Florida's latest recruiting win comes with a grain of salt Ohio State, FSU will love

Billy Napier was hired to lead the Florida Gators because of his previous success at Louisiana, as well as his recruiting chops. Recruiting was something Napier's predecessor Dan Mullen struggled with down the stretch. While Napier's transition to the SEC has been nothing short of a never-ending baptism by fire, he did land one of the best recruits in the 2025 cycle in Vernell Brown III on Sunday.

According to the 247Sports Composite, Brown is the No. 5 player from Florida, the No. 6 wide receiver in his class and the No. 25 overall player nationally. The Orlando native chose the Gators over the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Miami Hurricanes and the Florida State Seminoles. While it may be important for Brown to stay home, a lot can change between now and the end of the 2024 season...

All things equal, a homegrown player like Brown from Orlando should be going to play for the Gators. Gainesville is not all that far away from Orlando and Tampa, two major metroplexes Florida derives talent from. Having three other Power Four schools in-state presents a challenge, as does major SEC rival Georgia just north of the border. For now, Florida made a huge splash being able to land Brown.

Nothing is official until you have the sweet Hayes Fawcett graphic from On3 to seal the deal, alright.

Florida's schedule is brutal, but hopefully, Napier can steal a game or two to give himself a chance.

Florida lands 5-star WR Vernell Brown III over rivals Florida State, Miami

Should Napier fail, which it wouldn't be entirely his fault, as the Gators have the hardest schedule in all of college football, the first name I would try to hire to replace him is UF alum and new Washington head coach Jedd Fisch. He did remarkable things at Arizona previously. Fisch stems from the Bill Belichick coaching tree. Not only that, but he was roommates with Howie Roseman back in the day.

To be totally honest, I want to see Napier at least be given a real shot this season. If 4-8 is all he can do with that gauntlet, then I would totally understand giving him one more year to prove himself. If Florida went the inverse of that mark to go 8-4, that is a playoff team, with how unforgiving that schedule is. Then again, you can't be going 3-9 or 2-10 and still be the head coach over at Florida.

The good news is Napier, Fisch or whoever may not have to resell Brown on all that UF has to offer once Thanksgiving arrives. Every so often, there is a player in-state whose dream it is to play for the state's flagship university's football team. That may very well be the case for Brown. Again, an Orlando native who is a five-star wide receiver should be going to Florida under most circumstances.

The best part in all this is we have a whole season of college football to watch and much later discuss.