Florida is bracing to lose top recruit after visit to SEC rival, and the Gators’ 2026 class could spiral out of control
Things could get rough in Gainesville before they get better.
The Florida Gators are now 3-7 and their recruiting class could be in danger of spiraling out of control.
Interim head coach Billy Gonzales is doing a good job of keeping the program in a stable spot after Billy Napier was fired ahead of the big rivalry game against the Georgia Bulldogs. They are currently 0-3 with Gonzales as head coach, but they played very well against the Bulldogs and Ole Miss Rebels this Saturday night, coming within a fourth-quarter drive of taking the lead against Lane Kiffin’s team.
Top Florida Gators recruit projected to flip to SEC rival
The recruiting trail has mostly dried up for the Gators without a certain future at head coach. With early signing day coming on December 3rd, they need to figure out their future. Otherwise, top commits could start jumping and finding other schools to commit to.
After nearly a month of keeping their recruiting class in tact, that is finally starting to happen. On Sunday, Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong, Sam Spiegelman, and Jaxson Callaway all predicted four-star edge rusher K.J. Ford to flip from the Gators to the Texas A&M Aggies.
Ford is a four-star recruit out of Duncanville, Texas and the 108th ranked recruit in the country. He is also the second-highest commit to the Gators in the 2026 class. Ford is a very explosive player who can make a serious impact on the edge for the Gators. He was primed to join a defensive line class of JaReylan McCoy and Kendall Guervill, which would have been a huge get for the Gators.
After Napier got fired, Ford talked to Rivals about his standing with the Gators.
“I mean, still with Florida right now,” Ford told On3/Rivals on Friday. “Still hope out there. But other schools still trying to contact me, hoping I flip. It depends who the coach is. It depends. Position coach, you’ve got to look at things, honestly.”
After a visit to College Station, that seems to have shifted, and it’s hard to blame him. It would be a major blow to the Gators’ recruiting class to lose Ford, and getting a head coach hired quickly would do wonders for the class.
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