After recording 20 sacks as a group in 2024, Florida’s talented edge rushers and Coach Mike Peterson are confident that they can live up to the expectations in 2025 despite losing three key players to the transfer portal this offseason. With Tyreak Sapp returning for his final season, the Gators look to be in good shape in 2025 with talented youth scattered throughout the defensive line and off the edge.
“First of all, they’re a tight-knit group. Really hang out together. Watch film together. Summertime, they were training together. I feel really good about my group. We talk a lot about being the best in the country,” Coach Peterson said. “I ain’t afraid to say that. We want to be the best EDGE room in the country. I want to be the best EDGE coach in the country. So, it ain’t no pressure. It’s just kind of how we feel and how, and that’s kind of how we’re practicing. That’s how we’re approaching everything. You want to be the best, let’s go do what the best need to do.”
Getting Tyreak Sapp back for one last season doesn’t just do a lot in terms of depth and production, but his passion is something that the entire defensive line feeds off of and will continue to feed off of in 2025.
“He’s the first guy I put in my suitcase when I’m traveling. That kind of how I feel about it. I pack him first,” Peterson said on Sapp. “Played with a whole lot of passion, man. As a coach, if you were a coach and you played that way, I played with a lot of passion, a lot of energy. You know, wanting to get everybody farther, and to see my players playing that way, we kind of feed off each other. I think his growth is learning the game. He’s communicating with the young guys. Not just knowing what you do. Knowing what the guy on the other side’s doing. What all the other guys on the field are doing. What opponent’s trying to do to us. So, taking the game to the next level is kind of the conversations I’ve been having with him and being a pro. It’s time to be a pro. It’s time to approach everything as a pro. He’s taking it right with him. I’m proud of him, and I’m expecting a lot from him.”
After having an impressive first year as a Gator recording 35 tackles (20 solo), five sacks, two passes defended and a fumble recovery, George Gumbs could very well be on his way to a breakout season once the fall rolls around.
“He’s like a sponge. That’s what I like. Everything I tell him, he’s soaking it in,” Peterson said on Gumbs. “I see him go out and try to work on it. He did that last year, and he had some success, and his eyes got really big like ‘I can play this position. I can do this.’ You know? He’s grown up a lot as far as the leadership role. When he got here, he wasn’t really a big vocal guy. He was kind of ‘I’m just going to work,’ and the players, they kind of noticed that, and he got a lot of respect from those players. Got a lot of respect from the coaches and everyone in this building just off the way he worked. I’m excited about Gumbs.”
One freshman who has quickly turned heads in spring practice is Jayden Woods out of Mill Valley High School in Kansas. The film speaks for itself, and Coach Peterson immediately knew Woods was a player the Gators needed on the defensive line and off the edge.
“Jayden Woods, man. I’m not surprised, from watching his high school tape, I’m seeing the same thing I saw on the film, I’m seeing the same guy that I met when I went to his high school. I don’t want to say shy, but real quiet. A locked in demeanor,” Peterson said on Woods. “Every word I say, he’s listening to it, kinda taking it in, but also kinda, I don’t want to say judging me, but seeing if it’s real. He’s been great, man. Quiet guy, but he can play, man, heavy handed, can really rush the passer, great kid. He is one of those kids when you are recruiting him where you are excited to talk to him on the phone, so great kid, I am excited about him.”
In 2024, the Gators’ edge rushers finished with 241 total tackles and 20 sacks. 100 of those tackles were recorded by three players who have now transferred out of the program. With Tyreak Sapp being the only veteran senior in the group, it will be up to the young guys for the Gators in 2025.
“Don’t get me wrong, we still got a lot of work to do,” Peterson said on Florida’s edge unit. “We’re a long ways away from being great. From what I got, I feel real good about, and they’ve attacked it. In the summer time, from the young guys to the old guys.”