Image via Francois Nolton, Hudl
With the Gators’ 2021 recruiting class all wrapped up, Dan Mullen and his staff have gone to work setting up their 2022 class.
— Francois Nolton Jr (@99_nolton) February 5, 2021
Francois Nolton, a 6’4, 225 lb. four star defensive end from Miami, has committed to Florida. In doing so, he joins Edison High School teammate Syveion Ellis as the second member of the Gators’ 2022 recruiting class (side note: that may or may not have had something to do with his decision to commit to Florida). Nolton also had offers from Alabama, Auburn, USC, Miami, FSU, LSU, Penn State, Texas A&M and more- certainly not a bad list with ten months to go until the December Signing Period.
Nolton attended Miami Christian in 2019, but transferred to Miami Edison in 2020 and wreaked immediate havoc. Despite being sidelined for a few games with an injury, he recorded four sacks in his shortened season.
As you can see from his highlights (which you can watch here), Nolton is an excellent athlete with a nose for getting into the backfield, and that’s likely what caught the eyes of defensive line coach David Turner. Florida will almost certainly have a major need for that in 2022 and beyond with the impending departures of Zach Carter and Brenton Cox, and the Gators proactively addressed that by seeking- and landing- Francois Nolton.
