Wednesday, 32 young men across Florida and Alabama officially bought into the dream set in motion by University of West Florida’s Dr. Judy Bense in 2011. All 32 signed their National Letters of Intent to become members of the first University of West Florida Football program, which will take the field in 2016.
While this class of future Argos is taking shape, the vision Dr. Bense gave Northwest Florida was the same vision UWF Head Coach Pete Shinnick had to sell to this incoming class. “This is a very special group that had to have a lot of vision,” said Shinnick. “When we brought these young men and their families into town, we showed them where things would be and what the plans are with artist renderings, but this first group is very special as they will be a part of the inaugural class of the University of West Football program.”
The players who signed on Wednesday are a far cry from what Shinnick went through nine years ago when he started the UNC-Pembroke football program. “Today’s success is due in large part to the vision and planning of Dr. Judy Bense and Athletic Director Dave Scott,” said Shinnick. “They had a plan and a vision and today we are enjoying the success of that. Nine years ago, I was hired by UNC-Pembroke in January and we only got two signees that February on National Signing Day. By the end of the period we had added eight to ten more.”
Shinnick and his staff have worked nearly the past year making connections with coaches and football players across Florida and Alabama as they have roughly 70 players committed as signees, transfers, walk-ons, and those already on campus. He hopes that number will increase to 105-110 by this August.
Locally, the first recruiting class features Pensacola’s Devin Gibson (West Florida High) as well as transfers, Tyler Henderson from Crestview and Blake McCall from Century. Also a list of admitted walk-ons include Niceville’s Joseph Blythe and Chris Hunt from Ft. Walton Beach.
“I am really proud of this coaching staff and my graduate assistants for getting us to this place,” said Shinnick. “This is a great day to cap off a lot of hard work.”
Practice for the inaugural 2016 football season will begin in earnest this August and by November, the Agros hope to have players ready for the competitive Gulf South Conference Division II. “When our players get to November we don’t just want players who can start at West Florida,” said Shinnick. “We want players who can start in the Gulf South Conference.” Last year, the GSC had four teams participate in the 24-team Division II tournament.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: 32 future Argos commit to tomorrow