Updated On3 rankings are a reminder Jon Sumrall did just fine for his initial class

The Florida Gators will open training camp in about a week and all the expectations for Jon Sumrall's first season will begin to materialize in real time on the field. 

But one area that the first-year SEC coach has already excelled is on the recruiting trail. For the first time in several years, it feels like the Gators are aggressive on the trail. Sumrall has shown to be a dynamic recruiter, and he's supported by a coaching staff that gets after it. 

And this is not just hyperbole. The proof was evident all spring and the updated rankings from Rivals/On3 reflect that.

Florida is top three in the SEC and going punch-for-punch with the other heavy hitters in the conference. Rivals//On3 has the Gators' class 7th overall, putting them one spot above Texas and three above LSU. 247Sports has Sumrall's first class slightly lower at 9th, but still in the top-10.

Jon Sumrall's first recruiting class at Florida has delivered

Sumrall quickly made it clear that he was going to be aggressive on the trail and that selling the Florida Gators brand was something he was looking forward to doing. 

"Yeah, I think the recruits in the '27 class feel our staff's authenticity, our energy. That's not myself. That's the entire staff. That's everybody," Sumrall said during an appearance on Gators Breakdown in May. "I also have said this a lot of times, when the University of Florida calls, we can get a lot of people to pick up the phone. And so I think we can get anybody on our campus."

READ MORE: Jon Sumrall explains why Florida can get anyone on campus, but can't always land them

The biggest domino to fall remains five-star offensive lineman Maxwell Hiller, the top-ranked interior offensive lineman in the class and a top-five nationally ranked prospect. From there, Sumrall and staff began to build around him, adding talent at every position with more blue-chip recruits and high-upside players they feel good about based on evaluations.

Sumrall has been able to cast a pretty wide net, recruiting nationally as the situation has presented itself. Hiller is from Pennsylvania and his connection with offensive line coach Phil Trautwein proved to be the major key to gaining that commitment. He's also gotten players out of Ohio, North Carolina, Maryland, Oklahoma and New Jersey--areas that aren't traditional recruiting footprints for the Gators.

Beyond that, the coach has stayed true to Florida's natural recruiting territory, with over half of the class made up of in-state recruits or prospects from border states like Georgia and Alabama. 

READ MORE: Jon Sumrall has gotten Florida back in the thick of in-state recruiting

There are still a few things out there for Sumrall — he's keeping a close eye on what's going on with five-star targets Easton Royal (Texas commit) and Jalen Brewster (Texas Tech commit), but for a first class, the Gators coach has brought back the standard that fans expect. Now let's see if he can build on that. 

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