivals.com ranks Davis as the No. 6 running back in the country. He was one of two backs committed to Florida with Seffner Armwood's Matt Jones.
"It's going great. Recruiting has been outstanding cause first of all, you're recruiting at the University of Florida," said Muschamp. "It's a great school, great campus, great tradition with our football program and a great staff. A hard-working staff in recruiting. Players very easily see where we're headed with this."
His de-commitment leaves Florida with 16 players in the class of 2012. Davis would have been expected to help the Gators with a position of need. Running backs Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey graduate this year, leaving Mike Gillislee and Mack Brown as the Gators' backs.
Fullback Hunter Joyer has been praised by coaches this season as a freshman. While Trey Burton has played the position, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis said he expects to move the sophomore to just one position next season instead of playing him at four or five.
As for Davis, it's not clear if the Gators are totally out of the picture. He told ESPN that his de-commitment was due to a "misunderstanding" with the coaches and that he wasn't sure if he would still consider Florida.
UF is still in the mix for Raleigh (N.C.) Millbrook running back Keith Marshall, Rivals' top-rated running back in the class.