The 2026 recruiting trail gifted Billy Napier and the Florida Gators with some costly losses. Their 2026 safety commit, Devin Jackson, jumped out of Napier’s program back in April. Before that, in February, Armwood (Florida) four-star cornerback Jaelen Waters announced his decommitment from the Florida Gators. Napier still has to gear up on the 2026 recruiting track as they sit at No.15 with only 17 recruits locked in.
However, on July 11, they got a big boost. There has been a lot of buzz about Napier’s 4-star Edge Rusher target Kevin “KJ” Ford. The hot recruit had announced to close his commitment on Friday. But hardly did Napier expect to hear Gators’ name getting called out, even though they seemed to be the leader for the blue-chip prospect. Now that Ford is here, Napier can walk with a pumped-up chest.
After all, Ford is coming off as a threat to the SEC rivals. Right after the commitment, he reshared Hayes Fawcett’s post that confirmed his commitment to Napier’s squad. The 4-star served some fresh fear for the SEC programs with a blunt message. He wrote, “Going to run the sec.” And what better news for Napier to go on full party mood? The head coach must have already gone into panic mode after seeing his edge board crumble. The Gators lost the commitment of their 5-star Trenton Henderson, who switched to LSU. Not just this, 4-star Jake Kreul struck Napier’s Florida from his top teams. But till the very last day, Ford kept Napier and co. hanging.
Going to run the sec https://t.co/AS8VUEEQAy
— Kevin “KJ” Ford Jr (@KJ4ord) July 12, 2025
In an interview with 247Sports, he said about Florida, “They’re in an okay spot. (I’m) just trying to see everything.” Turns out that deep down, he knew that he would only trust Napier and the Gators.
(This is a developing story…)
The post 5-Star KJ Ford Sends Blunt Message to SEC After Florida Commitment appeared first on EssentiallySports.
