Trautwein's Arrival as OL Coach Signals Possible Change in Gators' Recruiting Standards

Florida has had lackluster recruiting on the offensive line over the last decade. New offensive line coach Phil Trautwein could change that.

Phil Trautwein was recently reported to be the Florida Gators' next OL coach. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Phil Trautwein has not eased into his new role as the Florida Gators' offensive line coach. Across his first two days in his new role, Trautwein has gone full speed ahead in his recruiting efforts, offering six offensive line recruits in the class of 2027 across the last day.

On Friday, Trautwein offered Coatesville (Pa.) five-star guard Maxwell Hiller, Middletown (De.) Appoquinimink four-star tackle Layton Von Brandt, Woodberry Forest (Va.) four-star tackle Junior Saunders, Poquoson (Va.) four-star guard Carter Jones and Carteret (NJ) St. Peter's Prep four-star tackle Oluwasemilore Olubobola.

On Saturday, Orlando (Fla.) The First Academy four-star guard Reed Ramsier was added to the offer list.

Three of the recruits—Hiller, Von Brandt, Olubobola—are ranked inside the top 10 nationally in their positions rankings, headlined by Hiller, who ranks as the nation's No. 1 interior lineman and No. 4 overall recruit in the class of 2027, according to 247 Sports.

Von Brandt (No. 65 nationally, No. 8 tackle) and Olubobola (No. 58 nationally, No. 7 tackle) each rank inside the top 100 of recruits.

The other three—Saunders, Jones, Ramsier— are all inside the top 30 of their respective position rankings with Ramsier ranked as the No. 15 interior lineman, Jones as the No. 24 tackle and Saunders as the No. 27 tackle in 247 Sports' rankings.

Florida Gators offensive line coach Phil Trautwein (75) spent five seasons playing with the Gators. | John David Mercer-Imagn Images

Trautwein's hiring and ensuing interest by high-rated offensive line recruits signals a potential shift in Florida's recruiting on the offensive line, which has been very hit-or-miss over the last 10 years.

From the 2015 class and on under coaches Mike Summers (2015-16), Brad Davis (2017), John Hevesy (2018-21), Rob Sale (2022-25), Darnell Stapleton (2022-23) and Jonathan Decoster (2024-25), Florida signed 48 offensive linemen. Only three were ranked inside the top 10 of their respective position rankings in guard Roderick Kearney (No. 6 guard in 2023), tackle Richard Gouraige (No. 8 tackle in 2018) and tackle Martez Ivey (No. 1 tackle in 2015).

This list does not include transfers, which was also very hit-or-miss across the last 10 seasons with impact players such as O'Cyrus Torrence (2022) and Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson (2024) and others who were either one-and-done (Micah Mazzccua, 2023) or had very little impact in their time in Gainesville.

Ivey is also the lone non-transfer offensive lineman signed to Florida since 2015 to be a five-star or be ranked in the top 100 nationally (No. 2 overall prospect in 2015). The Gators do have a former five-star on its roster currently in Jason Zandamela-Popa, but he joined the program as a transfer from USC, having not played a single game for the Trojans.

That's not to say Florida hasn't tried, but the Gators have rarely been serious contenders for top-rated offensive linemen, and if they were, they were always the team on the outside looking in among other finalists.

Trautwein, touted as one of the best offensive line coaches in recent years, has had opposite results of the Gators' struggles.

Across his six seasons at Penn State (since 2020), the Nittany Lions signed five offensive linemen that were either a five-star, ranked inside the top 100 nationally or ranked inside the top 10 for their respective position group.

In two years at Boston College, a program not known for major recruiting success, Trautwein signed the state of Massachusetts's top prospect in 2018 in four-star tackle Finn Dirstine, who was the No. 13 tackle in the class.

Obviously, the job is nowhere near complete with the Gators just finalizing its 2026 recruiting class, but Trautwein's first efforts as Florida's next offensive line coach could be a sign of what's to come in the Jon Sumrall era for the offensive line.