A victor of two of the previous three National Championships, the Florida Gators have been founded upon simple principles under head coach Urban Meyer.

Those unique philosophies haven't varied annually in terms of recruiting, and things aren't looking any different on 2009's National Signing Day.

The basic fundamental in Urban Meyer's mind for producing National Championships is good defense, special teams, and speed. Speed is already prevalent in a class that already contains two 5-star players and 10 4-star players.

Although player absences diminished the 2007 Gators, a season after their first title under Urban Meyer, the situation has been reversed now. Florida returns every defensive starter, including names such as Brandon Spikes, Major Wright, and Joe Haden.

On offense, however, some concerns have arisen. Former offensive coordinator Dan Mullen bolted for the Mississippi State head coach position, and the Gators lose Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy at the wide receiver position, as well as the likes of three offensive linemen.

Of those offensive linemen, two were starters. Jason Watkins and Phil Trautwein graduate as two-time National Champions. Jim Tartt, who suffered some injuries during his Gator career, also graduates.

Coaching at a program like that of Florida has it's perks. Certainly it's tough seeing a star player such as Percy Harvin go, but you've got numerous tools and capabilities to make up for it.

fansnap_syndslot_get_headliner(); fansnap_syndslot_get_category(); var fansnap_syndslot_instance = new fansnap_syndslot(); var fansnap_script_include = new Element('script'); fansnap_script_include.src = fansnap_syndslot_instance.server + '/synd/js/search?' + fansnap_syndslot_instance.params(); $('fansnap-instance').insert(fansnap_script_include);Andre DeBose, a versatile and shifty wide receiver, has headlined a recruiting class that's still young.

DeBose has already drawn comparisons to Harvin, and has great speed, a principal that the Gators have become known for. There has been some worrying going on about his solidarity to his verbal commitment because he visited FSU last week. We'll see how that plays out today. The Gators also added Nu'Keese Richardson, a wide receiver that could potentially bring some noise to the table. Although Richardson is 5'8", he brings a lot of speed to Gainesville along with him. Richardson has also got a decision to make today due to Tennessee (his home state) and Kiffin making a strong final push for him and getting him to visit Knoxville last week.

Urban Meyer may also be satisfied with quarterback commitment Jordan Reed, who has great speed and may be engineered to run the spread option offense. The Gators also received a new running back in four star speedster Mike Gillislee.

The holes on the offensive line have been patched for future perfection as well, with commitments ringing in from several four star players. Notable signee Xavier Nixon is the first of five offensive line commitments thus far. Nick Alajajian and Jonotthan Harrison are the other two four star commits.

As for possible offensive NSD surprises, There is still a little hope for a 5-star RB who had previously commited to Alabama named Trent Richardson, but it is appearing more and more likely his previous commitment to Alabama will stick. Orson Charles, a TE from Plant City also has a big decision to make today that could go Florida's way, but FSU and UGA are also up on his list. The only other QB on the board for 2009 is Denard Robinson of Deerfield Beach. His announcement will come this morning and wll probably be good news for the Gators.

On the defensive side of the football, a unit that needs little to no new additions, there have been some notable commitments.

The defensive line will welcome five star defensive tackle Gary Brown, as well as four star defensive tackle Edwin Herbert and three star defensive end Kedric Johnson.

With the Gators stacking up for future runs at the title, the defensive line looks to be set. Florida received a few commitments from defensive lineman last season, most notably from five star defensive tackle Omar Hunter.

Florida has received a few commitments as far as linebackers and defensive backs are concerned. The Gators signed four star linebacker Jon Bostic, as well as four star defensive back Dee Finley (committed in '08 class, but couldn't qualify) and four star athlete Marsalis Teague. There has been a lot of smoke around Teague as a possible deflection on NSD, and where there is this much smoke there is usually fire.

The commitment list thus far would normally be enough to guarantee success for the next couple seasons, but the Gators aren't done yet. The defending National Champions are still in the mix for five star linebacker Jelani Jenkins, among others.

Brandon Moore is a strong DT that the Gators would love to talk out of going to Alabama, but it's looking like he'll be playing for Saban. Jarvis Jones is a LB that leaned toward Florida for most of this year, but is now looking at USC pretty strongly. Josh Evans of New Jersey is another DB that looks to probably sign with the Gators today. With all of these recruits still left to make decisions today, it should be a busy and interesting day for Coach Meyer and his staff.

It's safe to assume Urban Meyer and his coaching staff aren't only pleased with being the best on the field; - they want to bring in the best talent off of it. In a recruiting season that's seen it's fair share of de-commitments, there's a good possibility that the Gators can land another top 5 recruiting class today. The number of scholarships is limited this year, which will keep Florida out of the top spot but having a top 5 class with only 18 recruits is about as good as you can expect. Next year's recruiting class is much thicker in talent and Florida will have many more scholarships available to them to make another run at number one.

Ben Spicer is a contributor to the Bleacher Report. Visit http://bleacherreport.com/articles/118147-recruiting-roundhouse-grading-the-gators-class-thus-far to read his original article. Words that are italicized are not original content, but were added by GatorTailgating.com to give more updated information.