Florida football recruiting: Four-star DL Joseph Mbatchou commits to Gators flipping back from Texas

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Image Credit: UAA

The Florida Gators have capitalized on their three straight wins to end the 2024 season with 10 straight wins on the recruiting trail. The latest came Sunday night as four-star defensive lineman Joseph Mbatchou (Loganville, GA) committed to Florida for the second time after joining Texas’ Class of 2025 in between.

Mbatchou (6-foot-5, 275 pounds) originally committed to the Gators on July 31. He decommitted in October and pledged to the Longhorns just eight days ago only to rejoin UF’s class for a second time.

As such, Mbatchou is the 10th prospect who Florida head coach Billy Napier has poached from a rival or Power Four program in the last 15 days.

Ranked as the No. 291 overall player in the 247Sports Composite, he is rated 229th in the 247Sports internal rankings. The Gators have landed three blue-chip prospects in as many days while continuing to grow their class quickly with the early signing period approaching.

Four-star offensive lineman Tavaris Dice (Fairburn, GA) joined Florida on Saturday after being committed to Auburn. Four-star EDGE Jayden Woods (Shawnee, KS) left the Penn State class on Friday. Four-star quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. (Jacksonville, FL), four-star running back Byron Louis (Fort Lauderdale, FL) and three-star offensive lineman Daniel Pierre Louis (Loxahatchee, FL) all joined UF after backing off Florida State commitments. Four-star linebacker Ty Jackson (Loxahatchee, FL) linked up with the Gators after previously deciding to go to USC. Other recent flips include three-star defensive lineman Stephon Shivers (Brentwood, TN) from Georgia, three-star wide receiver Muizz Tounkara (League City, TX) from Arizona and three-star OL Jahari Medlock (Riverside, GA) from Cincinnati.

Florida moved up three spots into the No. 12 spot in the 247Sports Composite team rankings. It will look to continue flipping prospects over the next week with UF suddenly being favored to land some of the top players in the nation. The Gators have boosted their standing 31 slots across the last two-plus weeks after sitting at No. 43 prior to the LSU game. UF had fallen to as low as 51st in early November.

Given where Florida started a few weeks ago, this ascension in such a short period of time is already unlike anything the program has seen from a recruiting standpoint previously. It was thought that the Gators’ Class of 2025 would assuredly be the lowest-ranked during Napier’s tenure; now, the question is how much higher it might go.