Chris McClellan’s recruitment defied all conventional logic.
The Gators were 5-6 and were only a couple of days removed from Dan Mullen’s firing. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham had been fired several weeks before that, and defensive line coach David Turner seemed unlikely to be retained by the next head coach, which turned out to be Billy Napier.
Plus, McClellan is from Oklahoma, so it’s not like he grew up wanting to play for the Gators regardless of the circumstances.
As a highly ranked four-star defensive lineman, he could’ve gone to pretty much any college he wanted to, including several that were in much more stable situations than Florida.