Where does Florida football recruiting stand as 'flip season' begins? A deeper look

If there was ever a time for Florida Gators fans to pay attention to the recruiting trail, it's right now.

Flip season is upon us, and there are few things that will test a recruit's commitment like rumblings of a head coaching change.

Just use the last few weeks as an example, when Florida lost two high-level recruits over 10 days. Billy Napier and company managed to flip safety Demetres Samuel Jr. from Syracuse in July, but he flipped back to the Orange last month.

Then, wide receiver Joshua Moore announced his flip from the Gators to Miami, and Florida may still watch another commit or two walk away.

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Cornerback Jaelan Waters even addressed the rumor mill surrounding the program , saying that he wasn't only committed to the Gator coaching staff, but to the University of Florida as a school. Two days after those remarks, Waters was at Doak Campbell Stadium for a visit at Florida State , a school he was committed to up until late May, when he landed on Florida two weeks after decommitting.

Quality over quantity, at least for now

We've seen Napier revive a class and finish a cycle with a top-10 recruiting class, but the gap between No. 37 (where the class stands now on 247Sports ) and No. 10 seems like more of a mountain than a molehill for now.

The Gators have just 12 senior commits, the lowest total of any team with a top-50 class. And still, Florida still is in the top-50 because of the quality of recruits still pledged to Napier.

Landing players like Vernell Brown III, Jalen Wiggins, and Ben Hanks Jr. proves not only that the Gators can still reel in high-level players like they have for decades, but that they can also recruit Florida effectively. Brown III, Wiggins, and Hanks Jr. all sit in the top-20 of the USA TODAY Florida Network Top 100.

Who's still on the board for the class of 2025?

There are still some big-name homegrown players available that would significantly boost the Gators' incoming class.

The biggest (both in name and size) is 6-foot-4, 225-pound EDGE Javion Hilson from Cocoa. Hilson decommitted from Florida State a little over a month ago, and Florida is still in the hunt for the highly-coveted four-star despite Texas standing as the favorite.

Also still available is four-star IMG linebacker Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng. His brother, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, was a star at Notre Dame and the Fighting Irish are heavy favorites to land him. But Florida is still in the running and will likely make a late push for him.

Who should the Gators prioritize flipping?

It doesn't take a football mastermind to say cornerback DJ Pickett should be at the top of this list. Pickett, the consensus No. 1 player in the state, took a visit to Florida in mid-September, and had the Gators in his final list of schools before committing to LSU. Getting Pickett would be the equivalent of landing a player like DJ Lagway from last year's class, and it cannot be overstated how important that was for the 2024 class.

Dallas Wilson is another class-defining prospect that the Gators hope to find a way to flip. Wilson, a 6-3, 200-pound wide receiver at Tampa Bay Tech, has been committed to Oregon for nearly a year, but Miami and Florida are both doing what they can to snag the No. 3 player in the USA TODAY Florida Top 100.

Newberry defensive lineman Jarquez Carter is on the record saying if Florida shows positive strides, they may be able to keep him home. Carter has a relationship with assistant defensive line coach Luis McLeod, and the Gators will heavily pursue the Ohio State commit until he puts pen to paper.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Where does Florida football recruiting stand as 'flip season' begins? A deeper look