College Sports

Florida Gators Beat Out Georgia for Four-Star Safety

By Cam Parker Sports Illustrated

The Florida Gators on Tuesday won a recruiting battle over rival Georgia, beating out the Bulldogs and Oregon for Tulsa (Okla.) Jenks four-star safety Kailib Dillard.

Dillard (6-2, 185 pounds) is rated as the No. 24 safety and No. 243 overall recruit in the 2027 class, according to Rivals. He previously received a prediction from On3/Rivals' Corey Bender last week to choose the Gators.

Dillard announced his decision on the Rivals YouTube Channel.

"What Coach (Jon) Sumrall's doing over there, bringing the winning he had from Tulane with them being in the playoff in the Group of Five. Him bringing it over to Florida, SEC program, got a lot more resources to go out and do what they do," Dillard said. "I know they can win it in the SEC, and then just the scheme fit with me. Being able to put me all over the field from up high to down low. Just using my versatility to its maximum."

Dillard is the third defensive back of the class but the first safety commit for position coach Chris Collins, who offered Dillard on Jan. 23. He then visited Florida on March 7 and is set to return to campus for an official visit on June 11.

Since that first visit, Florida has seemingly had the momentum, which carried over to when he announced his top three of Florida, Oregon and Georgia on April 23. Dillard said he decided on Florida during his visit on March 5.

"They definitely showed me a lot of love and what I wanted as a person. That's what made the biggest decision for me," Dillard said.

Dillard is also the latest in what is shaping up to be a string of commitments for Florida in May, after the Gators landed seven in April. He is the second commit this month after Roanoke (Va.) North Cross School four-star tackle Elijah Hutcheson also committed on Tuesday, giving the Gators 12 total commits in the class.

Additionally, Coral Gables (Fla.) three-star defensive lineman Stive-Bentley Keumajou Yondui, who holds multiple predictions to choose Florida, is set to announce his commitment on Wednesday, while Bogard (Ga.) Prince Avenue four-star running back Andrew Beard will announce his decision on Friday. Florida holds a prediction from 247 Sports' Tyler Harden, while Clemson also holds a prediction from 247 Sports' Austin Hannon, making it a 50-50 battle between the Gators and the Tigers.

The Gators have predictions from various outlets to land four-star receiver Amare Patterson, four-star receiver Elias Pearl, four-star edge rusher Frederick Ards III, four-star defensive lineman Tyler Alexander and three-star corner Kamauri Whitfield.

After this year's spring game, first-year head coach Jon Sumrall briefly detailed his program's recent recruiting momentum, highlighting the university's academic prestige, the weather in Gainesville, the history and pageantry of the football program and "authentic relationships."

"We can get anybody to come visit the University of Florida if we want in America if we do a good job. This is not a really hard place to recruit to," he said. "... I think the guys that come here to visit, most of them come back at some point whether they've chosen us or not, they feel the energy's real."

Florida Gators 2027 Recruiting Class

Florida Gators on SI is tracking all of Florida's moves in the 2027 recruiting class in our official tracker. Florida's 2027 recruiting class is ranked as high as sixth in the country, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/florida as Florida Gators Beat Out Georgia for Four-Star Safety.

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This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 3:12 PM.

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