Milton football 4-star safety Kaiden Hall signs with Florida
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Milton 4-star safety Kaiden Hall had already signed with Florida. But most of the crowd in the Milton High School auditorium didn’t know it.
So they waited in anticipation as he rose to pick either the Georgia Tech, Florida, Ole Miss or LSU hat in front of him.
Hall acted like he had a tough decision to make. At first he went to put the LSU hat on, raising it near his head before putting it back down. Then he put the Florida hat on with a big grin and the Gator chomp.
After verbally committing to Florida on June 3, Hall is sticking with the Gators.
“I actually signed on Wednesday, (but) I (did) it secretly,” Hall said. “A lot of people thought I was going to flip and all that so I had to play around with it little bit, so everybody would actually buy in. I’ve been signed.”
Even after signing Wednesday morning, Hall still wanted to keep it a secret until Friday. Florida announced the signing about an hour before his ceremony at Milton. Though he was verbally committed for the past seven months, the No. 25 safety in the class of 2026 according to the 247 Sports composite didn’t officially lock in on Florida until Tuesday night.
Florida fired head coach Billy Napier, who recruited Hall to Gainesville, on Oct. 19. It then hired Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall as its next head coach on Nov. 30.
In between then, Hall took official visits to Ole Miss on Nov. 15 and Georgia Tech on Nov. 22. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was officially named LSU head coach on Nov. 30, and the Tigers made a late push for Hall’s services.
But after conversations with Sumrall and new Florida defensive coordinator Brad White, Hall decided to stick with the Gators.
“Mainly just at the end of the day where I felt most comfortable with everything going on,” Hall said. “After Coach Napier (was fired), I had to take a step back and think about my decision and that’s when Georgia Tech and Ole Miss came to play. After the Coach Sumrall hire, Coach White, just feels like the place for me at the end of the day.”
The chance to build Florida back into an SEC power also appealed to Hall after he led Milton to a turnaround season in 2025.
The Panthers went from 0-10 in 2024 to 7-4 this fall with mainly the same players, advancing to the state playoffs for the first time since 2013. Hall played a big part, playing quarterback for the first time since his youth days.
He completed 58 percent of his passes for 638 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions while running for 798 yards and 15 touchdowns.
He also recorded 25 tackles, three interceptions and two pass deflections on defense.
Florida has had four losing seasons in the last five years after having just two losing seasons from 1980-2020.
Hall will be part of the group looking to reverse that trend when he enrolls in January.
When I talk to college coaches all across the country, the first thing they always talk about is academics, what kind of person they are, their character, all that,” Milton offensive coordinator Ryan Vandervort said. “KD’s an example of one of the best ones I’ve been around in all my years of coaching and all the athletes I’ve coached. He just does things the right way, how it’s supposed to be done. It’s never about him, it’s always about the team and making the team better.”
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Milton football 4-star safety Kaiden Hall signs with Florida Gators
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