Welcome to Gator Nation, Ty Jackson! (Photo via On3)
Fresh off the Florida Gators’ 24-17 upset win over Ole Miss, Billy Napier has built on that momentum with a massive recruiting victory.
Consensus four-star linebacker Ty Jackson (Loxahatchee, FL/Seminole Ridge) has flipped from USC to Florida. He initially committed to the Trojans on September 8 after visiting USC, but as the Trojans began struggling on the field, his commitment began to waver. Today, he pulled the trigger.
Ty Jackson also had offers from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan, Oklahoma, LSU, Miami, Texas A&M, Penn State, and many more. His ranking ranges pretty widely between the four ranking systems, but On3, 247, ESPN, and Rivals all agree that he’s a top 250 prospect in the 2025 class. On3 and ESPN have him ranked as a top 100 prospect.
You can watch his high school highlight tape here.
The athleticism of Ty Jackson is where the analysis has to start. He’s a freakishly quick player on the defensive side of the ball, able to burn through the terrain with an incendiary quickness to meet the ball carrier with a painful purpose. At 6’1 and 200 pounds and not done growing yet, he’s able to generate some frightening torque and administer some punishment—oftentimes the kind that can dislodge the football.
Various scouts—including Andrew Ivins of 247Sports—do state that he could improve his play recognition a bit, because in college, pretty much everybody will have been the best athlete on their high school field, so then it becomes a battle of intelligence with congruent levels of athleticism. But he’s said to be a smart kid, and merely a matter of time before he’s able to make that adjustment.
With the addition of Ty Jackson, the Gators’ 2025 class has vaulted all the way up to #19 in the 247Sports Composite ranking system and #23 in the On3 Industry ranking system.
Like the Gators’ 6-5 record, those recruiting class rankings are not where this program should ultimately be finishing each year. But that said, it’s an undeniable improvement over where things stood just a few short weeks ago.
And for all the angst that Billy Napier has caused with his various shortcomings so far, if this latest recruiting surge is for real, and sustainable, and not just the latest peak in the sine wave pattern, then maybe, just maybe, we’re witnessing the greatest rebirth of a supposed lame duck coach in college football history.
