Recruiting: Austin Hardin Commits to Kick For Florida

by Andy Hutchins on Jun 22, 2011 1:53 PM EDT in Florida Football Recruiting

Hey, a kicker committed! That's big news, right? The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the skinny on Georgia kicker Austin Hardin committing to Florida:

Georgia’s No. 1 kicker is a Gator.

Marist’s Austin Hardin auditioned at three football camps this summer, going 3 for 3 with offers from Tennessee, Auburn and Florida. He committed to Gators coach Will Muschamp while on campus on Wednesday.

"Coach Muschamp told me from his staff’s evaluation of me, and from what he heard from others, he considered me the best specialist in the nation," Hardin told the AJC. "He put the offer out there for me, and said ‘We’d like you to come to Florida. You can come in right away and start off kickoffs.’

Hardin has three stars on ESPN ($) and two stars on Rivals, and, well, kickers don't get many stars, do they? Hardin could be the logical successor to Caleb Sturgis.

Below the jump, video of Hardin nailing a 59-yard game-winning field goal to lift Marist School last fall.

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"It's too far for a field goal."

Not so much!

SB Nation Archive | @AndyHutchins | Alligator Army | @AlligatorArmy

by Andy Hutchins on Jun 22, 2011 1:55 PM EDT reply actions

Loving the way we're recruiting Georgia.

Twice the Gators (and twice the...er...me) at a fraction of the price...The Bull Gator and Alligator Army.

by The Bull Gator on Jun 22, 2011 2:43 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

Fantastic.

Editor at Alligator Army - The Florida Gators Blog
The Florida Gators - The most despised team in all of college football - Which is fantastic.

by FlaGators on Jun 22, 2011 3:20 PM EDT reply actions

Won't break my hurt when Sturgis is done

I really never feel all that confident in him. He’s definitely not as good as pre-scholarship Hetland, though in fairness he’s also not even close to as bad as post-scholly Hetland. His percentage is lower than it should be because we tend to trot him out for a lot of 54-yarder kind of kicks, but then again, when he was coming to campus we heard about how he could make field goals from ridiculous distances. All I crave is some consistency…come back, Judd Davis, come back!

by swampchomp7 on Jun 22, 2011 9:38 PM EDT reply actions