Gators Lose First Commit of 2026 Class After Napier Firing, Sumrall Hiring

Florida suffered its first decommitment since the coaching change ahead of the early signing period, which begins on Wednesday.

Four-star running back Carsyn Baker of Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes. | Cam Parker / Florida Gators on SI

The Florida Gators officially have its first decommit since the firing of Billy Napier and the recent hiring of head coach Jon Sumrall.

Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes four-star running back Carsyn Baker on Monday announced he was decommitting from the Gators. Baker first committed to the class on June 13. He is rated as the No. 15 running back in the 2026 class, according to the 247 Sports Composite.

BREAKING: Four-Star RB Carsyn Baker has Decommitted from Florida, he tells me for @rivals⁰⁰The 6’2 200 RB from Fairburn, GA had been Committed to the Gators since June⁰⁰https://t.co/I2lIgJkDKa pic.twitter.com/dwfBi2Pdcg

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 2, 2025

Baker committed to Florida as part of a summer surge for former head coach Billy Napier, with the bulk of the now-18-player class committing from May through August.

"The moment I knew I wanted to commit, I came back to see what I needed to see," he said after a visit to Gainesville two days after committing. "The great bonding and everything. I got a chance to talk to coach (Jabbar) Juluke and the staff again and they kept with the same thing. They never changed up on me, and I really loved it a lot."

However, Napier's firing on Oct. 19 changed things, and despite remaining committed to Florida, he expressed interest in other options. He took official visits to Kentucky, Ole Miss, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and South Carolina in the weeks after Napier's firing.

Baker's decommitment also comes on the same day as Sumrall's official introduction as the Gators' new coach and two days before the early signing period begins. After officially signing with Florida on Sunday, Sumrall met with most of Florida's commits through zoom and has plans to continue those conversations on Monday night.

Sumrall explained his first order of business was to thank the commits for staying pledged to the class. New general manager Dave Caldwell, who was officially announced as part of the staff on Monday, also explained they planned to honor each existing commitment.

"I think we've got a lot of great players, and I think we've really got high character in that class," Sumrall said. "I think the staff has done a good job. I'm going to fight like heck to hold on to them. I FaceTimed with as many of them as I could last night until I fell asleep. I'm going to FaceTime with the rest of them tonight and get them all knocked out and make sure they know, man, I can't wait to coach them. I'd love to coach them."

Florida's 18-player class, a large portion of which already either announced plans to stay committed no matter who the coach is or reconfirmed plans to stay under Sumrall, currently ranks 16th nationally, according to 247 Sports.