Retaining Jayden Woods is another big win for UF's consolation prize

In the 38 days he’s been Florida’s head football coach, only 18 as the full-timer actually since he coached Tulane to the American Conference title and the first round College Football flameout at Ole Miss, Jon Sumrall has done a rather remarkable job of changing perceptions in a subtle but substantial way. Subtle, because he hasn’t made himself the center of attention. Substantial because he held onto most of the high school recruits on signing day, retained the most important players from the 2025 season, and he’s systematically filling holes in his roster.

Not bad for a consolation prize, which is what a rather large contingent of Gator fans thought when Scott Stricklin failed to woo Lane Kiffin to Gainesville. If November was a beauty contest, then Florida was Miss Congeniality, Ole Miss first runner-up and LSU the winner. But look what’s happened in the five-plus weeks since Kiffin jilted Ole Miss and Florida. Ole Miss, minus Kiffin and with Pete Golding in charge, is a win over Miami tonight from playing for the national championship. At LSU, Kiffin has done what Kiffin always has done, which is to give the impression it’s all about him.

Meanwhile, without all the fanfare, Jon Sumrall is selling a dream rather well. Just look what he’s done in the last 48 hours. Tuesday, running back Jadan Baugh elected to stay in Gainesville rather than transfer to Texas or Georgia. Wednesday, edge rusher Jayden Woods removed his name from the portal. Like Baugh, Texas was willing to back up a Brinks Truck to land Woods, but instead he will stay in Gainesville.

Now, money did play its part in keeping Baugh and Woods but keeping them Gators had every bit as much to do with Sumrall laying out a vision of future success. It’s the same vision he laid out for Myles Graham, Vernell Brown III, Dallas Wilson, Aaron Chiles, LJ McCray and Kamran James, all of whom have reaffirmed that they will remain Gators. If those guys had elected to go into the portal, they would have been in very high demand, but by staying with the Gators they have basically told the college football world that Florida has the resources – both money-wise and coaching – to stand up to the schools at the top of the SEC heap.

Woods was the highest profile win for Sumrall on Wednesday. He also brought in wide receiver Micah Mays from Wake Forest and safety Cam Dooley from Kentucky. Also, he signed juco safety Elijah Clark out of Mississippi Gulf Coast. Those three bring the current roster numbers to 72 – 53 veterans and 19 signed freshman/jucos.

Sumrall has as many as 33 scholarships still at his disposal so the next few days will be fast and furious, particularly since late registration for the spring semester is a week away. Here is a position by position rough estimate of what Sumrall needs to bring in through the portal or on the February signing date for high school kids.

Quarterback (3): Need one more.

Running Back (4): Need two since Baugh will go NFL and Pryor is a senior.

Wide Receiver (8): Need two more at a minimum, but four more would be nice.

Tight end (5): Need one more since signee Kent might move to tackle.

O-line (18): Need 2-4 more veterans since six of the 18 are freshmen.

D-line/EDGE (12): Need at least three more tackles.

Linebackers (6): Need four at a minimum, but six would be better.

Secondary (13): Need at least three more corners.

Special teams (2): Need a long snapper.

CURRENT ROSTER (53)

QUARTERBACK (2): Tramell Jones Jr. (6-0, 203, FR); QB Aaron Philo (6-2, 220, RFR, from Georgia Tech)

RUNNING BACKS (4): Duke Clark (6-1, 211, FR); Byron Louis (6-0, 211, FR); Jadan Baugh (6-1, 231, SO); Evan Pryor (5-9, 195, RSR, from Cincinnati)

WIDE RECEIVERS (5): Vernell Brown III (5-11, 178, FR); Dallas Wilson (6-3, 213, FR); TJ Abrams (5-10, 196, RFR); Bailey Stockton (5-11, 185, SO, from Georgia Tech); Micah Mays Jr. (6-2, 196, SO, from Wake Forest)

TIGHT END: (4) Amir Jackson (6-5, 235, RFR); Micah Jones (6-4, 257, FR); Tony Livingston (6-5, 264, RSO); Lacote Dippre (6-4, 253, SO, from James Madison)

O-LINE (12): OT Fletcher Westphal (6-8, 342, RFR); OT Caden Jones (6-8, 333, RSO); OT/OG Bryce Lovett (6-5, 321, RSO); OG Knijeah Harris (6-3, 313, JR); OG/C Roderick Kearney (6-4, 310, RSO); OG Jason Zandamela (6-3, 308, RFR); OT Jahari Medlock (6-5, 321, FR); OG TJ Dice Jr. (6-4, 304, FR); OG Daniel Pierre Louis (6-4, 332, FR); C Harrison Moore (6-5, 300, SO, from Georgia Tech); OG TJ Shanahan (6-4, 315, RSO, from Penn State); OT Eagan Boyer (6-8, 302, RFR, from Penn State)

D-LINE/EDGE (9): EDGE LJ McCray (6-6, 268, SO); EDGE Kamran James (6-6, 270, JR); EDGE Jayden Woods (6-3, 248, FR); DL Joseph Mbatchou (6-5, 300, FR); EDGE Kofi Asare (6-5, 251, RJR); EDGE Jaylen Wiggins (6-5, 268, FR); Brendan Bett (6-5, 308, RSO); DT DK Kalu (6-4, 309, SO, from Baylor); DE Emmanuel Oyebadejo (6-7, 295, JR, from Jacksonville State)

LINEBACKERS (5): Jaden Robinson (6-1, 226, JR); Myles Graham (6-1, 228, SO); Aaron Chiles (6-3, 244, SO); Ty Jackson (6-2, 221, FR); Myles Johnson (6-1, 224, FR)

SECONDARY (10): S Drake Stubbs (6-1, 207, FR); CB Cormani McClain (6-2, 189, RSO); S Bryce Thornton (5-10, 211, JR); S Lagonza Hayward (6-1, 206, FR); CB J’Vari Flowers (5-10, 187, FR); CB Dijon Johnson (6-1, 204, JR); CB Onis Konanbanny (6-0, 184, FR);  CB Ben Hanks III (6-1, 192, FR); S DJ Coleman (6-1, 210, JR, from Baylor); S Cam Dooley (6-2, 208, SO, from Kentucky)

SPECIAL TEAMS (2): PK Patrick Durkin (5-10, 175, SO, from Tulane); P Alec Clark (6-1, 185, RSO, from Tulane)

SIGNED FRESHMEN/JUCOS (19)

QUARTERBACK (1): Will Griffin (6-3, 230)

WIDE RECEIVERS (3): Davian Groce (6-2, 191); Justin Williams (5-11, 187); Marquez Daniel (6-5, 205)

TIGHT END (1): Heze Kent (6-6, 305)

O-LINE (6): Tyler Chukuyem (6-6, 285); Chancellor Campbell (6-8, 307); G’nivre Carr (6-4, 309); Desmond Green (6-5, 343); Javarii Luckas (6-6, 318); Corey Brown (6-1, 280)

D-LINE/EDGE (3): DL Kendall Guervil (6-2, 323); DL JaReylan McCoy (6-7, 260); EDGE KJ Ford (6-4, 246)

LINEBACKER (1): Malik Morris (6-0, 250)

SECONDARY (3): CJ Hester (6-0, 186); Kaiden Hall (6-2, 192); CJ Bronaugh (6-0, 172); Dylan Purter (6-0, 185); Elijah Owens (6-3, 210, FR, from Mississippi Gulf Coast)

GONERS (29)

QB (1): DJ Lagway

RB (4): KD Daniels (to Wake Forest); Treyaun Webb; Chad Gaspar Jr.; Ja’Kobi Jackson

WR (5): Eugene Wilson III (to LSU); Tank Hawkins; Aidan Mizell (to UCLA); Muizz Tounkara; Naushaun Montgomery

TE (2): Hayden Hansen (to Oklahoma); Cameron Kossman

OL (4): OT Marcus Mascoll; OT Enoch Wangoy; OT Devon Manuel; OT Noel Portnjagin

DL/EDGE (3): DL Tavorise Brown; DL Michai Boireau (to Ole Miss); DL Jeramiah McCloud

LB (1): Grayson Howard (to South Florida)

S/CB (6): S Jordan Castell (to Kentucky); S Josiah Davis; CB Jameer Grimsley (to Mississippi State); S Teddy Foster (to South Florida); CB Aaron Gates (to Kentucky); CB Shariff Denson (to Ole Miss)

ST (3): P Hayden Craig (to LSU); PK Evan Noel; LS Mack Mulhern