On300 QB Will Griffin goes in-depth on his commitment to Florida

Tampa (Fla.) Jesuit On300 2026 quarterback Will Griffin gave Florida head coach Billy Napier and his staff his verbal a few weeks ago. He went public with his plans this past weekend.

In the process, the highly-recruited four-star passer became commit No. 1 for the Gators in the rising junior cycle and looks forward to helping this staff return the program to prominence in the future.

“I’m going to recruit the best class possible and we’re going to bring another National Championship to Gator nation,” Griffin told On3 on Tuesday.

Griffin was one of the most sought-after QBs in the country

The 6-foot-2 1/2, 225-pound Griffin’s offer list also included Florida State, Michigan, Ohio State, Auburn, Miami, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin.

“I’ve seen it all,” Griffin said. “I’ve been on probably 50 trips. Some (schools we) hit two, three times and I’ve seen everything I needed to see. I went coast to coast, North South, East, West. I visited every top program pretty much.”

Nothing stacked up as high as the Gators.

“Florida has a beautiful campus,” Griffin said. “It’s a wonderful place to live. You’re part of a great program that Coach Napier has developed.

Griffin believes in Billy Napier

Griffin believes Napier and company will bring the best out of him.

“Really I would just say Coach Napier and Coach (Ryan) O’Hara I fully believe in their ability to develop me into a quarterback and get me ready for the next level.

“Coach Napier is putting together a great team and I feel like this year is going to be their year.”

Griffin has made several visits to Florida including again over the weekend and then back earlier this week.

“Confidence is key,” Griffin said. “Coach Napier and Coach O’Hara, what made me believe in them is their confidence in the players and their recruitment they’ve been doing to get all these great players. They can’t play for us but they can teach us. I can tell from being a recruit the last two years and I’ve seen them develop and the players have trust in each other and the confidence (Napier) displays as a leader and confidence he has in his players to go out there, ‘we can do this’ and ‘we’re going to win.’

“Another big factor is the quarterback room is loaded obviously. Graham (Mertz) is there right now. DJ (Lagway) is learning from Graham and I’ll learn from Graham and DJ. When Graham is gone I’ll learn from DJ and O’ Hara. Competing every day against those good guys makes you better.”

Location was key for Griffin

Griffin is excited he’ll play close to home.

“A big thing for me is family,” Griffin said. “I love seeing my family whenever I can. Florida is one of the closest schools to my home, a two and a half hour drive. Family is just a big thing for me in general. When I’m close to home after a tough weekend I can come home see my family or go to my brother’s high school games. It’s a big thing for me. It’s driving distance. They can drive to my game on Saturdays. That was a big part of my decision for sure.”

Griffin is locked in to being a Gator.

“I felt like it was the right decision for me and right time,” Griffin said. “I want to be able to build a 26 class and part of the 25 class while I can. I want to get a head start on it. I want to get a head start on learning the offense. I want to get head start on me developing at quarterback for my junior and senior seasons.”

The stats and ranking

As a sophomore, Griffin threw for 3,404 passing yards and 34 passing touchdowns. He is tabbed by the On3 Industry as the nation’s No. 11 quarterback and No. 115 prospect overall.