Edge defender Jayden Woods is one of the leaders of Florida's defense heading into 2026. He spoke to reporters after Florida's pre-fall camp press conference and shared his thoughts before the season.
Woods focused on the team's mental approach, shutting out any outside noise and starting with a blank slate after a disappointing 2025. He shared how his father has helped him approach his college career, from recruiting to the transfer portal to an everyday mindset.
Although Woods doesn't care much for social media during the season, he did see that he was named to the preseason All-SEC Third Team. The goal is for him to finish the year as a first-teamer.
Here's everything Woods said.
How has your father helped shape your mindset?
Messages and all that, I still go back to. He helped me a lot last
fall camp, too, just with mindset. His mindset for me is always just to go out there and attack every day and don’t let the day come to you. So my dad is a huge pivotal—
Was your father a defensive lineman?
He was a running back. He was a small guy.
How did you get so big?
Yeah, my family has been asking that ever since I was born because I was the tallest in my family since I was 10, 11 years old.
What did they feed you in Shawnee?
A lot of everything. A lot of everything.
Do you talk about the SEC opener at Auburn and what that game means?
Yeah, it’s important to widen your view of your goal, see the big picture. But it’s important to zoom in on what you could do that day. So I’d say we definitely zoom out and look farther into the future, but most of the time, we look at what we can do that day or the next day.
How have you seen the team buy into Jon Sumrall’s energy and new culture?
Yeah, it was kind of just automatic. Nobody really had to try. He’s just a really lovable guy. Anybody on this roster would go to war for him right now.
Did you see Jon Sumrall’s comments about getting a pedicure, and would you get one?
I did see that. Me personally, I’ve never had one, so I don’t know. I’ve never had the experience.
Would you be open to getting one?
I wouldn’t go by myself, I’ll say that. But if I had a girlfriend, I would go for it. He’s going with his wife, so yeah, it makes sense.
When you look back at last season’s four wins, what was the level of embarrassment?
Yeah, honestly, it is embarrassing, especially with the logo that we play for. That’s not the standard here. So it’s a big chip on our shoulder going into the season.
Do you talk about being a better team last year than your record reflected?
Definitely. Last year, we emphasized it’s not the same team as this year. It’s a new team. Even if we had an undefeated season last season, it’d be the same thing. It’s a new season, new people, new players. So really just focusing on, like I said, one day at a time.
Did your father try to push Kansas State or staying in-state during your recruitment?
No, my dad stayed unbiased. I was never really a fan of K-State growing up anyways. But yeah, we had talked about it. It would’ve been cool to play there, but it just wasn’t for me.
Did your father give you guidance during the transfer process?
Yeah, my dad.
Do you plan to share that advice with other players about the grass not always being greener?
Yeah, I would just say every situation is unique and different, especially in today’s college football world. You can always give advice and stuff, but you never know truly what someone is going through or their path or something like that.
Do you care about outside expectations or where the media predicts Florida will finish?
Not at all. I don’t have Twitter. I’m about to get rid of Instagram and TikTok and all that for fall camp, so I’m really about to be blocked out of everything. But yeah, before now, not really.
Did you know that you were named preseason third-team All-SEC?
I did see that. Yeah. Yeah, it’s cool to see, for sure. But it says preseason, so I’m not too bought into just third team.
Does being named third team motivate you?
I can’t even try to lie. It does fuel me a lot. I want to have first team by the end of the season.
Who is the funniest player on the team?
For me personally, Myles Graham, because he has the ability to switch it on and off. Every time I see him, I’ll probably laugh, even though he’s 100% dead serious.
Then No. 1 for me, I would say Kam James. He’s the funniest player on the team for me.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: EDGE Jayden Woods talks defensive mindset heading into fall camp
