Florida is winning on the field in 2026, with a 4-0 start in Jon Sumrall‘s first season, and on Monday afternoon it scored a big-time victory in the recruiting world.
As a bonus, the Gators plucked a top prospect from a rival SEC state, with 4-star offensive tackle Samuel Bailey committing to come to Gainesville to play for the 2028 season. The mammoth 6-foot-6.5, 290-pounder is a current star at Mae Jemison High School in Huntsville, Ala., but Florida was able to make sure that Bailey wouldn’t be staying in his home state to play his college football.
The 2 brand-name programs in the state of Alabama were in the mix for Bailey’s services, with Alabama and Auburn coming hard after the big lineman. Another brand name, Ohio State, was also courting Bailey, but he chose to go south to Gainesville and join the Gators in a few years.
The clincher for Bailey to pick Florida came this past weekend, when the current Gators took down previously No. 4 Ole Miss in a 52-28 rout. With Bailey in attendance, he was all in on being a Gator and becoming part of the atmosphere that he soaked in on Saturday afternoon.
Florida is getting 1 of the top offensive tackles in the 2028 class. According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Bailey is the 6th-rated offensive tackle in the class and the 3rd-ranked player from the state of Alabama. He’s also the 38th-ranked player overall in the class, according to the Composite rankings.
While Florida added to its 2028 roster on Monday, the 2026 Gators are busy trying to do special things in the first season of a new coaching regime. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about how many potential victories Florida could pile up this year:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
