Five athletes signed with the gymnastics program at the University of Florida on Wednesday in the recruiting Class of 2027. The Gators released a graphic for each signee that gave more shine to head coach Jenny Rowland than the athletes.
It was not a great look for a team that continues to move past behind-the-scenes drama.
The college gymnastics team took the moment away from the newest signees and gave priority to the head coach. Is that a reflection on the culture or a major oversight?
Florida signed five athletes to its gymnastics program.
Skylar Draser was one of three gymnasts who were removed from the gymnastics team at Florida in the middle of October. One of the program’s best athletes won’t compete for the Gators during the 2027 season after a departure that nobody saw coming. She implied that there are a lot of issues with the culture in Gainesville. Her former teammate also took a shot at the coaching staff.
Draser and her teammates were removed from the roster with less than three months until the start of the season. They were replaced by a talented group of athletes in the recruiting Class of 2027.
Florida signed Ariana Barksdale, Erin Davis, Ming Gherardi, Emma Heaton and Tyler Turner on Wednesday. Gherardi represented France at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Barksdale, Davis, Heaton and Tuner are all four- or five-star recruits. The Gators signed the No. 3-ranked class in the country.
Regardless of what happened with Draser and the other two former gymnasts that were removed from the team, Florida reloaded with elite talent. It will be a legitimate national title contender as the No. 3-ranked team in the WCGA Preseason Coaches Poll.
The recruiting graphic gave more shine to head coach Jenny Rowland.
Although the Gators were thrilled to sign as much talent as they did, their promotional graphics missed the mark. Head coach Jenny Rowland’s name was much bigger than the signees’ names. For example:
Here is how it looked on the timeline:
This post was viewed more than three million times:
You have to zoom in to see the signee’s name while the head coach’s name slaps you in the face. It is massive.
I don’t know who is responsible for this design. Perhaps it falls on a graphics team that is likely overworked and underpaid. They did not realize how the posts would look on the feed. By the time it went live, it was too late.
However, if this design was approved by the coaching staff and/or any of the higher-ups at Florida, that reflects a much bigger problem. Nobody thought to question the size of the head coach’s name compared to the athletes’ names? The Gators received a lot of well-deserved criticism. And maybe this is a reflection of the questionable culture to which Draser alluded…