Four days after rescinding his pledge from Florida State, four-star quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. told ESPN on Sunday that he had committed to Florida, entering the Gators’ 2025 class.
Jones has been a four-year starter at Mandarin High School in Florida and is ranked as the ninth dual-threat passer in the Class of 2025 by ESPN. throughout the program’s 27-16 victory over LSU on Saturday, Jones made his official campus comeback after making several trips to Florida throughout his recruiting. In a class of five 2025 Florida promises from the ESPN 300, Jones is the only quarterback pledge one day later.
“I pretty much saw everything I needed to see when I visited last spring — I just love everything around the campus,” Jones stated to ESPN. “And then hanging out with the guys yesterday, seeing the camaraderie with each other, that really just sealed it for me.”
Prior to his decommitment from the Seminoles on Thursday morning, Jones was the Florida State player with the longest duration in Mike Norvell’s 2025 class.
Days before to Jones’ departure, on November 10, Norvell announced the dismissal of three assistant coaches, including Alex Atkins, the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Jones joined five ESPN 300 recruits who had left Norvell’s recruiting class during the program’s 1-9 start, making him the first Florida State commit to renounce his commitment following the coaching shuffle.
However, this was the Seminoles’ sixth decommitment since the regular season began.
Jones’ pledge comes after Billy Napier’s significant late-season triumph on Saturday. It’s the Gators’ first recruiting success since athletic director Scott Strickland declared on November 7 that Florida would continue to use the third-year coach past the 2024 campaign.
As the Gators started November with the No. 39 class in ESPN’s most recent team rankings for the cycle, Florida’s recruiting attempts in the 2025 class had been hindered by uncertainty about Napier’s future. A day after the Gators hosted a few high-profile flip prospects, such as four-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench (Texas promise) and five-star offensive tackle Solomon Thomas (Florida State pledge), Jones’ pledge is encouraging for Florida.
Four-star wide receivers Vernell Brown III (ranked No. 44 in the ESPN 300) and Naeshaun Montgomery (ranked No. 115), along with four-star running back Waltez Clark (ranked No. 223), will be on either side of Jones when he joins with Florida. In addition, Florida plans to sign two in-state defensive end prospects from the 2025 ESPN 300: four-star cornerback Ben Hanks Jr. (No. 121) and defensive end Jalen Wiggins (No. 68).
Jones’ commitment gives Florida another boost in the recruiting process as the Gators look to wrap up the 2025 cycle strongly next month. More recently, Florida will host Ole Miss, ranked eleventh, on Saturday.
