Florida Gators
Florida Recruiting
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
While the highlight of Florida’s first offseason under new head coach Jon Sumerall has been the key talent retention, there is no doubt the program’s roster will look much different this season.
Sumrall and the new-look Florida coaching and personnel staff have accepted 30 commitments from transfers over the last month, in addition to 20 high school prospects, and two walk-ons.
Yet, the NCAA’s recent consolidation of its transfer portal windows has left Sumrall wondering if Florida has filled each of its positional needs ahead of the 2026 campaign.
“We don’t have the luxury of that second window now, so that’s a little bit more daunting, because you don’t get a chance — I’m not going to have any opportunity to watch this team practice and go correct in the second portal,” Sumrall said. “We just have to go watch them practice and try to fix it, or make somebody better or maybe move guys around. That’s a little bit more unnerving.
“I wouldn’t be upset as a first-year head coach if we had the second portal window. I used it to my benefit the last job I was at. I would be okay if they gave us an emergency second portal window.”
Florida has accepted at least one transfer commitment for every position group this offseason, from quarterback to long snapper.
But from Sumrall’s point of view, evaluating the overall quality of the class is not an easy task right now.
Florida took a handful of prospects with proven production, including 12 players with double-digit career starts, such as wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr, edge rusher Emmanuel Oyebadejo, safety DJ Coleman, offensive linemen Harrison Moore and TJ Shanahan Jr, who each project to earn first-team or significant rotational roles with UF.
On the flip side, transfer pickups like quarterback Aaron Philip, defensive tackle DK Kalyn, tight end Luke Harpring, offensive tackle Eadab Boyer and others — while expected to contribute in 2026 and potentially beyond — have yet to fully prove their worth at the college level, with limited playing experience on their résumés. Florida is, effectively, banking on their potential.
Still, Sumrall expressed appreciation for how Florida’s vast transfer class came together.
Gators’ General Manager Dave Caldwell is spearheading the effort to scout the portal market and narrow the list of quality prospects for Sumrall to evaluate and target.
In High School recruiting, the Gators are behind SEC heavyweights such as Georgia, Texas, Alabama and Oklahoma programs that continue to hoard top-five classes. This sharpens how Florida’s progress should be measured.
Florida’s 2026 haul reflects targeted intention, with a class that features 13 four-star prospects among 20 total commits who cover multiple phases of the game.
Four-star wide receivers Davian Grocery and Justin Williams anchor the class at the top, offering production on the offensive side of the ball.
Key in-state additions such as cornerback C.J. Hester and safety Kaiden Hall reinforce Florida’s ability to compete for premium talent around the Sunshine State on defense.
In the new world of NIL recruiting both high school and transfer portal, the Florida Gators ranked 14th overall combined by on industry ranking. They are projected to be 26th in NIL spending for the 2026 season.
Overall, Sumrall’s first class with limited NIL money looks like a success.
Swimming In The Swamp
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Lane Kiffin accepted the head coach position at LSU. He was the top choice for the Florida Gators so they had to pivot.
They hired Tulane coach Jon Sumrall. Sumrall is 43 and he has compiled a 42-11 record as a head football coach with two conference championships and four league title game appearances in as many seasons.
This season he has led the Green Wave to a 10-2 record.
“The University of Florida is one of the premier programs in college football, and it’s an incredible honor to serve as the head football coach,” Sumrall said in a press release. “I believe in building a team rooted in toughness, accountability and a relentless competitive spirit. Florida has everything necessary to compete at the highest level — the resources, the support, the tradition and the passion of Gator Nation. My family and I are excited to get to work.”
“One of my first priorities will be to assemble an incredible staff, including an offensive coordinator who understands that, at Florida, having an explosive offense isn’t optional — it’s mandatory!” Sumrall added.
UF is also finalizing a deal to make David Caldwell the program’s general manager.
Caldwell served in the same role with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2013-20. The team only won 30% of its games under his leadership.
He was hired as a personnel executive by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021. His roles were senior personnel director and advisor to the general manager. The Eagles won Super Bowl LIX last season.
“Jon Sumrall is a proven winner and an exceptional leader who has built successful programs at every stop,” athletic director Scott Stricklin said.
“He brings tremendous energy, strong recruiting relationships across our footprint, and a philosophy rooted in toughness, discipline and player development. He will cultivate a daily culture of competitiveness, accountability and winning that drives success on the field and throughout our program. Jon fully understands the expectations at the University of Florida, including our expectations to produce championship teams that feature a dynamic offense. … Jon’s track record of rapid turnarounds speaks directly to his leadership and the culture he establishes.”
Sumrall was raised in Huntsville, Alabama and graduated high school in 2001. He played college football at Kentucky as a linebacker. He led the Wildcats in tackles in 2004 as a junior. Prior to his senior season he was diagnosed with a spinal condition that ended his playing career.
He was a graduate assistant at Kentucky from 2005-06. He spent five years at San Diego (2007-11) before joining Tulane as co-defensive coordinator under Curtis Johnson (2012-14).
He then went to Troy (2015-17) prior to beginning his Power Four coaching career leading linebackers at Ole Miss (2018) and his alma mater (2019-21), adding a co-defensive coordinator title in his final season with the Wildcats.
At Troy, he was 23-4 in his two seasons there.
On paper this seems like a good hire. There are some parallels to Billy Napier.
Napier coached at Louisiana before being hired by the Gators. They are a Sun Belt Conference team though.
Sumrall is coming from Tulane, which is in New Orleans. They are in the American Athletic Conference so the competition is a little tougher. I do like the fact that Sumrall played and coached in the SEC so he knows the conference very well.
Florida Gators Plan B?
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Florida is aggressively pursuing Lane Kiffin to become its next head coach. That has become obvious in the first month of the program’s search to replace Billy Napier.
Since day one, Kiffin has been Florida’s top choice for many reasons; he’s a sentiment shared by athletic director Scott Stricklin and one of Florida’s most influential boosters and fans.
Florida’s interest has unsurprisingly already led to conversations between the Gators and Kiffin’s camp in recent weeks. While Kiffin is not directly involved yet, multiple sources confirm the Gator athletic department is making preliminary moves.
Beyond the clarity of the aforementioned pursuit, not much is clear at all regarding who UF will ultimately end up with.
No clear Plan B has emerged in Florida. Potential candidates such as former Penn State head coach James Franklin and Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz have been floated as only potential candidates, but nothing more.
Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham privately turned down a spot in the candidate line behind Kiffin.
Washington head coach and UF alumnus Jedd Fisch has gone unmentioned as an option regarding plan B. It currently appears he is not seriously being considered for the role at this time.
Southern California’s Lincoln Riley, Louisville’s Jeff Brohm and Georgia Tech’s Brent Key are externally viewed as possible candidates; however, their internal standing on Florida’s board is unknown. We will have to wait and see what they do.
Call it bold, call it risky, call it whatever term you prefer, Florida’s coaching search can be summarized succinctly as ‘Lane Kiffin or bust.’
While their resumes are starkly different, that reality bears some similarity to UF’s pursuit of Napier four years ago: Stricklin zeroed in on one coach and one coach only, and it’s the hire he made.
While this coaching search has come with much more public consensus about who the “right” hire would be, Stricklin’s seemingly go-for-broke approach is no less precarious. If anything, it comes with even more pitfalls. And continuing to hire head coaches won’t get any easier.
Kiffin’s Rebels are all but certain to secure their first College Football Playoff berth in program history this postseason, with the first round kicking off on Dec. 19.
It would mark an unprecedented move for a coach to move on from a playoff team in the midst of its run.
The situation begs several critical questions. Among them:
How willing is Florida to be very patient for its top target?
Is Kiffin planning to leave Ole Miss at all?
If he is, but intends to coach the Rebels’ playoff run, would a handshake agreement be enough for the Gators?
If it all falls apart and Kiffin ultimately spurns UF, what would Florida do next?
It’s that last question that presents a rather considerable red flag.
The inherent risk in Florida’s approach to selling out for Kiffin is its potential backup options are currently having hiring conversations, if not making agreements with other programs, or their current program is taking the opportunity to lock them in.
Franklin, for example, is in talks with Virginia Tech for the Hokies’ head coach opening. Dillingham said he’s staying put at Arizona State. Brohm is reportedly discussing an extension with Louisville. Indiana’s Curt Cignetti signed a lucrative contract extension last month, three days before Napier was fired.
Florida’s engagements with non-Kiffin candidates or their camps have been limited to early-stage conversations about whether or not they would be willing to get in line behind the current Ole Miss coach.
Internally, there is a sense of confusion regarding what Florida’s backup plan would be.
The hope, of course, is that one isn’t needed. The worry is that one could be.
Kiffin is the most prominent perceived candidate of the 2025 college football coaching carousel for good reason. He turned Ole Miss into a team nobody wants to face year-over-year after decades of mediocrity.
Since John Vaught’s 1970 retirement, the Rebels have finished the season ranked only 10 times. Kiffin’s Ole Miss has won 10 or more games in four of his six seasons at the program’s helm; the team had only reached that mark seven times in its history prior to his arrival, including just twice in the 2000s.
Accordingly, Florida is not alone in its pursuit of Kiffin.
LSU, which fired Brian Kelly shortly after UF dismissed Napier, is targeting the 50-year-old. Kiffin is also rumored to be a person of interest for several NFL head coaching openings, including the New York Giants, where his former Rebels quarterback, Jaxson Dart, was a first-round pick this past offseason and has since turned heads.
Not only is Kiffin staying put in Oxford a threat to the Gators, so is the possibility that they simply finish second in the race to secure his services.
Florida feels like a high-performance vehicle pushing to its speed limit. It’s tearing down a narrowing road at a rate that leaves no margin. The wall ahead isn’t theoretical. It’s visible and closing fast.
The only thing between that machine and a catastrophic collision is Kiffin. He’s the emergency brake, the last-second steering correction, the only mechanism that keeps a reckless trajectory from becoming a ruin. But he is not a sure thing.
If the Kiffin plan connects, the whole thing could level out, the wheels grabbing just enough road to survive and potentially flourish.
If it doesn’t, though, and that single-coach system fails, then there’s presently nothing left between the Gators and catastrophic impact. No airbags. No backup plan. No Lane to save them. Just a spectacular, violent crash no one in the Gator Nation can afford.
The Likely Candidates
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Dear Scott Stricklin and all associated with the search for Florida’s fifth football coach since 2011: Stop messing around. Go get Lane Kiffin. Or at least try to. And if you fail, go get Eli Drinkwitz.
Try and keep trying until you hire a proven winner at the power-conference level.
Adopt the mindset of your rivals, like the team you’re about to play. Think, if you were Georgia, who would you not want Florida to hire? And then do everything you can to hire that person.
You’ve tried the other routes. When Urban Meyer left, you went with the hotshot assistant who knew the SEC. But Will Muschamp just wasn’t made out to be a head coach.
Then you tried the former SEC assistant who had won at a lower level. But Jim McElwain wasn’t a winning fit.
Then you went with Dan Mullen, who had been a Florida assistant and won at Mississippi State — seven out of nine winning seasons, and had worked for Stricklin there.
But as it turned out, Mullen’s lukewarm approach to recruiting in the name of systemic growth and talent development, while successful at Mississippi State, did not mesh at Florida.
And so, then you went in another direction, and hired Billy Napier, a recruiting maven from his SEC days, who had won as a Sun Belt head coach. But while he did upgrade the talent level, the head coaching didn’t translate to the SEC.
And so now here you are. It’s time to stop messing around.
Kiffin may not want to leave Ole Miss. Or may not want to take Florida. He’s doing well where he is, where he has administrative and financial support to build a roster. He may wonder why four straight coaches have failed in Gainesville.
But he’s also ambitious. He came of age when Steve Spurrier brought Florida to the forefront of college football. He was a rising assistant when Meyer won a couple of national titles there — then battled Meyer in his one season at Tennessee.
Should Florida be wary of Kiffin? Maybe, but for all his quirks, he’s proving he knows how to win in the portal/NIL era. He still knows how to run an offense. He would bring attention to the Gators and make them must-see football again. Make him say no.
And if he does, turn to Drinkwitz, who also likes to talk, is also an offensive-minded coach who knows how to build a roster in this era. And who is also winning in the SEC.
Ah, you may say, wouldn’t that just be going the Mullen route again? Drinkwitz is 44-25 overall and 24-21 in the SEC, versus Mullen going 69-46 overall and 33-39 in the SEC.
It can be argued that it’s much harder to win at Mississippi State than at Missouri. You could even discount Drinkwitz’s one-year stint at Appalachian State (12-1), given he took over a strong program.
The counter-argument is that Drinkwitz is a stronger recruiter. He has leveraged NIL to bring talent to Missouri. His last two high school classes ranked 20th in the nation. He kept five-star receiver Luther Burden at home in the 2022 high school class. He’s managed the portal, bringing in quarterback Beau Pribula (Penn State) and edge rusher Damon Wilson (Georgia) this past offseason. There’s real resourcefulness in his systems.
Give him Florida’s tradition and resources, and he should at least be able to recruit at Napier’s level. And the evidence is that Drinkwitz could outcoach him.
Missouri has had two straight 10-win seasons and is 6-1 this year. It has the SEC’s second-ranked defense, doing quite fine two years after LSU hired away its defensive coordinator.
Of course, Drinkwitz may also like where he is. So, what happens if you strike out with him?
Then maybe you go the Jon Sumrall (Tulane) route. Or you try to find the next Kirby Smart or Dan Lanning. Maybe that’s Will Stein, the 36-year-old Oregon offensive coordinator.
But Florida, you’ve tried those routes before. And your athletic director has struck out twice on hires now.
After taking chances with your past exes, It’s time for a sure thing in hiring a winning head coach. It’s time to do your best to make a sitting, successful power-conference coach say yes to bringing Florida back to glory.
Kiffin should be the first call. Drinkwitz should be the next. And there are some other names out there who deserve at least some back-channel talk.
You are Florida. Maybe it’s asking too much to return to the dominant days of Spurrier and Meyer, but nobody’s getting back to that level of dominance, at least not in the SEC in 2025.
What you can do at Florida is consistent contention for the College Football Playoff.
For all their failures, Muschamp, McElwain and Mullen each had at least one 10-win season in Gainesville. It was sustaining consistent winning seasons that ended up being the problem. And the longer you go without hiring the right guy, the more people forget the Spurrier and Meyer glory days. The harder it’ll get to reclaim them.
This is a huge hire, Florida. No more time for gambles and budget-friendly staff. Good professionals hire good professionals. Go get yourself the guy who you know — and who your rivals know — will win.
Chomped
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Florida Gators won a close game against Mississippi State recently, 23-21.
They improved to 3-4 and are going went bye week before they play #5 Georgia on November 1st.
They fired head coach Billy Napier after the win, which was somewhat surprising.
Firing Napier was inevitable, I’m just surprised it came after a win. The #13 Gators did lose to South Florida at home in Week 2. I thought he would get fired during the season after that unless Florida went on a winning streak.
They followed that up with road loses to #3 LSU and #4 Miami. They did upset #9 Texas at home on October 4th. The next week they lost at #5 Texas A&M, 34-17.
Napier went 22-23 in four seasons at Florida, including 12-16 in SEC play. He was 5-17 against ranked opponents, including 0-14 away from home.
He is the play caller and he would not give that up, despite calls to do so. His record against rivals Georgia, Florida State, Miami, LSU and Tennessee is 3-12.
Napier is the first full-time coach at Florida to finish his tenure with a losing record since Raymond Wolf (1946 to ’49). He was hired in 2021 after going 40-12 in four seasons at Louisiana.
“Making this decision during the open date provides our team valuable time to regroup, refocus, and prepare for the challenges ahead. The timing also allows us to conduct a thoughtful, thorough, and well-informed search for our next head coach. We remain fully committed to utilizing every resource available to identify the right leader to guide Gators Football into the future,” athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a statement.
“I will conduct the search with a high degree of confidentiality to protect the privacy of those involved. The search will focus on the hiring of an elite football coach who will embody the standard we have at the University of Florida, and we will continue to provide all of the necessary resources for that coach, his staff and the players to be successful.”
Florida owes Napier roughly $21 million, with half of that buyout due within 30 days.
The rest will be spread over three annual installments beginning next summer, meaning that, since the Gators are still paying former coach Dan Mullen, they will be paying three head coaches for the second time in seven years once they hire Napier’s replacement. They did the same with Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Mullen in 2018.
Receivers coach Billy Gonzales was named interim head coach for Florida’s remaining five games. Georgia was already favored to win the annual Georgia/Florida game but I think they have a bigger advantage after this.
Florida is dealing with losing their head coach and trying to stay focused. They were not looking like a team that could get to six wins and a bowl game before Napier was fired. I doubt they will get better now.
“The standards and expectations for Gators football are to win championships — not simply to compete. We exist to win and will not settle for less. UF has never been more invested in the success of this football program — elite facilities, robust NIL opportunities and comprehensive support for our student athletes and staff — than we are today,” Strickland said.
Currently the Penn State and UCLA head coaching jobs are also open. I’m sure other high-profile positions will also come available later in the season. It will be interesting to see who UF hires as their next head ball coach.
O-ffensive
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When Florida quarterback DJ Lagway threw his fifth interception Saturday night to seal the game at No. 3 LSU, athletic director Scott Stricklin pursed his lips and turned away.
Stricklin did not watch the replay. He clasped his hands behind his back and stared at the ground.
What else was there to see? What else is there to say?
The Gators 20-10 loss dropped them to 1-2 this season with plenty of the nation’s hardest schedule still ahead.
The numbers are grisly enough to spark questions about Napier’s buyout ($19.4 million at the end of this contract year) to intensify:
Three games into his fourth season, Napier is 20-21. That’s as many losses as Will Muschamp had, and Muschamp coached in eight more games. Napier’s winning percentage (.487) is the worst by any non-interim Florida coach since 1950.
He needs to win his next 28 games to match the winning percentage of Dan Mullen, who was fired.
Napier is 3-10 against Florida’s primary annual rivals. That’s 0-3 against Georgia, 1-2 against Tennessee and Florida State and 1-3 against the Tigers after last week.
Napier dropped to 4-15 against ranked opponents and 5-14 away from The Swamp.
Saturday was especially troubling if you watch the way the game played out. The athletes have not quit on Napier, and this loss wasn’t due to a lack of fight.
Florida was a willing participant in pregame shouting matches and a brief in-game scuffle.
The defense was good enough to win, starting the game with three consecutive three-and-outs and holding LSU to 316 total yards — the Tigers’ third-lowest output in three seasons under Brian Kelly.
The problem is the offense. Napier’s offense can’t score. Napier leads it after refusing to hire a play caller and doubling down on his role after last week’s 18-16 loss to South Florida.
This is an offense that Florida fans expect to light up scoreboards like they did under Steve Spurrier. This offense looks like it’s squandering a third consecutive NFL talent at quarterback, and this one might be the most promising of them all.
In Year 1, Napier’s quarterback was the No. 4 NFL Draft pick, Anthony Richardson. The Gators went 6-7.
For the next year and a half, Napier’s quarterback was Graham Mertz, who was drafted in the sixth round this spring. Gators went 8-10.
Since mid-October, Napier’s quarterback has been Lagway, the former five-star recruit and Gatorade National High School Player of the Year. After encouraging performances in 2024, Napier and Lagway have lost two in a row in 2025. Lagway’s five interceptions Saturday were the most by a Florida quarterback since 1992.
Despite those turnovers, the Gators were still competitive. An optimistic spin is: if you take away the pick six Lagway threw and add the 87-yard touchdown pass that was nullified by a holding call, Florida would’ve been right there.
“We’ve lost two in a row like that,” Napier said.
He’s right. The Gators had a pair of touchdowns negated by penalties in last week’s loss.
That doesn’t make Saturday night look or feel any better, especially because of how poorly the “Bull spit” game aged.
South Florida was blown out 49-12 on Saturday by No. 5 Miami — the same No. 5 Miami that hosts the Gators this week.
Napier is 0-1 against the Hurricanes, in case anyone was wondering.
If Napier is feeling the heat at this biggest pressure-cooker program, he isn’t necessarily showing it. When Urban Meyer lost in Baton Rouge in 2005, he cried in his postgame news conference. Napier started Saturday night’s address by complimenting his players and team leadership.
Stricklin, again, turned his head to the ground. He did not need to watch that replay, either. He’s seen this trainwreck too many times before, only difference is the conductor.
Time To Go?
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
You may have heard that the #13 Florida Gators lost to USF over the weekend, 18-16. The game was at home at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, aka The Swamp.
South Florida deserves credit. They started the season by beating #25 Boise State 34-7. With that being said, Florida views their program as superior to South Florida. This is a loss that cannot happen for a coach on the hot seat like Billy Napier.
“It’s not good enough,” Coach Billy Napier said. “We’ve got work to do. You guys know it. I know it. Anybody that watched it knows it. We got to take ownership of it, and we got to go back to work. That’s it.”
Napier’s record at Florida is 20-20, with a 14-7 home record. He’s been 1-1 after the first 2 games each season he’s been in Gainesville.
The offense finished with 355 yards but they had to settle for three field goals. Florida’s lack of discipline was on display. The Gators held a one-point lead in the final three minutes of the game.
They had two costly penalties on South Florida’s final drive. Defensive back Dijon Johnson was called for pass interference. On the next play, defensive lineman Brendan Bett was flagged and ejected on the final drive for spitting at an opponent.
The surprising thing is this was two days after Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter was ejected for spitting on Dak Prescott.
“I haven’t had that conversation with him yet,” Napier said of Bett. “We’ll take a good look at it, but it’s unacceptable. I think we’ve got a lot of players in that room as well that have the same belief that it’s unacceptable.”
“When a guy does something like that, he’s compromising the team. He’s putting himself before the team. Everything the game is about, you’re compromising, so there will be lessons to be learned there. Yeah, it’s that simple.”
That helped set up the 20-yard field goal by Nico Gramatica as time expired. This was the first road win against a ranked opponent for USF since they beat #16 Notre Dame on September 3, 2011.
“We created it. We deserve it,” Napier said. “If you play football like that, you’re going to be criticized. It comes with the territory, right? Only thing you can do is go get it fixed, and that’s what we’ll start working on (Sunday).”
This was Florida’s first defeat at home against a school from Florida, other than Florida State or Miami, since a 16-14 loss to Stetson in 1938.
Clearly UF fans are angry and talks about firing Napier have resurfaced.
The next game is on the road at #3 LSU. The last time the Gators won in Baton Rouge was 2016. The following games are at #5 Miami, home against #7 Texas and at #16 Texas A&M. The odds seem to be stacked against Napier.
They needed to beat South Florida to have a chance to get to six wins. I think UF will finish with a losing record. The question is, how will the fan base react if they lose their next four games? I wonder when they will run out of patience. I don’t think he will make it to the end of the season.
His buyout is 85% of his current remaining contract, which would be $19.38 million after this season, with 50% of the buyout ($9.7 million) being due within 30 days of Napier being fired and the rest being paid out in equal installments every July through 2028.
There is no offset for the buyout if Napier gets another job.
Toothless Gators?
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After an encouraging 8–5 2024 campaign and a dominant Gasparilla Bowl win—Billy Napier and the Florida Gators are positioned for meaningful advancement in 2025.
With Napier entering his fourth season (19–19 overall), the program exudes renewed belief and confidence.
Sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway emerged as a transformational presence in 2024.
Taking over mid-season, he posted a 6–1 record, including marquee wins over LSU, Ole Miss, and rival Florida State.
His dual-threat capabilities—combined with high-level recruiting pedigree—set the stage for a breakout season. Veteran observers, such as RJ Young, have Florida’s win total odds poised just above 7.5, signaling expectations of moderate improvement.
Florida’s 2025 slate is undeniably daunting, featuring road trips to LSU, Miami, Texas A&M, and Georgia, along with a home game against Texas.
Media projections place them third in the SEC behind Texas and Georgia, while coach Billy Napier confidently asserts that the team “can compete with any team in the nation”.
Across online forums, conservative fan projections cluster around 8 to 10 wins, with key losses expected against LSU, Texas, Ole Miss, or Georgia.
With Lagway’s development, Wilson’s emergence, and improving cohesion under Napier, Florida seems set to outperform 2024’s 8-win tally.
But the Gators’ gauntlet of a schedule realistically caps their ceiling—unless they pull big upsets.
Projected record: 9–3 regular season.
Potential losses: LSU (road), Texas or Texas A&M (depending on momentum), Georgia (tough SEC clash).
A likely SEC bowl berth, with a dark horse shot at a New Year’s Six game if they can steal one marquee upset.
Not so fast, Florida under Billy Napier does not have a marquee road win in his entire tenure.
With DJ Lagway under center, the Gators will have a chance in every game. Without DJ Lagway, Florida is a 5 to 6 win team.
Currently Lagway is nursing an ankle and shoulder injury. He has not been available in scrimmages and is limited during seven on seven drills.
This is a make or break season for Billy Napier and my prediction is: break.
I predict the Gators will go seven and five. Napier’s reign as head coach will come to an end.
Florida fans tune in for a competitive, rollercoaster season and on the other side of it: a big leap forward or another step back.
Mr. Glass?
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Florida starting quarterback DJ Lagway has suffered a new lower-body injury that’s forced him into a walking boot heading into the Gators fall training camp.
Lagaway’s injury marks the latest offseason ailment, and one of the many; Lagway has a hurt throwing shoulder and a lower body injury, which dated back to his high school time and was never disclosed.
Accordingly, Lagway had limited participation in the Gators’ spring training camp in March and April. He did not throw passes, instead simulating his footwork, handing the ball off to running backs.
Per Billy Napier, Lagway aided the coaching staff with communicating with quarterbacks and occasionally called plays during team drills.
At SEC Media Days in Atlanta on July 16, Lagway asserted his shoulder and lower-body injuries were behind him and that he anticipated being available for fall camp.
DJ Lagway enters his first season as Florida’s unquestioned starting quarterback in 2025 after 12 appearances and seven starts as a freshman, with 59.9 completion percent of his 192 passing attempts for 1,915 yards.
He counted 12 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He finished the year with a 95.6 deep passing grade from Pro Football Focus, which ranked No. 3 among 150 qualifying FBS passers.
UF won every game Lagway started and finished in 2024; the only loss on his first-team record came against No. 2 Georgia, when he exited just before halftime with a hamstring injury, while Florida held a 10-3 lead.
Lagway was named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America, ESPN, and various other outlets for his performance in 2024. He earned a spot on the Maxwell Award preseason watch list; a trophy delivered annually since 1937 to the College Player of the Year.
I don’t think it’s this bad, but I do think there’s cause for concern. We know heading into this SEC schedule, especially since it’s the hardest in the nation, there’s likely more injuries to come. Especially if he isn’t 100% healthy by August 30th.
Backup QB development right now might be the most important thing happening at practice for the Florida Gators.
Lagway missed one week when it looked like it was a much more serious injury.
Then the guy has a tender shoulder and hernia surgery this spring thus they take it slow with him and we have people panicking that he’s made of glass.
So far he’s missed one game in his career because of injury, for some that’s a reason to jump off a cliff.
For me, Lagway is QB1 and expectations are high.
Pirate To Gator
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Florida has landed a commitment from four-star tight end Heze Kent.
Kent is a 6-foot-6, 310-pound tight end from Brunswick High School in Brunswick, Georgia.
He chose the Gators over Florida State Miami and Texas, and ranks as the No. 11 athlete in the country, the No. 18 recruit in Georgia and the No. 167 overall recruit in the 2026 class.
What Kent looked for most in a school throughout his recruitment is a place where he can feel comfortable, but he also wanted a place where he’s seen as a true, pass-catching tight end at the next level.
Because of his size at 310 pounds, not all schools that recruited him looked for him to line up at tight end.
Kent’s top four schools in Florida, Florida State, Miami and Texas all saw him as a tight end, which brought each school into his final cut.
What helped separate Florida, however, was Kent’s relationship with offensive coordinator and tight ends’ coach, Russ Callaway.
“That’s like a father or a brother to me,” Kent said. “My coach had told me how he was as a person, like the same person he is on the field is the same person he is off.”
Kent was able to have some familiarity with Callaway before Florida began recruiting him heavily. Callaway played football at Valdosta State with Kent’s high school coach, so that gave Kent a unique perspective on what to expect from Callaway.
The relationship grew on its own, however, and that combined with how Florida sees him in the offense gave Kent a lot to like about the Gators.
Kent kept his recruitment relatively private and even keeled, especially down the stretch. Florida State made a push close to his decision, especially after his official visit with the Seminoles.
“Everything has been good over there,” Kent said ahead of his decision. “I talk to Coach [Chris] Thomsen and Coach [Mike] Norvell.”
What helped give Florida the nod, however, was the fact that the staff not only treated him as a priority, but as a priority tight end throughout much of his recruitment
“They say no other tight end that they’re recruiting has the same skillset as me,” Kent said.
Here is what National High School Scouting Analyst Hudson Standish had to say in late June on Kent’s game.
“One of the more unique evaluations in the 2026 cycle. Jumbo athlete hovering around 6-foot-6, 310 pounds who primarily plays tight end at the prep level but likely projects to offensive tackle or defensive tackle on Saturdays. Shows significant developmental blocking upside when asked to stay attached, possesses nimble movement skills and redirection ability that directly translate from his work as a forward on the basketball court. Uncommon movement skills from a player of his size in the open field and will make acrobatic ladder-climbing snags in the red zone. Dominates South Georgia 5A competition in a variety of ways and has even found success as a ball carrier. Could start his career as a specialty tight end in 12/13 personnel groupings before transitioning to a long-term positional home. Sheer size and athleticism point to obvious long-term NFL upside, especially if he embraces a role along the offensive or defensive line at the next level.”
The Gators landed a unique unicorn with size and athleticism. Kent adds to an impressive group Coach Napier is bringing in for 2026.
