The momentum for Florida Football in recruiting is showing no signs of slowing down. After being outside the top 50 as recently as a month ago, the Gators have shot up the rankings with a flurry of flips to get themselves into the top ten.
Their latest flip is a player Florida has had their eyes on for a long time and after a winding saga, it looks like they will land the highly rated safety they had been seeking.
Florida Football: Flip City
Hylton Stubbs is a safety out of Jacksonville. Listed at 6’1” and 185 pounds, Stubbs is a five-star, according to Rivals, while On3, 247, and ESPN have him as a four-star, with no one ranking lower than 106th overall.
On film, he lives up to his billing as Stubbs can fit into almost any playstyle you need him to. Need a ballhawk? He does that. Need someone physical to come downhill to make a play? He does that too. His willingness as a tackler should play well in Florida's defensive scheme, and he is a great pickup for the program.
His journey to committing to Florida was a winding one. Back in March, Keon Young had posted a graphic he had committed to Florida. The graphic was taken down shortly after, and Florida was believed to be trying to hold out for Stubbs.
Within a week, Stubbs announced he had committed to Southern Cal, seemingly leaving Florida empty-handed. Stubbs decommitted in June, and Tom Loy of 247 logged a prediction that Stubbs would land with Florida. That prediction was promptly taken down, and Stubbs flipped to Miami in July.
Heading into November, it looked like there would be zero chance of landing Stubbs, given where Miami and Florida were at as programs. But two late losses from Miami combined with a late surge from Florida has paved the way for the Gators to finally land their guy.
Florida now has 23 verbal commits and is up to 10th in the 247 team rankings.