While Mack Brown was making an appearance on the College Football Playoff Awards show, one of his most important commits in the 2020 class was scheduling an official visit to another school.
2020 3✮ DT Clyde Pinder Jr. took his official visit to Chapel Hill this past weekend and some thought that may have sealed the deal to him signing in the upcoming early signing window with how well he said it went. However, the final weekend of the early signing period was left open and now we know why. Pinder, who recently stated that he was interested in taking the rest of his official visits, will visit Florida this weekend as part of a big group of Florida commits and targets that will be on campus for their officials, as well. Getting him on campus this weekend is exactly what Florida wanted and needed in this recruitment
This is a huge blow for the Tar Heels chances to lock up this commitment. At first, the Gators main goal was likely to get Pinder to push his decision back to February, but it is becoming more possible that if enough things go right this weekend, the Gators could complete a flip during the early signing window. At the least, it’s becoming more and more likely that Pinder will not be a part of the Tar Heels’ early signing class after being anything but a guarantee just a month ago.
If the Tar Heels were to lose Pinder’s commitment, that would be a major blow to what is otherwise a really strong class. Defensive tackle would immediately become the biggest position of need for this team in the two month sprint to the regular signing day. With Aaron Crawford’s graduation and Brant Lawless-Sherrill heading to the transfer portal, there is some depth concerns behind Jahlil Taylor, who is the favorite to take over the starting job after backing up Crawford this year. As of right now, Pinder is the only defensive tackle that has close ties to Tar Heels, as fellow 3✮ DT Octavius Oxendine looks like he will stay in-state on the second day of the early signing period. That means the Tar Heels could be put in a tough spot if Florida completes this flip.
This is a huge shake up in the recruitment of one of the Tar Heels most important targets in the 2020 class. These next couple of days will be some tense ones, especially when it comes to Pinder and quarterback commit Jacolby Criswell’s commitments. We’ll have you covered with all of the latest updates right here on the Heel Tough Blog.