Florida Gators working hard to turn tides with elite recruit projected to land with SEC rival

The Florida Gators are working hard to land a four-star recruit who is currently linked to another SEC program.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Florida head coach Jon Sumrall speaks to the team after the Orange and Blue game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, April 11, 2026.
Florida head coach Jon Sumrall speaks to the team after the Orange and Blue game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, April 11, 2026. Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun

This weekend marks the third official visit event of the summer for the Florida Gators.

Head coach Jon Sumrall has worked hard to build up a solid recruiting class, ranking in the top-five across the board. His 22 commitments have the Gators in a significantly better position now than they were last year at this time. Former head coach Billy Napier famously only had two commitments in the month of May last year, and only had 19 when he was fired in October.

The focus for many this weekend has been on the two five-star recruits: defensive lineman Jalen Brewster and wide receiver Easton Royal. However, there are more recruits in the building this weekend.

Florida Gators Recruiting Class

  • With 22 commitments in the 2027 class, the Florida Gators have the No. 5 overall recruiting class.
  • Sumrall’s class has 16 blue chip commitments, the most of any program in the nation, with second place being three schools with 14.
  • Their top commit is five-star offensive lineman Maxwell Hiller, who is the first five-star offensive lineman since Martez Ivey in 2015.

Florida Gators working hard to land Raheem Floyd

One of the top targets for the Gators is four-star cornerback Raheem Floyd. The East St. Louis products is the No. 171 overall recruit and the No. 22 cornerback per the Rivals’ Industry Ranking, including a top-100 ranking from ESPN. He is on campus this weekend with the hope that the Gators can get him to commit.

Right now, Missouri has the commanding lead, with campus being just 112 miles away. Rivals’ Greg Smith believes that Missouri is still in the lead, but Florida has a chance.

The East St. Louis (Ill.) High standout has been a prospect that Missouri has been locked in on for a long time. He took his official visit to check out the program last weekend alongside several priority targets and commits. The Tigers are still in prime position to land him. But a visit to Florida this weekend looms large. The Gators have ground to make up but this is still Missouri’s race to lose.

greg Smith

Rivals

We’ve seen plenty of times that when a recruit heads down to Gainesville, things can change quickly, especially with this new staff. Sumrall has built a group with a ton of energy that is contagious, and something that recruits have continued to mention.

Will they be able to close the deal with Floyd and flip the script? I wouldn’t put it past Sumrall.

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