Two more pieces added to the UF roster; Lagway has a new home

If it’s star power that you’re looking for when it comes to Jon Sumrall’s very systematic retooling of the Florida football roster, then you need to look somewhere else. Retaining Jadan Baugh and Jayden Woods was certainly huge, but the guys Sumrall is bringing in from the transfer portal don’t have the same sizzle. That doesn’t mean Florida is a bust when it comes to recruiting in the portal, just that Sumrall is ensuring he will have a competent veteran roster with very few holes when the Gators take the field against Florida Atlantic on September 5.

Thursday, Sumrall added to the depth of the running backs room when he got a commitment from East Carolina’s London Montgomery (5-11, 197, SO). Last season, Montgomery ran for 742 yards (7 TDs, 4.76 per carry) while catching 15 passes for 76 yards in an offense that averaged 449 yards and 32.7 points per game. Montgomery, who is a sophomore with two years eligibility, gives the Gators five running backs. Baugh will certainly move on to the NFL after the 2026 season and Cincinnati transfer Evan Pryor will exhaust his eligibility. So, adding Montgomery to a room that also includes current freshmen Duke Clark and Byron Louis, ensures the Gators won’t go into the 2027 season minus veteran runners.

Friday morning, Sumrall resolved a special teams problem when he got a commitment from Louisiana long snapper Carter Milliron (6-0, 257, SR).

That brings Florida’s veteran roster to 55 to go with 18 freshman signees and one juco. At 74 on scholarship, Sumrall still has 31 at his disposal. With late registration ending next week, expect the action in the portal to go fast and furious.

In another piece of news, quarterback DJ Lagway has found his new home. As expected, Lagway signed with Baylor, three hours from his Willis, Texas home and the alma mater of his father, who played running back for the Bears during his collegiate career.

Here is the scholarship breakdown and the bare minimum of what Sumrall will be looking to add from the portal:

Quarterback (3): Four on scholarship is a necessity. Five is a luxury.

Running Back (5): Six would be a luxury but maybe someone who is more slot than RB?

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): Veteran tackles are a necessity. At least three.

Linebackers (6): Four more is a necessity, especially linebackers who are skilled in coverage.

Secondary (13): Spread offenses require lots of corners, so minimum of three more.

Special teams (3): Need backup kicker, punter

VETERANS (55)

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

RUNNING BACKS (5): 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); London Montgomery (5-11, 197, SO, from East Carolina)

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 (3): PK Patrick Durkin (5-10, 175, SO, from Tulane); P Alec Clark (6-1, 185, RSO, from Tulane); LS Carter Milliron (6-0, 257, SR, from Louisiana)

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 (to Baylor)

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

CALL THIS ONE MIAMI’S FIESTA BOWL REVENGE

If you are old enough and you recall the Ohio State-Miami game in the Fiesta Bowl that decided the 2002 national championship, then you are quite familiar with the horrendous pass interference call in the end zone that literally gifted the title to the Buckeyes. While it won’t inject Novocain into the Miami memory bank, Hurricane fans should feel a measure of payback today because the zebra from the Big Ten crew swallowed his whistle on the game’s final play.

Miami corner Ethan O’Connor mugged Ole Miss wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling, grabbing his pads with both hands to prevent him from making a catch that would have won the game. It was clearly pass interference as ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, himself a former corner who spent eight years in the NFL, pointed out Friday morning on “Get Up.” A pass interference call wouldn’t have won the game for Ole Miss, but it would have given the Rebels one more shot at the end zone.

This was not a Hail Mary pass as Kirk Herbstreit so weakly described it. He should be ashamed of himself for being such a coward. He saw what happened live. He had the benefit of all those replays. He saw a normal pass route by Stribling and an exceptional throw by Trinidad Chambers. He also saw that O’Connor made no attempt to make a play on the ball but instead concentrated on pulling Stribling down.

Further, ESPN rules analyst Bill LeMonnier proved an even bigger coward by defending the no-call, claiming that it’s a no-call 99 percent of the time.

And why is that? Because a zebra doesn’t want to go down as the guy who made a call on the final play of the game?

I’m friends with college basketball official Doug Shows, who says the way you call a game in the first five minutes has to be consistent with the way you call it in the last five. The same analysis applies to football. Ole Miss should have had one more play. There are no guarantees they score a TD, but at least they could walk away knowing they were given a fair shot.

IS THE SEC GASPING FOR AIR?

For the third straight year, not only will a Southeastern Conference team not win the national championship, but won’t have a team in the championship game. Adding to the misery, the SEC had five teams in this year’s playoff and only Ole Miss made it to the final four. Outside of Ole Miss going 2-1 in the playoff, the closest thing to a signature win for the league was Texas sprinting past Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.

Meanwhile, if either Indiana or Oregon – the other two teams in the final four – go on to win the championship it will mark three straight national titles for the Big Ten. Diehard SEC fans cringe at the thought of one more year in which Big Ten fans crow that they have the best conference.

I do not think the SEC is as strong as it was from 2006-2022 when it won 13 national titles to three for the ACC and one for the Big Ten. Nor is the SEC as strong as it was from 2015-22 when it claimed six national championships and lost in the title game the other two years. Some of that has to do with coaching changes – Alabama replacing Nick Saban with Kalen DeBoer certainly hasn’t helped but that isn’t the only change – but the bigger culprit is the portal and NIL. Thanks to the portal a team can make up for all those four and five star recruits who went bust or grew impatient waiting their chance to play. Thanks to NIL, a school with an enterprising big oil gozillionaire such as Texas Tech with Cody Campbell, can spend its way to a title. The SEC doesn’t lack for deep pocket boosters with more money than brains. The league will be back. It’s a matter of when not if.