Florida football recruiting: Four-star 2025 LB Ty Jackson flips to Gators from USC

Football

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Image Credit: Hannah White, UAA

The building of the Class of 2025 has come along slowly as the Florida Gators struggled out of the gate this cycle with plenty of questions mounting about head coach Billy Napier’s future. The Gators have picked up some steam recently with their second four-star commitment — fourth overall — jumping on board across the last eight days.

Linebacker Ty Jackson (Loxahatchee, FL) made his pledge for Florida on Monday while rescinding his commitment to USC, whose class he joined in early September. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder has been a heavily recruited prospect and one who the Gators continued pursuing despite his prior decision. Co-defensive coordinators Ron Roberts and Austin Armstrong were responsible for his recruitment.

Jackson is a consensus four-star player ranked No. 124 overall in the 247Sports Composite. As such, he is now the third-highest rated commitment in Florida’s Class of 2025.

The latest Gators pledge is also the fourth straight flip earned by Napier. Four-star quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. (Jacksonville, FL) and three-star OL Daniel Pierre Louis (Loxahatchee, FL) moved on from Florida State, while three-star defensive lineman Stephon Shivers (Brentwood, TN) joined after being part of Georgia’s class.

Daniel Pierre Louis and Jackson are currently teammates at Seminole Ridge High School.

Florida shot up seven spots to No. 19 in the 247Sports Composite team rankings with Jackson now on board. It has boosted its standing 24 slots over the last eight days after sitting at No. 43 prior to the LSU game. UF had fallen to as low as 51st in the rankings in early November.

As the Gators continue to add commitments, they will naturally progress up those rankings; however, it will take landing some big fish to push Florida up to delivering the level of class that has been expected from Napier. As it stands now, the Gators’ Class of 2025 will likely be the lowest-ranked yet during his tenure, which likely mean UF will put a greater concentration on the transfer portal this offseason.