Florida Football Recruiting: Gators flip DL eight days after commitment to Texas

Florida Football is continuing its late surge in recruiting. Some flips they are pulling off have been expected, while others are coming out of the blue.

Then, some flips are happening so fast that it is truly a challenge to try and keep up as Early Signing Day approaches this week.

Florida Football: Flip season

Joseph Mbatchou popped up on the radar for the Gators over the summer. The 6’4” and 275 pounds defensive lineman out of Georgia was a basketball player who had never organized football prior to the 2024 season, but was seen as a project with size and athleticism.

He committed to Florida back in July and at the time was ranked outside the top 1000. As the season progressed and the word on Mbatchou started to circulate, a score of other offers started to materialize. In October he took a visit to Texas and decommitted from Florida three days later, but maintained Florida as a possibility.

Mbatchou then took a number of other visits, including one to Florida for the LSU win, but on November 23 he announced he would be committing to Texas.

Barely a week later, Mbatchou announced he is flipping again and is now a verbal commit for Florida once again.

Mbatchou is now a consensus four-star, but with minimal public film available, it is hard to weigh in on whether he should be higher or lower. He is explosive and has the size and speed needed to compete in the SEC, so he is a worthwhile project to take on.

Florida is now up to 22 verbal commitments heading into Early Signing Day, with a handful of other players still in the mix to be flipped. As of now, the Gators are ranked 12th in the 247 Composite team rankings.