Christmas Eve. Chick-fil-A. And the weight of a buzzing cell phone. That’s what it took to keep Jadan Baugh in a Florida Gators uniform.

When the transfer portal frenzy hit Gainesville like a hurricane, the Gators’ star running back found himself at the center of a recruiting storm. Thirty-eight carries in a season-ending win over Florida State? No problem. He rumbled for 266 yards and two scores like it was just another day at the office. But carrying his phone around while every coach in America tried to get his attention? That burden got heavy fast.

“Honestly, I didn’t too much notice,” Baugh said of his workload against the Seminoles. But the nonstop calls and texts from suitors across the SEC, ACC, and Big Ten? Those were impossible to ignore.

Florida’s December was a whirlwind. After a very public pursuit of Lane Kiffin, the Gators hired Jon Sumrall to replace Billy Napier. One of Sumrall’s first missions: keep the roster intact. And at the top of that list stood Baugh—a 6-foot-1, 231-pound bruiser from Atlanta who had just bulldozed his way to a 1,170-yard, eight-touchdown season. The kind of back who makes an offense go.

“Oh, my goodness, it was something else,” said Corey Bryant, Baugh’s father. “Me and Napier were friends. I played against him in high school. When he got fired, it was like, ‘Well, what do we do from here?’”

What followed was a nonstop barrage. Bryant handled his son’s recruitment himself, and his phone rang from eight in the morning to nine at night. Every day. Every coach in the SEC called. So did the ACC. Half the Big Ten, too.

But Baugh? He just wanted time. He’s never been a phone guy. In December, ahead of the transfer portal window, he did everything to get away from the noise. He lifted. He practiced. He fished. Texting? Not his thing—not even for Sumrall. Multiple program sources described Baugh as incredibly difficult to reach that month.

“When I put my phone down, I feel like I’m at my best,” Baugh said.

So Florida’s new coaching staff went to drastic lengths to connect with him. That meant a Christmas Eve visit to Baugh’s grandmother’s house. Sumrall—just days after his father’s death—brought his family along, joined by offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and running backs coach Chris Foster. They showed up early in the morning. The meeting was held at Bryant’s mom’s place because his own floors were being redone. And what did they bring? The most Georgia meal possible: Chick-fil-A.

It wasn’t just the food that sealed it. It was the effort. The willingness to show up on a holiday, to sit with family, to prove that Florida wasn’t just another program looking for a running back—they were a program looking for a commitment. And in a world where the transfer portal never sleeps, sometimes the best recruiting move is putting down the phone and showing up at the door.