It’s time to talk about recruiting in the state of Florida. You had questions. I have (some) answers. Let’s get to it.
Note: Submitted questions have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Rank the Florida regions from best to worst recruiting areas: Panhandle, Jacksonville (Northeastern Florida), Tampa Bay area, Central Florida, Treasure Coast, Southwest Florida, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade. — Joseph J.
If we ranked the regions based on NFL Draft results since 2015, it would go in this order:
Broward County (69)
Miami-Dade (50)
Tampa/St. Petersburg (50)
Orlando/Central Florida (49)
Jacksonville (31)
Panhandle (23)
Palm Beach County (21)
Naples/Southwest Florida (14)
Gainesville/Ocala (13)
Treasure Coast (4)
Bradenton (4)
Big Bend (3)
Melbourne/Space Coast (3)
Obviously, IMG Academy in Bradenton isn’t accounted for on this list because it imports players from across the country. But IMG is responsible for 29 draft picks, including nine first-rounders since 2018. If we just counted first-round picks since ’15, the order would be:
Broward (13)
Miami-Dade (11)
Tampa (6)
Orlando/Central Florida (5)
Panhandle (4)
Gainesville/Ocala (3)
Jacksonville (2)
Palm Beach (2)
Big Bend (1)
Miami star wide receiver Malachi Toney is a product of Broward County. (Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
With the last few draft picks and the overall development process, can we officially say Miami has built a fence around offensive line recruitment? — Sean M.
Last month’s draft was a nice showcase for the work Mario Cristobal and position coach Alex Mirabal have put into making Miami one of the premier programs in the country for linemen. Let’s not forget: Miami didn’t have any offensive linemen drafted for seven seasons until center Matt Lee, a transfer, ended the streak as a seventh-round pick in 2024. The Hurricanes had three offensive linemen taken last month, including the second tackle, Francis Mauigoa.
But there’s still some work to do before Miami is considered the clear-cut premier program for linemen. First off, Texas A&M actually led all schools with four offensive linemen taken last month. If you add up the last three drafts, Miami is tied for second with five offensive linemen drafted. Boston College, Iowa, Oregon, Penn State, Texas and Texas A&M also have five, and Georgia leads all schools with seven.
Recruits, as you know, don’t just get those narratives when they visit Coral Gables. I’m pretty sure Mark Matthews, the No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2027 cycle according to the 247Sports Composite, heard about how Texas A&M had more linemen drafted than Miami last month. Did that ultimately lead to the Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas junior picking the Aggies over the Canes last week? Probably not. But we can’t definitively say the Canes have a fence around offensive line recruitment when they’re getting beaten in their own backyard for an elite recruit.
You can, however, say Miami is one of the top four to five programs in the country at landing them now. You also shouldn’t shed any tears over losing Matthews — not with Jackson Cantwell, the No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2026 cycle, firmly entrenched at left tackle for the next few seasons.
How wide is the gap between Miami and everyone else in the state? — Brenton P.
As a Gator fan and alum, I am quietly hopeful Jon Sumrall, with his fire and energy, can breathe some life into the program. So far, so good with recruiting. Would you agree? — Jorge A.
The gap is sizable on the field. Miami is a legitimate national title contender, something no other team in the state can claim. But don’t sleep on Sumrall and the Florida Gators. First of all, the SEC is not what it used to be when Nick Saban was dominating. Climbing to the top of the conference isn’t nearly as daunting. Second, the SEC is still viewed as one of the top two conferences by recruits, and Florida’s NIL budget is very strong.
The Gators and Canes have top-10 recruiting classes in the 2027 cycle — ranked fourth and seventh in the 247Sports Composite. Miami and Florida haven’t gone head-to-head for any of those 2027 commitments. I’m interested to see what happens when that happens.
I wrote about Sumrall’s impressive demeanor on the trail earlier this month. A lot of high school coaches in South Florida think he’s going to be a better recruiter than his predecessor. But winning on the field still matters. Sumrall will have to do better than Billy Napier in that area if he hopes to sustain any type of success in recruiting.
By the way, Florida State’s class ranks 44th and has only six commitments. That’s what happens when you stick with a coach everyone assumes will be fired soon.
How is USF doing in recruiting with new coach Brian Hartline, compared to the past few classes with former coach Alex Golesh? — Matt H.
It’s still early, but the Bulls are not exactly killing it on the trail under Hartline. USF has two commitments so far in its 2027 class: three-star receiver Austin Busso from Bergen Catholic in New Jersey and three-star defensive lineman Kindrid Outland from Jacksonville Mandarin.
Does it mean Hartline is a bad recruiter? Hardly. The 39-year-old former Ohio State offensive coordinator signed 41 transfers out of the portal after taking the job and is likely to turn to the portal again for more immediate help. In my experience, it usually takes head coaches two full recruiting cycles to put their imprint on a program. The first year is basically playing catch-up and investing real recruiting time into juniors you feel are a good fit.
Hartline told Athlon Sports in a recent interview that coaches have to be “much more intentional” in high school recruiting, targeting players they believe will stay and develop. He said he’s looking for coachable recruits who have the right mental makeup. That’s code for, “We’re not going to be able to land the Jeremiah Smiths of the world at USF just because I signed those types of players at Ohio State.”
West Florida won the D2 title in 2019, but generally, the FCS and D2 titles are won by Northern or Midwestern schools. Even with so many D1 schools, will Florida’s continued growth and quality of football lead to smaller Florida schools being able to win championships if they just keep lower-level recruits home? — Kale F.
It’s hard in today’s NIL era to run a consistently successful football program at anything less than the Power 4 level. What Ferris State has done in winning four of the last five DII national championships is amazing. But what helps, in part, is the fact that Michigan has just five DI programs and only two are Power 4 schools. In Florida, we have 11 DI programs and four are P4 schools. There’s only so much talent to go around, and with how many players transfer, it’s important to have the budget to fill gaps when they leave. As it stands, West Florida is moving up to the DI level this season, which leaves Edward Waters as the only DII school in the state. Florida A&M won the FCS national championship in 1978, the last non-FBS/I-A school from Florida to win a national title.
Unless there’s an amazing coach with some financial backing out there to help get a DII or FCS program in the state moving in the right direction, we probably won’t see another lower-level in-state school compete for a national championship.