Florida Gators miss out on top offensive line target after Phil Trautwein pushed hard to bring him in
Florida Gators offensive line coach Phil Trautwein made a massive, but unsuccessful push to land another top offensive lineman
The offensive line class for the Florida Gators in 2027 looks incredibly promising. Not only has offensive line coach Phil Trautwein landed the first five-star offensive lineman in Maxwell Hiller since 2015, he’s also earned two other commitments in the top-10 of their position: four-star Elijah Hutcheson and four-star Peyton Miller
Trautwein’s been all over the top of this recruiting class, even ranking as the No. 2 recruiter in the nation per 247 Sports. He was looking to add another top offensive lineman to the class in four-star offensive tackle Layton von Brandt.
That day launched the Gators up to sixth in the nation and third in the SEC, according to Rivals. It’s somewhere that former head coach Billy Napier couldn’t get to, and Sumrall’s been on the job for just five months.
Background on four-star offensive tackle Layton von Brandt
- The Appoquinimink offensive tackle is the 75th-ranked recruit in the nation and the No. 5 offensive tackle per the Rivals’ Industry Ranking
- While listing the Gators in the top four, they currently rank fourth on the Rivals’ Recruiting Prediction Machine, with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Auburn Tigers at the top.
- von Brandt would have been the second-highest commit for the Gators
Layton von Brandt commits to Notre Dame/Auburn
Trautwein spent a lot of time with von Brandt, with 11 visits while he was with the Penn State Nittany Lions, and two more in Gainesville.
That wasn’t enough, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been trending for von Brandt for weeks. However, the Auburn Tigers surged late, and they secured the talented player’s commitment.
It’s an impressive surge for the Tigers to land von Brandt, as they took the weekend to flip the script on his recruitment. Alex Golesh has been doing a good job overall for the Tigers, and landing a top-75 offensive tackle with a massive offer is a great start.
Where do the Gators go from here? Trautwein still has multiple options available to him, including four-star Kenneddee Jackson. Even with von Brandt having committed to the Tigers, this is a recruitment to keep tabs on until national signing day in December.