![New Gator head football coach Jon Sumrall fires up the crowd during the first half an NCAA basketball game at Steven C. O'Connell Center Exactek arena in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, January 24, 2026. Students, who get in free, have a limited number of seats so many camp out overnight. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_170,w_2593,h_1458/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01kh4pbvb873j0h0vnqr.jpg "New Gator head football coach Jon Sumrall fires up the crowd during the first half an NCAA basketball game at Steven C. O'Connell Center Exactek arena in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, January 24, 2026. Students, who get in free, have a limited number of seats so many camp out overnight. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
We already know that Phil Trautwein wants more tattoos, which means he has to win another national championship. The best way to win a national championship is to have elite football players and Trautwein has his eyes on the biggest prize.
Five-star offensive lineman Maxwell Hiller is not just the Gators' biggest target on the offensive line, he might be the biggest target for their entire 2027 recruiting class. And the blue chipper from Coatesville, Pennsylvania is feeling the love.
Florida has come a long way in a short period of time with 5-star 2027 IOL Maxwell Hiller.
— Tyler Harden (@ttjharden8) February 9, 2026
His relationship with Phil Trautwein is strong, he has an official visit set for June 19-21 and the Gators are a legitimate contender.
➡️: https://t.co/ppTAzAaJyO (VIP) pic.twitter.com/YcqA3yU47f
Hiller had recently announced that Florida was one of his top four schools, and he was planning on an official visit to Gainesville, but this takes it up a notch. The other top schools in the picture for Hiller are Alabama, Tennessee and Ohio State.
Hiller will take an official visit to Florida in June
The offensive lineman is planning his official visit on the weekend of June 19, a week after he is set to visit Knoxville. Hiller has also announced an official visit to Alabama on Memorial Day weekend. As of right now, it feels like the Gators have a strong chance to reel Hiller in behind his close relationship with Trautwein.
Hiller couldn't help but rave about the Gators offensive line coach in an interview with 247Sports.
"I know how he does things and how he coaches, and I feel really comfortable with how he does things," Hiller said. "I feel like I can hit up Coach Traut about anything whether it's on the field, off the field, so it's just bigger than football."
The bond between Trautwein and Hiller goes back a couple of years to when the coach was recruiting him for Penn State. Because Hiller is arguably the top player in Pennsylvania this cycle, it was expected that the Nittany Lions would be a major player in his recruitment, but as of now they are not among the top schools.
Now the Gators appear to be in the driver's seat for Hiller and will look to close the deal this summer.