Gators Miss on Nation's No. 1 Safety Recruit

While a strong contender, the Florida Gators fell short for the five-star, who committed to another SEC school.

Five-star safety Bralan Womack chose Auburn over the Florida Gators. | Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers beat out the Florida Gators for Hartfield Academy (Miss.) five-star safety Brayan Womack, who pledged himself to the Tigers on Thursday. 

Womack is rated as the No. 13 overall prospect and No. 1 safety in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports. 

For a while, the Ohio State Buckeyes were viewed as the front-runners for Womack. The player himself even told On3’s Steve Wiltfong back in April that they were his top school. 

“Their tradition, their mindset in the locker room,” said Womack. “The brotherhood and development is second to none.”

However, as decision day got closer, the Tigers and the Gators began making it a contested battle for his services. In the Tigers’ corner, they were able to pitch the idea of playing at the same school his sister plays at. His sister, Ma’Nia, plays softball for Auburn. 

pic.twitter.com/Bvrbwtq8E2

— Bralan Womack (@B_Mack02) June 13, 2025

As for Florida, they made this a close one thanks to safeties coach Vinnie Sunseri. Sunseri and Womack began their relationship back when he was coaching at Washington. Since then, it has only strengthened. 

Additionally, after Womack’s official visit to the Swamp back in June, he said that the Gators made a big move in his recruitment. 

“They took a huge step,” he told Rival’s Sam Spiegelman. 

Unfortunately for the Gators, it was not enough to win out in the end. However, Florida is still expected to keep recruiting Womack all the way up until early signing day in December.

Gators head coach Billy Napier had a similar thing happen last recruiting cycle. He lost out on both Lagonza Heyward and Drake Stubbs during the summer, only to flip them back to the orange and blue by December. 

Not landing Womack from the jump will hurt, but the Gators have already put together a strong 2026 class before the season has even started. 

Highlighting the Gators' class, to date, are four-star defensive back CJ Bronaugh, four-star defensive lineman Kendall Guervil, four-star wide receiver Davian Groce and four-star edge KJ Ford. Each is rated as a top-100 prospect by 247Sports. Florida also holds commitments from two more defensive backs in four-stars CJ Hester and Kaiden Hall.

Cocoa (Fla.) four-star defensive back CJ Hester. | Cam Parker / Florida Gators on SI

The biggest surprise of the bunch was when Groce jumped on board with the Gators on Aug. 11. Oklahoma had long been seen as the team to beat for him, but the chatter on the day of his commitment quickly flipped to Florida. 

Florida’s class currently sits at No. 13 in 247Sports’ 2026 Overall Football Team Rankings. They have 14 four-star commits and five three-star commits.