Florida's recruiting success is key to becoming contenders in SEC

As Florida heads into Year 2 under Billy Napier, all eyes are on whether the Gators can start to demonstrate some legitimate improvement. Most acknowledge Napier was in for an uphill climb when he took over, particularly when it came to Florida’s recruiting success, or lack thereof.

“The thing is it’s not an instant fix,” On3’s Andy Staples said. “Their roster was not in a place; it wasn’t like what Brian Kelly walked into at LSU where there were already some really good players there that Ed Orgeron had left behind. Their roster other than Anthony Richardson last year wasn’t a lot of special on it.

“It’s their job to go find more special. I think that’s what they’re trying to do. Now, it’s not easy and so I want to see what they do when they’re playing those teams. How hard do they fight? How hard are they playing for Billy Napier?”

So what is the key? It’s Florida’s recruiting success rate.

But elite recruiting classes don’t just land themselves. There’s a lot of hard work that goes into it, and having a vision you can sell is a huge part of that. Sometimes that vision gets harder to sell if you’re not having on the field success.

Staples, though, thinks Florida could show some improvement from last year’s 6-7 record, potentially.

“You know, Vegas and the FPI, you’re looking at between five and seven wins is what they’re saying,” he said. “I think the higher side of that is probably fairly realistic. The question I have for Florida is what do you look like this season? Because I’m not expecting them to win the SEC East or win the SEC title. But what do you look like in the games against the Georgias and against the LSUs. And also how is the recruiting going?”

Right now the answer to that last question is excellently.

Florida’s recruiting success is evident in a 2024 class that currently sits at No. 3 nationally, made up of 12 four-star commitments and five three-stars. Staples tipped his cap to what Napier has been able to accomplish there.

“You look at the way they’ve been recruiting, especially in the last month,” he said, “their finalist lists are looking a lot better than they did about two years ago, and that’s really what they hired Billy Napier to do. They hired Billy Napier to build a roster that looks more like the rosters you see at Georgia, at Alabama, at LSU. To do that you’ve got to beat those guys for players every once in a while. It’s not something Florida was doing under the previous staff. It feels like they’re in the mix a lot more now and they’re getting some of those guys.”

Of course, one way to further ensure Florida’s recruiting success continues is to demonstrate that young players are getting a chance to make a major impact. That’s up to the individual players on the roster, to some degree.

Will the Gators have a handful that step up this fall and help give Napier another angle to pitch?

“Are some of the young guys, the guys that you’re saying, ‘Ooooh, that’s the most promising guy on the roster,’ (emerging)?” Staples said. “And I think Trevor Etienne, the running back, we know he’s going to be pretty good. But Andy Jean, the freshman receiver. They’ve got a guy named Eugene Wilson coming in, another freshman receiver. Can those guys be playmakers right off the bat? Kelby Collins, who was a guy they beat those big dogs out for in recruiting, is he doing well coming off the edge? That’s the type of thing I want to see.”