Florida football and head coach Jon Sumrall are aware of the importance of loading up on the 2027 recruiting trail. And they’ve been killing it.
Keep in mind, the Texarkana native has not coached a game for the Gators and already has 14 commits for the 2027 season. Thanks to his efforts, the Gators are ranked No. 5 in the 2027 recruiting class by 247Sports.
With five-star offensive lineman Maxwell Hiller kicking off April with a commitment, the former Tulane head coach was far from satisfied. He landed seven more to finish off the month and has already added four to begin May.
While Cinco de Mayo is a time for discounted tacos and a family fiesta, Sumrall was busy acquiring not just one, but two commits.
Offensive tackle Elijah Hutcheson
Even with Hiller and Peyton Miller’s commitments, first-year offensive line coach Phil Trautwein looked to beef up the trenches more. On Tuesday, the four-star offensive tackle from North Cross School in Roanoke, Virginia, pledged to the Gators over Clemson, Virginia Tech and Vanderbilt. He stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 275 pounds.
247Sports ranks him as the No. 15 offensive tackle and the second-best recruit out of Virginia. The Roanoke native is also a multi-sport athlete, most notably posting a 44-2.5 shot put in 2025.
Like UF’s two other offensive line recruits, Hutcheson had a relationship with Trautwein before the coach arrived in Gainesville. Trautwein initially recruited Hutcheson while at Penn State, and both eventually headed south to Florida.
Safety Kailib Dillard
Another first-year coach, Chris Collins, also began to make his mark in the 2027 recruiting process. The new safeties coach landed Dillard from Jenks, Oklahoma on Tuesday, a three-star commit who chose Florida over Georgia and Oregon.
Listed at 6 feet tall and 175 pounds, Dillard is a versatile player, checking in as a wide receiver and safety. During his junior year, the Jenks native caught 71 passes for 1,250 yards and 15 touchdowns as a receiver. As a safety, he recorded 78 tackles, five interceptions and one forced fumble.
Defensive lineman Stive-Bentley Keumajou Yondui
Gerald Chatman already recruited defensive lineman De’Voun Kendrick on April 27. However, the third-year defensive line coach went right back to business just nine days later. He landed Keumajou Yondui, a three-star defensive lineman out of Coral Gables High School on Wednesday. The lineman is ranked as the No. 37 DL in the 2027 class by 247Sports and stands 6-foot-2.5, weighing 295 pounds. Keumajou Yondui chose Florida over Georgia, Miami, Texas and Auburn.
The England native moved to the United States in June, and immediately dabbled in other varsity sports, including basketball and soccer. In his first high school football season, he saw snaps on both the defensive and offensive line, while kicking and punting.
Running back Andrew Beard
Buster Faulkner made a splash of his own on the commitment trail Friday as he landed the four-star recruit from Prince Avenue Christian School in Bogart, Georgia. The pickup by UF’s first-year offensive coordinator vaulted the Gators three spots in 247Sports’ composite rankings.
Beard will join Georgia Tech transfers Aaron Philo and Bailey Stockton, who also attended Prince Avenue Christian. In his sophomore and junior seasons, the 5-foot-9, 197-pound running back rushed for 3,229 yards, 34 touchdowns and averaged 8.3 yards per carry. On the receiving end, he nabbed 63 passes, scored 10 touchdowns and averaged 15.5 yards per catch.
247Sports ranks the Bogart native as the No. 8 running back and No. 14 recruit out of Georgia. He also ran track, where he posted a 11.19 in the 100-meter dash and a 22.55 in the 200-meter dash as a sophomore.
Beard’s collegiate roots run deep as his father, Jerry Beard Sr., was a former running back at Appalachian State from 2000-02. Furthermore, his uncle, Garrison Hearst, played at Georgia from 1990-92 and was both the Doak Walker Award winner and SEC Player of the Year in his final collegiate season. In 1993, the Arizona Cardinals selected him in the first round. After retiring with two Pro Bowls, all eyes are on Hearst’s nephew to continue cementing the family football legacy.
Beard’s ties to Georgia led many to believe he would go to the Bulldogs, but Florida ultimately received his commitment over UGA , Clemson and Tennessee.
Contact Colby Kistner at ckistner@alligator.org. Follow him on X @colbykistner22.
Colby is a sports journalism senior in his second semester with the Alligator covering golf. He has experience covering Buchholz and Santa Fe High School sports and also worked in UF's innovation center where he wrote and created radio content for WRUF. Furthermore, he is interning at Idaho Education News Center in Boise and is looking to minor in business. In his free time, he watches the Seattle Kraken and the NHL as a whole.
