Why Florida Football Added Former JU Basketball Player Jaylen Jordon to the Roster

Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall has made it no secret that he wishes to have a post-spring transfer portal window to address holes in his roster. Without that luxury, he has had to turn to pre-portal habits to round out his roster by looking for JUCO players, unsigned high school athletes and transfers from other sports looking to play football.

That last quality is how Florida discovered former Jacksonville University forward Jaylen Jordon, who became the Gators' first post-spring transfer to join the team on May 1 and will play tight end.

In an interview with First Coast News' Rachel Phillips, Sumrall explained the process of adding (6-6, 240 pounds), who first came on Florida's radar after participating in Pro Day in March.

"Late addition. Had been at our Pro Day. Did the workout. Was requested by an NFL team to do the workout," Sumrall said. "I don't allow outside guys to work out at our Pro Day from other universities unless they were requested by an NFL team, and that'd be a rare and unique situation, and this is.

"Was at a school that no longer has football. Has played the game in high school. Has great length and athleticism. We'll see how fast we can get him up to speed to be prepared for game-readiness, but there are great athletic traits there that I'm excited to see what we can unlock and what he can do."

"There are great athletic traits there that I'm excited to see what we can unlock and what he can do."

Talked with #gators head coach Jon Sumrall about bringing in former JU Basketball player Jaylen Jordan as a late transfer to play tight end.

Full Interview:… pic.twitter.com/TF4q9QG5Vv
— Rachel Phillips (@rachphillipstv) May 12, 2026

Jordon joins a nearly-revamped tight end room that only returns two players in redshirt sophomore Amir Jackson and redshirt freshman Micah Jones. Transfers Evan Chieca, Lacota Dippre and Luke Harpring, freshman Heze Kent and walk-on Tripp Brown round out the room, giving the Gators six newcomers at the position, including Jordon.

Meanwhile, the Gators have added two transfers to its roster, including Jordan, after JUCO corner Javier Jones committed on Tuesday with three years of eligibility remaining. Florida has also hosted former Missouri State forward Michael Osei-Bonsu on a visit, with Osei-Bonsu reportedly looking at playing either tight end or defensive line.

"We've scoured the ranks," Sumrall said on April 7. "We've looked at a lot of high school kids that are out there, JUCO kids. It's funny, I fielded the call from somebody about a player that I've had before that's still in the portal right now. So there's still maybe some vehicles to add a player or two.

"We still have some room for non-designated student-athletes to be added as walk-ons, potentially too, if we don't find the right scholarship-type worthy players to maybe add six or seven. But I wouldn't count as having some big additional six or seven signees. There might be one or something."

Sign up for our free Florida Gators newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news!

Add us as a preferred source on Google