Aaron Gates’ status for the 2025 season was in question after he suffered a torn ACL in the Gators’ 24-17 win over Ole Miss on November 23rd of last year. Eight months post-surgery, Gates was back on the field as a full participant in Florida’s fall camp practice on Saturday.
While the recovery time in itself is remarkable, the 6’1, 198-pound defensive back wasn’t even wearing a knee brace and didn’t show any sign of limitations throughout the media viewing period.
“First of all, I think the kid has applied the attitude, the effort, the self discipline. He had an ACL his senior year, so he’s been through it before, so I think that gave him a little bit of an advantage,” head coach Billy Napier said on Gates’ recovery. “We got good people downstairs in the training room, in the rehab area. And then Gates is just a machine. Just a quiet, steady, relentless worker, and he loves football and wants to be back.”
Napier did note that they plan on monitoring Gates’ volume very closely throughout fall camp.
“There will be a day or two where we’ll pull him,” Napier said. “But, yeah, he’s had an incredible road back. I think he’s been a really good example to everybody of how you attack the rehab process. And looks great.”
There was a time last year you could have made the argument for Gates being the most impactful defensive player on the team, which is high praise considering he spent the majority of his true freshman campaign working his way back from his first ACL injury suffered in high school.
Across 10 games last season, Gates totaled 27 tackles, four tackles for loss, one interception, four pass deflections, and two fumble recoveries. Gates’ best performance came against Georgia, where he logged his first career interception and held the Bulldogs to just one catch for three yards on three targets. While there were inconsistencies at times, Gates seemed to come up with a big play when it mattered most, whether that was in the run or pass game.
“He’s one of the best football players we have,” Napier said on Gates. “I’m not sure he couldn’t play all five positions. Right now he’s playing weak safety and Star. He could play corner if we needed him to. He was a corner year one, played corner in high school. He was a heck of a receiver, kick returner, pump returner, and just has good character. His parents are awesome people. One of my favorite home visits ever, just sitting and listening to them. He’s made of the right stuff.”
One of Florida’s main areas of focus throughout fall camp is building depth in the secondary, an area Gates can certainly help given his versatile background. Gates is expected to battle Sharif Denson and Josiah Davis for snaps at STAR but could see time at corner or safety if the opportunity presents itself.