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Florida Dealt Huge Recruiting Loss by National Championship Contenders

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Brendan Howe | Last updated Jul 6, 2025 8:00 AM ET

The Florida Gators have fielded a fair share of defensive stars. The group includes Wilber Marshall, Jack Youngblood and Reggie Nelson. Class of 2026 five-star safety Jireh Edwards has chosen not to try to join that pantheon.

Edwards, a standout at St. Frances Academy (Md.), opted to join the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday, spurning Billy Napier and the Florida Gators.

Unfortunately for Napier, Edwards further bolsters an already stacked class for a conference foe. According to On3, he's the fifth five-star commit for the Crimson Tide, joining receiver Cederian Morgan, cornerback Jorden Edmonds, linebacker Xavier Griffin and running back Ezavier Crowell.

Alabama nestles into the top five of both the 247Sports Recruit Team Rankings (No. 4) and Rivals Industry Team Rankings (No.5).

Other than Florida, Edwards chose Kalen DeBoer's program over Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs, Mike Elko's Texas A&M Aggies and Dan Lanning's Oregon Ducks.

The whiff on Edwards shouldn't sound the alarm for the Gators, however. Napier has shown the ability to woo high-level talent, most notably five-star quarterback DJ Lagway in the 2024 class. Napier also signed five-star defensive lineman LJ McCray in the same group.

Per 247Sports, Florida has had the No. 7 and No. 9 recruiting classes in 2024 and 2025, respectively. The Gators are ranked No. 16 overall in the 2026 class at the moment, behind SEC competition in Georgia (No. 2), Texas A&M (No. 3), Alabama (No. 5), LSU (No. 10), Texas (No. 12) and Tennessee (No. 15).

Napier will have some work to do to climb on that list.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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