{"id":215529,"date":"2026-04-02T03:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T03:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/215529\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T03:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T03:51:13","slug":"gators-jadan-baugh-is-tough-to-tackle-and-harder-to-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/215529\/","title":{"rendered":"Gators’ Jadan Baugh is tough to tackle, and harder to call"},"content":{"rendered":"

GAINESVILLE \u2014 Florida Gators tailback Jadan Baugh<\/a> zigs when others zag \u2014 whether it\u2019s with a football or an iPhone.<\/p>\n

Baugh is cut from a different mold, both as a star player and a college student. He\u2019s elusive for would-be tacklers \u2014 and for anyone else trying to contact him.<\/p>\n

The 20 year old is fully committed to football, but largely unattached to his mobile device.<\/p>\n

Leaving the Heavener Football Center<\/a> on Wednesday, Baugh sauntered several hundred yards to his car without a phone in his hands \u2014 a rare sight among his fellow students on the UF campus. Walking a few steps ahead on a picture-perfect Gainesville afternoon, defensive lineman Emmauel Oyebadejo scrolled as he strolled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been like that all my life,\u201d Baugh said. \u201cMy dad \u2014 they even had a problem with me not answering the phone because I\u2019m more focused on what\u2019s going on and where my feet are at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baugh\u2019s unique approach caused frustration during the offseason for incoming coach Jon Sumrall. Re-signing the Gators\u2019 1,000-yard rusher was a top priority for the new staff, but getting in touch with Baugh proved challenging as both Florida and Texas pursued him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love this about him: He\u2019s not one of those guys that\u2019s just got his phone glued to his hand,\u201d Sumrall said Tuesday. \u201cIn this day and age, you feel like everybody walks around with their phone constantly in their hand all the time. It\u2019s like, if it leaves their hand, they\u2019re gonna have some major life issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great thing about Jadan is that he doesn\u2019t walk around with his phone glued to his hand. The bad part is when you are trying to get him to stay on the football team, you sometimes are like, \u2018Hey, will you pick up the dagum phone?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Sumrall soon realized Baugh wasn\u2019t ghosting the Gators.<\/p>\n

On Christmas Eve, Florida\u2019s new coach \u2014 along with his wife, four children, mother-in-law and her dog \u2014 broke bread with the Baughs in their Atlanta home, laying the groundwork for his return.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me being new, those visits while they were maybe a little bit anxiety-filled, because you don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen on the other side,\u201d Sumrall recalled recently. \u201cI really felt fortunate to be able to go sit in their houses. Because a lot of these guys I didn\u2019t recruit out of high school.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Baugh had options, his heart never wavered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew where home is. I knew where I wanted to be,\u201d he realled. \u201cFlorida is definitely the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sumrall\u2019s visit \u2014 just days after his father died \u2014 sealed the deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor him to bring his family to come see me and to say that his dad wanted to be here, that means the most to me,\u201d Baugh said. \u201cThat shows that you really, really care about your job. You really, really care about what\u2019s going on with your players that you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FloridaFlorida tailback Jadan Baugh and the Gators finished with just 74 rushing yards during the Gators’ 34-17 loss to the No. 5 Aggies Oct. 11, 2025 at Kyle Field. (Photo by Scott Wachter\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Baugh is a coach\u2019s dream and a complete package at his position.<\/p>\n

New offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner compared Baugh with San Franscisco 49ers All-Pro Christian McCaffrey, who totaled 2,126 yards from scrimmage in 2025.<\/p>\n

Baugh developed his versatility playing safety, outside linebacker, running back, quarterback, receiver and returner at Decatur Columbia, a small 2A school east of Atlanta.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 6 foot 1, 225 pounds, he can run between the tackles, turn the corner, make tacklers miss and catch the ball in space. The Gators\u2019 strongest player pound-for-pound, Baugh is also committed to mastering the details of the offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cJadan has a great feel for the game \u2014 not just from the back field,\u201d Faulkner said. \u201cHe\u2019s got great hands. Really good route runner. We want to be able to take his game to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last season, he became the first Gator to rush for 1,000 yards during the regular season since DeLand\u2019s Mike Gillislee<\/a> (1,152) in 2012. Baugh tallied 10 touchdowns, including two receiving on 33 catches.<\/p>\n

He closed 2025 with a record-setting performance in Florida\u2019s 40-21 rout of Florida State<\/a>, rushing for 266 yards on 38 carries. Despite the historic outing, the team\u2019s 4-8 finish didn\u2019t sit well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat whole season I was more focused on team success,\u201d he said. \u201cI was never just focused on what I could do. \u2026\u00a0It gives me a lot of drive.\u201d<\/p>\n

As motivated as Baugh is, he\u2019s embraced being pushed during spring practice.<\/p>\n

The no-nonsense Sumrall doesn\u2019t play favorites.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it,\u201d Baugh said. \u201cOn the field, coach Sumrall is 24\/7 on our heads. Even coach Buster\u2019s like if I\u2019m not running with the ball (to) chin, they\u2019re on my butt every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing around coach Sumrall in these few months, he\u2019s made me better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

One lingering issue remains \u2014 and it\u2019s one Sumrall has learned to live with. When Baugh isn\u2019t on the field or at the facility, he\u2019s just as slippery as with the ball in his hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey tell me all the time I gotta work on communication,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s more of me just focusing in on myself and getting better every day. I tell the guys in my room every day, improvement is our best friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel if I could improve every day that is something that is a distraction to me \u2014 my phone \u2014 I keep that away from myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GAINESVILLE \u2014 Florida Gators tailback Jadan Baugh zigs when others zag \u2014 whether it\u2019s with a football or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[2530,9625,232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-215529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-florida-gators","9":"tag-jadan-baugh","10":"tag-tallahassee","11":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","12":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}