Florida hoping it can turn around one of its biggest wildcard during spring practice

If you rewind to Florida’s class of 2024, DJ Lagway was the highest-rated player the Gators landed from that group. Lagway stuck around for two seasons before opting to transfer to Baylor once Jon Sumrall was hired as Florida’s new coach.

But just a tick behind Lagway in the player rankings from 2024 was five-star EDGE LJ McCray. Unless you are someone who follows recruiting, though, there is a solid chance you have minimal clue who McCray is, given the lack of time he has spent on the field. 

The lone assistant coach Sumrall retained from Billy Napier’s staff, defensive line coach Gerald Chatman, is hoping that 2026 is the year Gator fans finally see McCray break out and achieve his five-star billing.

Gerald Chatman is hoping for a breakout year from LJ McCray

At his press conference on Tuesday, Chatman was asked about McCray’s progress this spring and what he has seen from McCray to this point. Chatman made it clear the staff hasn’t given up on McCray and that McCray seems to be responding:

“Yeah, he's actually improving. I just talked to him today on the field about how I'm not going to let him let up. I'm not going to let him get comfortable. Sometimes when you tell guys good job, then some guys tend to go ‘I did it now. All right, take a deep breath.’ 

And I told them, I'm not giving you an inch. But he is improving. And the other day in the meeting room, I grabbed his notebook and put it over the overhead.... he has elite notes, very detailed notes. He's writing down things in the team meeting room. He's writing down things when we craft as a D-line. 

And I just want to turn him loose right now, though, and get him enjoying playing the game. I do believe he's enjoying playing the game right now. And now we just have to continue to fine-tune the details with his technique. But he is improving.”

McCray’s time with Florida has been nothing short of disappointing.  He played 181 snaps as a true freshman in 2024 with minimal impact, especially compared to the true freshman campaign we just saw from Jayden Woods. Last year, McCray played a grand total of four snaps against USF before a broken foot derailed his season, leading to a redshirt.

So McCray is entering his third year of college football with a career total of 0.5 sacks and just three solo tackles. He opted to return to Gainesville with hopes of finally having a breakthrough.

If he can flash the five-star potential he had coming out of high school, Florida’s defensive line could morph into one of the more feared units in all of college football in 2026.