ESPN 300 quarterback Emory Jones announced his decision to sign with the Florida Gators on Wednesday after he had held a commitment to Ohio State since July 2016.
The commitment of the No. 20-ranked prospect gives new Gators coach Dan Mullen a feather in his cap recruiting against Urban Meyer, whom Mullen worked under at Utah and Florida. Mullen lost a commitment from ESPN 300 quarterback Matt Corral, who flipped to Ole Miss, and was able to convince Jones to take a visit to Gainesville before the early signing period.
Jones, a 6-foot-3, 196-pound prospect from Franklin, Georgia, had been looking around at other schools, including Alabama and Florida State, but a late push by Florida swung him in the Gators' favor. He is now the centerpiece to Mullen's first class, giving the Gators six ESPN 300 recruits from the 2018 rankings.
"You have to find somebody that can handle the responsibilities of not just the quarterback position for the football team but the quarterback at the University of Florida, which is something special," Mullen said. "You know, I think his comfort with us and our comfort with him know that he is somebody that can handle that, can handle that scrutiny, handle that pressure, handle those expectations and really not handle it but thrive on it.
"And that's what he was looking for ... to be the quarterback at really the premier quarterback school in America."
Once the Buckeyes learned that Jones was looking at other programs, the coaching staff found another quarterback commit in Matthew Baldwin to replace Jones if he decided to jump ship.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
