Florida’s 2026 class gives Jon Sumrall pieces, but it doesn’t close the SEC gap

Florida's class of 2026 has essentially stayed intact despite the firing of Billy Napier. The Gators were able to navigate almost two months without an official head coach and prevent a raid on talent that most expected would come. 

As the dust settles, Florida is still going to wind up with a top 20 class for 2026. Compared to a place like Penn State, Jon Sumrall has to be pleased that he at least has a crop of incoming freshmen to work with.

And while we here at Hail Florida Hail have made it our point to celebrate the individual players who are about to become Gators, and there are still a number of players in this class we like, there is also a nagging reality that Florida will need more of them as time marches on if they want to contend in the SEC.

Florida needs to get back to elite recruiting

From a rankings standpoint, Florida's class of 2026 is basically the same as the class of 2022 that Napier had as his transition class. The difference with this class is that there are fewer total players, more four-stars, and less fluff than the 2022 class Dan Mullen left Napier with.

So, at least as a parting gift, Napier gave Sumrall more high-end talent to work with than Mullen gave to Napier.

But if Florida intends to be more than a feel-good story that sometimes comes close against the other big boys of the SEC, the talent profile at Florida has to be higher.

One can argue about the value of star rankings, and we do make a point in our prospect profiles to highlight whether we agree with a given ranking. And sometimes a three-star prospect can blossom and become your best player (see Jadan Baugh).

Still, it's no accident that Florida's three most impactful freshmen from this past season (Vernell Brown III, Dallas Wilson, and Jayden Woods) were among the four highest-rated prospects from last year (and Ben Hanks III was solid in the limited action he got).

Now, imagine if Florida raised its recruiting profile to the point where it landed players like those four guys and doubled it to eight to ten guys like that? This way, when a guy like LJ McCray misses, there is someone else just as good to take the reins.

That's where Florida used to be in the Urban Meyer Era and is where teams like Ohio State, Alabama, and Georgia have lived for the past decade.

This is where we thought Billy Napier was going to live when he had a top-five recruiting class for a fleeting moment.