Gators Walk Out of Signing Period Proving Critics Wrong

Gainesville, Fla. – The Florida Gators ended the 2024 season on a very high note. They won their four games of the season, including a bowl win. Florida also flipped some of their top targets on the recruiting trail. However, not everyone was convinced by the noise down the stretch.

Those are ones who could potentially be eating their words.

Those who disregarded last season’s late surge were named among the “losers” in this final signing window, according to Bleacher Report’s Brad Shepard.

“They finished with an 8-5 record, knocking off No. 21 LSU, No. 9 Ole Miss, Florida State and Tulane to ramp up expectations heading into the offseason,” Shepard said.

He applauded Napier and the Gators for leveraging the momentum on the field to give them a boost in recruiting.

“If you thought this was just a flash in the pan, though, Napier's '25 recruiting haul says otherwise,” he said. “The Gators added weapons on both sides of the ball in the late signing period, the biggest of which was Dallas Wilson, who was once a five-star prospect but wound up the No. 35-ranked overall player and eighth-rated receiver.”

The Gators recruiting class went from being ranked in the mid-40s and near the bottom of the SEC midseason to being 10th in the country. They’re ranked seventh overall in the conference.

Napier flipped recruits from the likes of Florida State, Miami, Oregon and Tennessee to help rebuild this 2025 class.

By the end of it, Napier has put together a top-tier wide receiver class highlighted by Wilson and Vernell Brown III – motivating Shepard into saying this an “incredible one-two punch” for star quarterback DJ Lagway – while also bringing in some top-rated defensive backs.

Of those defensive backs who committed, the first mentioned was Lagonza Hayward, who flipped his commitment from Tennessee to Florida during the early signing period. But Hayward wasn’t the only former Volunteers commit that the Gators flipped. They also worked very hard in getting defensive back Onis Konanbanny in their class, which became a successful mission this past week.

“Onis Konanbanny decided he wanted to play for an SEC rival rather than Tennessee, giving the Gators another quality defensive back prospect,” Shepard said.

Now with the 2025 class all but sealed, it’s safe to say it’s been an eventful, firework-filled past couple of months that has not disappointed anyone other than those who doubted the program.