Tag: Ryan O’Hara

Five-star 2026 QB has love for Florida’s football program

One of the top quarterback prospects in the 2026 cycle really appreciates how Florida handles it’s QB room.

Florida football’s recruiting efforts have been mostly focused on the 2025 cycle but [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and Co. are also looking ahead to the class of 2026.

One of the Gators’ biggest targets on the horizon is five-star quarterback [autotag]Dia Bell[/autotag], a high school sophomore out of Fort Lauderdale (Florida) American Heritage. The 6-foot-3-inch, 190-pound passer is the son of former NBA star Raja Bell and also has connections to the Orange and Blue.

“I love the culture and love what they do with their quarterbacks. They are very invested in their quarterback room,” Bell told Gators Online at OT7 on Saturday. “On top of that, I have some connections there because my aunt went there to play basketball. I have family ties there, so it’s always cool to be back in Gainesville.”

Bell’s view on Florida’s coaches and program

Napier and offensive analyst [autotag]Ryan O’Hara[/autotag] have led the charge for the highly-heralded recruit, but it is the team effort on the staff side that has him feeling bullish on the Gators.

“A lot of guys are contributing to developing you in their quarterback room. My relationship is really good with them,” Bell noted.

Regarding where Florida stands in his recruitment, he said, “I feel like they’re up there.” The Sunshine State product has been to campus several times and has a good feel for what the university can provide him.

“They were one of my first 10 offers, so I’ve known them for a really long time. I’ve just been building that relationship with them ever since the first time I went up there.”

Recruiting Summary

Bell is rated at five stars and ranked No. 14 overall and No. 3 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking rates him at four stars and ranks him at Nos. 12 and 4, respectively.

On3’s recruiting prediction machine gives the Ohio State Buckeyes an edge in his recruitment with an 18.2% chance of signing him. The Penn State Nittany Lions (15.9%), Miami Hurricanes (9.2%) and Florida (7.7%) follow close behind.

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Florida football coach to visit blue-chip 2025 quarterback recruit

Russ Calloway will hit the road to check up on this 4-star QB recruit.

Billy Napier and Co. have been busy hosting top prep prospects from around the country over the past several weeks but the efforts of Florida football’s recruiting staff have not been limited to the Gainesville city limits.

Among the many young student-athletes the Gators have their eyes on is four-star quarterback [autotag]Ryan Montgomery[/autotag] out of Findlay (Ohio) in the 2025 cycle, who is expected to receive a visit from tight ends coach [autotag]Russ Callaway[/autotag], according to Swamp247. No specific date has been set yet, however.

This visit is intended to follow up on Montgomery’s campus visit on April 6 which concluded his spring itinerary, which also included the Clemson Tigers, South Carolina Gamecocks and Georgia Bulldogs. The 6-foot-3-inch, 210-pound passer came away quite impressed with how the program is coming together under Napier’s leadership with an assist to quarterbacks analyst [autotag]Ryan O’Hara[/autotag].

“It was great,” he told 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong. “Was my first time there and I really liked it. Pretty surprised how nice it was. First of all, Coach (Ryan) O’Hara who has been my main recruiter there who works with the quarterbacks has done a phenomenal job with me. I’ve done three Zoom calls with him already going over their offensive scheme and watching practice and game film of their game last year. They’re definitely people I will be comfortable with in terms of development. I think Coach Napier and Coach O’Hara are definitely two guys that can develop me and get me to the next level.”

All four schools he visited this spring have extended scholarship offers, as well as the Colorado Buffaloes, Kentucky Wildcats, Miami Hurricanes, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, North Carolina Tar Heels, South Carolina Gamecocks, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas A&M Aggies and Ohio State Buckeyes.

Montgomery is ranked No. 187 overall and No. 13 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 162 and 11, respectively. Ohio State owns one crystal ball prediction from 247Sports and also holds the upper hand in On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine with a 26.1% chance of signing him. Michigan, Kentucky and Penn State follow behind at 17.8%, 8.8% and 7.4%, respectively.

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Heralded 2025 quarterback prospect high on Gators after recent offer

A 2025 QB prospect recently received an offer from the Florida Gators, sending them towards the top of the rising sophomore’s recruiting list.

Tavien St. Clair, a 6-foot-3-inch, 190-pound quarterback prospect out of Bellefontaine, Ohio, recently took a visit to Gainesville where he attended the Gators’ annual Friday Night Lights event. He walked out of town with an offer from the Florida Gators.

The rising sophomore has been garnering quite a bit of attention so far. In addition to Florida, St. Clair holds offers from the Tennessee Volunteers, Louisville Cardinals, Pittsburgh Panthers, Iowa State Cyclones, Toledo Rockets and Central Michigan Chippewas.

His offer from the Gators came after a camp session where St. Clair was able to get one-on-one work with head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and offensive analyst [autotag]Ryan O’Hara[/autotag], both of whom worked hands-on with Florida’s quarterback room.

St. Clair recently told Gators Online that Florida’s rich tradition, including its three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks combined with the track record and energy that Napier and his staff have brought in, are playing a big part in why the Gators are nearing the top of his list.

A highly-regarded 2025 prospect, St. Clair intends to make the rounds this season to get a better idea of what he is looking for in a program. He will be attending multiple games this season including being on campus at Ohio State, Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Tennessee.

Florida is intent on making its way onto St. Clair’s itinerary. If the Gators are going to make noise in recruiting, they need to continue to make an early impact on players of St. Clair’s quality in the future.

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Gators getting familiar with this QB in the class of 2025

After two stops by the Swamp in two months, quarterback Tramell Jones is looking to further his relationship with the Florida Gators.

The Florida Gators got a good look at quarterback [autotag]Tramell Jones[/autotag], a member of the class of 2025, at the team’s Friday Night Lights camp, according to Gators Online.

Jones first stopped by Gainesville in June and picked up an offer, but this was another chance for him to get on campus and with the coaching staff. It’s still very early in the recruiting process for him, but Jones already has offers from Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland and Pittsburgh. Ohio State, Miami and USC are also showing interest.

Head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and offensive analyst [autotag]Ryan O’Hara[/autotag] spent plenty of time with him and made it clear that he was a priority target.

“That was the first time I’ve ever been on the field at The Swamp before, and it’s just amazing,” Jones said. “Plus, coach Napier is just a great guy outside of football and a great human being.”

Jones appears more than willing to help build that bridge with the Florida staff. He has a high interest in attending UF and is hoping to get back on campus for another visit; however, he doesn’t have any dates planned just yet.

The On3 consensus does not yet have rankings for the class of 2025, but he threw for 1,253 yards as a freshman with a 14:5 touchdown to interception ratio. He completed just over half of his 160 attempts and should build on that performance this season.

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Billy Napier prioritized this 2024 5-star QB recruit last weekend

The Gators made a big impression on one of the best of the next crop of recruits.

The biggest weekend of [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s tenure to date has come and gone. Recruits from the 2023, 2024 and 2025 classes spent the past few days in Gainesville, with most participating in the Gators’ annual Friday Night Lights recruiting event and Saturday’s cookout event organized by the Florida staff.

One player who received a significant amount of attention was 2024 5-star quarterback DJ Lagway. The Houston area native was given extra special attention, as 247Sports reported that Lagway had several staffers with him at all times, with head coach Napier and offensive analyst/quarterbacks coach [autotag]Ryan O’Hara[/autotag] making an effort to spend time with the No.3 passer in the 2024 class — even going so far to say that he reminds them of current Gators’ current starter [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag].

This was Lagway’s second visit to Gainesville, and the fact that he spent the entire weekend getting to know the environment that Napier and his staff are creating was a big deal. Another thing that plays well in the Orange and Blue’s favor is how strong of a baseball program the Gators field. Lagway has previously expressed his desire to play both football and baseball collegiately, and head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] believes Lagway can be someone who can help Florida on the diamond.

If Florida fans expect to be cheering Lagway in the fall, spring & summer, they’ll have to hope both Napier and Sully fight other top-tier programs for the 6-foot-2, 225-pound right-hander. Lagway currently holds offers from programs such Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and many more.

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4 Florida football staffers land on On3’s list of ‘rising stars’

By all accounts, the Gators have a slam-dunk coaching staff on and off the field.

Monday morning, On3 revealed their list of 65 “rising stars” across all the support staffs in college football. They included four staffers from Billy Napier’s off-field army: offensive analysts [autotag]Russ Calloway[/autotag] and [autotag]Benedick Hyppolite[/autotag], linebackers assistant [autotag]Jamar Chaney[/autotag] and quarterbacks assistant [autotag]Ryan O’Hara[/autotag].

Calloway was brought in by Florida alongside offensive coordinator [autotag]Rob Sale[/autotag] after both were let go by the New York Giants during their coaching purge. Before going to NFL, he was instrumental in Samford’s surge to the top of the FCS passing leaderboard.

Hyppolite has deep roots in the state of Florida. He spent the past two seasons assisting with the wide receivers at Miami, and before that, spent several seasons as a high school coach in South Florida. He’s assigned to the running backs and his connections in-state are valuable for a staff whose key recruiters largely have ties in the bayou.

It’s tough to tell from the outside looking in, but if I had to guess, Chaney would be who I’d point to as Florida’s most trusted off-field staffer. He’s a rare holdover from the previous administration, but never lost the trust of the boys on the team. He’s often assigned to run point on initial contacts with defensive recruits and his name is routinely put next to Mike Peterson’s and Sean Spencer’s in recruiting rumor roundups.

Finally, O’Hara was the Ragin’ Cajuns’ quarterbacks coach under Napier before joining him in Florida under the same role. Technically, Napier was and is listed as the quarterbacks coach, a role consolidation that allowed him to hire two full time offensive line coaches. However, it’s really O’Hara who takes the bulk of those responsibilities, helping Levi Levis become the best quarterback in Cajuns’ history.

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Gators standing out for recently offered 2025 quarterback

After picking up an offer from the Gators in mid-June, 2025 QB Davi Belfort has the Gators high on his list.

Florida football entered the mix for 2025 quarterback recruit [autotag]Davi Belfort[/autotag], the son of MMA legend Vitor Belfort, by extending an offer on June 13, and that early attention seems to be paying off.

247Sports’ Jacob Rudner spoke with the Fort Lauderdale quarterback about his recent trip to Gainesville and gained some more insight on the visit. Belfort arrived on a Sunday night with his dad and a friend. He participated the UF camp on Monday and picked up the offer after hitting it off with [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and quarterbacks analyst [autotag]Ryan O’Hara[/autotag].

Napier invited the entire family back to see the school later in the month, and Belfort left with a favorable opinion of Florida, to say the least.

“They definitely are very high on the board,” Belfort said to Swamp247. “Between how they treated me, working with the coaches, I thought it was just really cool. Even though I have tons of time and a lot of things can change, they’re definitely very high on my list.”

A rising sophomore, there’s no rush at all for Belfort to make a decision. A top 10 list within the next year might even be mature, but it’s okay to have favorites — especially when Florida has made it clear that he’s a priority by making him the first quarterback offer in the class.

Napier’s influence is strong here, but that fits with the way he coaches. Quarterbacks are his to mold, and Belfort likes the idea of having the man in charge coaching him up at all times.

“That’s one thing I thought was really special,” Belfort said. “He’s the head coach but he’s also the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator and I thought that was really cool. I’ve never gotten that before and I love it. He would be there all the time to talk to me and coach me up.

An unforgettable trip to be sure, this is just the first chapter in the relationship. Half of the Southeastern Conference is already in pursuit, and dozens of programs will be after him in the coming years. A strong start could go a long way with this one.

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Gators hosting top-10 QB Jaden Rashada on three-day official visit

Florida has been a late riser in California quarterback Jaden Rashada’s recruitment, and he’s now on campus for a three-day official visit.

Florida is set to host Pittsburg, California, quarterback [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag] on a three-day, midweek official visit this week. He’ll arrive on Wednesday, June 7, and depart on Friday, June 9, according to 247Sports.

Rashada named Florida one of his top seven schools on May 17 along with Cal, LSU, Miami, Ole Miss, Oregon and Texas A&M. After talking with head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and offensive analyst [autotag]Ryan O’Hara[/autotag] enough, he became keen on Florida’s potential to prepare him for the next level. A decision date of June 18 is set, so UF is getting hot at the perfect time.

“I was really impressed with everything they had to offer and really enjoyed getting to know coach Napier and O’Hara,” Rashada said to 247Sports after his most recent visit in May. “They’re good guys and very smart when it comes to the quarterback position. For me, [quarterback] development is a big part of my decision and I think that’s a strength with those guys and why I have so much interest right now.”

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Harlen Rashada, Jaden’s father, said that having a head coach who coaches the position rather than a coordinator or position coach makes all the difference for his son. Napier’s unique style could be what lands him a top-10 quarterback in the class after seemingly missing out on most of the big names early on.

247Sports individually ranks Rashada No. 29 overall in the class and No. 5 among quarterbacks. The composite rankings have him at No. 53 and No. 7, respectively.

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Florida football set to host this 2024 five-star QB

Coach Napier is getting an early jump on one of the top quarterbacks in the class of 2024.

Billy Napier and his recruiting staff will get their first chance to meet with California five-star quarterback [autotag]Julian Sayin[/autotag] on April 20, according to a report from 247Sports.

Despite only being a sophomore, the blue-chip signal-caller has plenty of visits lined up for the spring. He’ll be in Texas the day before he tours UF and will head to Penn State after leaving the Swamp. Florida’s interest in the Carlsbad High product began under [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag]’s staff, but Napier’s crew has kept in contact with him since taking over.

Sayin’s main connection at Florida has been offensive analyst [autotag]Ryan O’Hara[/autotag] but he hasn’t spoken with anyone on the new staff just yet. Once those introductions are made, it shouldn’t take long for UF to reoffer him.

Georgia, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas A&M and USC are a few of the other schools currently pursuing Sayin, and the list should only grow over the next two years. Florida recently lost out on 2023 quarterbacks [autotag]Chris Vizzina[/autotag] and [autotag]Marcus Stokes[/autotag], leaving the team in a tough spot at the position, so it’s good to see Napier jump on the next class early.

The 247Sports composite ranks Sayin No. 7 overall in the class of 2024 and No. 2 among quarterbacks.

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