Why Florida football recruiting still rules the national stage

Florida has always been a vital pipeline state in college football recruiting, but what does that actually look like?

Blue blood programs constantly visit the Sunshine State to recruit its elite football players, and how they fared getting Florida prospects is an indication of the overall quality of their class.

And this holds true for the current recruiting cycle: programs topping the charts on recruiting boards in Florida have some of the best classes in the nation, and the ones that are struggling in Florida are having an overall tougher 2027 cycle.

Nearly one-third of the USA TODAY Florida Top 100 is committed to schools ranked in the Top 10 of 247Sports Composite class rankings. Of those 10 programs, just three do not hold a commitment from a Top 100 player.

The No. 1 overall class in the country (Texas A&M) holds commitments from the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked players in Florida. The No. 2 class in the cycle (Miami) holds more Florida Top 100 commitments than any other school in the country.

Oklahoma is the outlier this year, but even their success this season will be heavily reliant on talent from Florida. While they are the No. 3 class in the country with no commits from Florida, incoming freshmen EDGE Jake Kreul and WR Jayden Petit are slated to get serious playing time for the Sooners in their first season in Norman after very impressive springs.

How Texas A&M is building the No. 1 class in the country

The Aggies, simply put, are winning Florida. It's not a blowout, but they have a serious lead for elite talent.

They hold a commitment from the No. 1 overall player in the state, and got it in pretty convincing fashion. Despite being outbid by his hometown Miami Hurricanes and multiple Hurricane offensive linemen being drafted in consecutive drafts, St. Thomas Aquinas OT Mark Matthews named the Aggies over Miami.

They also hold a commitment from IMG EDGE Zyron Forstall, the No. 2 overall player in the state. For good measure, they added Jones EDGE Fred Ards III (No. 28) and West Boca sefety Loai Valade (No. 62). Five different 5-stars, including Matthews and Forstall, are committed to Texas A&M.

The Aggies are by no means done in the Sunshine State, either. They are still very much in on IMG wide receiver Eric McFarland III (No. 5) and Tampa Jesuit linebacker Kaden Henderson (No. 4). Adding at least one of them would give Texas A&M one of the most loaded Florida classes in recent memory.

Local talent bolstering Miami's resurgence

When Miami started getting good again, it was only a matter of time before it affected recruiting. Last season, we learned that Miami's run to the national championship mattered to recruits.

"All they have to do is keep winning and they’ll have a better of chance at getting Nick Lennear at Miami," Lennear told us in January. He has been committed to the 'Canes since March. Lennear may be the No. 3 overall recruit in the state, but the 5-star pass catcher out of Carol City is the most devastating playmaker in the country. He's one of four different five-stars committed to the U.

The 'Canes, who have the No. 2 2027 class in the country, hold eight commitments from Florida Top 100 players, more than any other school.

Not only are they recruiting elite talent at a high clip, they are turning away marquee recruits for the sake of preserving the culture. They moved on from Chaminade-Madonna wide receiver Ah'marri Stevens after his official visit to LSU. Miami also backed off Henderson. Every current Hurricane commit has shut down their recruitment.

Of the eight in-state commits, seven are from either Palm Beach, Broward or Miami-Dade counties. The one commitment outside of south Florida (Sean Tatum, No. 14) is just one county north at John Carroll in Fort Pierce. Adding 4-star North Miami Beach safety Andre Hyppolite (No. 32) last week bumped the 'Canes from the No. 3 overall class in the country to No. 2.

Notre Dame FloridaDame keyed in on elite talent

The staff up north has coined the term FloridaDame to describe their approach to recruiting this year — just get the best guys from down here.

YO IRISH NATION!!!! MAKE SURE THESE GUYS FEEL THAT IRISH LOVE ☘️💚☘️💚☘️💚 #FLORIDADAME☘️ @julius_jones_@Andrejones09@KadenHenderson_@GaylesOsanipic.twitter.com/0mJXG5r8Ub

— 4⭐️ Zayden Gamble (@ZaydenGamble1) June 5, 2026

And so far, it has worked. They've got the No. 5 class in the country behind the strength of their Florida commits and still stand to gain some serious traction. They fended of Miami for St. Thomas Aquinas safety Zayden Gamble (No. 15), the No. 1 safety in the state. They got a commitment from coveted Vero Beach QB Champ Monds, who reclassified and is the No. 2 QB in the state, and landed Chaminade-Madonna S John Gay III (No. 42).

At one point, the Irish also held a commitment from IMG linebacker Amarri Irvin (No. 22) and the No. 2 LB in Florida. But the Irish have also long been in on Henderson. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman (who had a storied career as a linebacker himself) started increasing the pressure back in February.

"They have two linebackers committed so it's kind of hard," Henderson told us February. "But I think one just decommitted, so I think that kind of opens it up for me a little bit more …"

The Irish's other linebacker commit, Irvin, just flipped to Virginia Tech as the Irish make a bigger play for Henderson. They are still in on some big uncommitted names, including a battle with Oregon and Miami for St. Thomas Aquinas wide receiver Julius Jones (No. 8), plus fighting Texas and Georgia for Palm Beach Central defensive lineman Tyler Alexander (No. 47).

New staff for Florida Gators closing on big names

Florida has the No. 6 ranked class on 247Sports Composite ranking (as of June 17) behind incredible quality from in-state Top 100 commits. Nearly one-third of their class is comprised of the best players in their home state.

They currently hold seven Top 100 commitments, and of those seven, all are ranked inside the top 50. They hold pledges from the No. 1 quarterback in the state (Davin Davidson, No. 10), No. 1 defensive lineman (Stive Bentley-Yondui, No. 18), and No. 1 ATH (Tramond Collins, No. 21).

The Gators also hold commitments from Port Charlotte wide receiver Elias Pearl (No. 11), American Heritage cornerback Amare Nugent (No. 23), Dillard wide receiver Anthony Jennings (No. 35), and Carrolwood Day defensive lineman Dev'Voun Kendrick (No. 49). Jon Sumrall & Co. also closed on 5-star Maxwell Hiller (Penn.), the No. 1 offensive tackle in the nation, and are working to flip 5-star defensive lineman Jalen Brewster (Texas) away form his commitment to Texas Tech.

Sunshine State talent propels Clemson to Top 10 class

The Tigers, which have always recruited Florida heavily under Dabo Sweeney, have the No. 10 class on 247Sports class composite rankings with three top-heavy commitments.

Godby wide receiver Jamarin Simmons (No. 7) is the latest 5-star on 247Sports recruit rankings, and Clemson beat Florida State for the elite pass catcher despite Simmons living just a few miles away from Doak-Campbell Stadium. Simmons is Clemson's lone 5-star commit.

The Tigers also landed the No. 4 and No. 5 edge rushers in the state. Four-stars Desmond Malpress (Atlantic Coast, No. 29) and Santana Harvey (Lakeland, No. 34) are two big reasons the Tigers have one of the strongest classes in the nation. Palmetto kicker/punter Michael Brandin Gallaway is regarded as one of the best specialists in the state, and named Clemson in June.

Florida State's struggles in-state hurts class ranking

The Seminoles have just three Top 100 commitments, the same amount as Pitt and Kentucky. They currently hold the No. 58 ranked class in the country after signing 12 last year.

Florida State closed on elite talent last year, but the question marks surrounding the program have put a damper on their ability to recruit this cycle. They've had three Top 100 decommitments this cycle, one of which later named UCF (ATH Kaneilius Purdy, No. 31).

The 'Noles will have to work hard to close the gap in their home state. Of the Top 100 recruits still on the board or on flip watch, few have Florida State among their finalists and just three locked in official visits.

Where Florida recruits go, class rankings follow

Georgia, historically, always scoops up an elite player or three from Florida by December. Last cycle, they signed the No. 8, No. 15, and No. 22 overall players in the state in the way to a Top 5 class nationally. Midway through this June, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 24 in the nation with just one Top 100 commitment (linebacker Tremoris Campbell Jr., No. 88) before landing a handful of 4-stars from Georgia and Tennessee that bumped them up to the No. 15 spot.

Conversely, Kentucky has closed well in Florida this cycle. After landing one Florida Top 100 player last cycle and finishing with the No. 60 ranked class in the composite rankings, the Wildcats currently have the No. 18 class in the country with three Top 100 commits.

Pitt landed three fringe Top 100 players last year and finished with the No. 58 overall class. This cycle, they are ranked No. 29 with four Top 100 commits that includes Lakeland cornerback Jordan Young (No. 51), Flanagan wide receiver Jacob Thomas (No. 54), St. Thomas Aquinas running back Tyler Reid (No. 90), and Miami Central quarterback James Perrone (No. 100).

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida football recruiting still dominates national scene for 2027