‘It meant everything to me’ — Jon Sumrall’s aggressive recruiting resonated hard with Jadan Baugh, and it’s translating to the high school ranks
One of the first big recruiting wins for Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall set the stage for the rest of the summer.
When Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall took the job on November 30th, the No. 1 priority was to retain the top six players on the roster.
- QB DJ Lagway
- RB Jadan Baugh
- WR Vernell Brown III
- WR Dallas Wilson
- EDGE LJ McCray
- EDGE Jayden Woods
Sumrall was able to get it done with five of them, seeing only Lagway transfer out. That was a massive win for Sumrall, and the biggest reason why the Gators are viewed so highly going into the season. Arguably the biggest win was retaining Baugh, and it was how he did it that mattered the most.
Jadan Baugh praised Jon Sumrall’s recruitment
One of the biggest stories with Sumrall’s first month was getting Baugh to return. Just days after his father’s funeral, he flew his entire family to Baugh’s grandma’s house in Atlanta. That meeting was the biggest reason why Baugh decided to stay in Gainesville.
“It meant everything to me,” Baugh told On3’s Pete Nakos. “For somebody to go through something like that and have to deal with that, it can put people in a dark place. But for him to bring his family and himself to my grandmother’s house on Christmas Eve, I felt like that meant so much to me because it showed that he cared. Like he told me, his dad would want him to be here as well. That just meant a lot to me.”
This kind of passion and energy isn’t something you get from everyone, and it’s been present throughout all of recruiting. The Gators currently have the No. 8 overall class and a nation leading 17 blue-chip recruits. Sumrall’s proven to be a great relationship builder, and it’s going to continue throughout his tenure in Gainesville.
Now, will it continue breeding the same kind of success? Only time will tell, but it’s certainly off to a great start.
