Shemar James was part of Billy Napier’s first recruiting class at Florida, and he’s part of a group of upperclassmen looking to get the program back to respectability in 2024.

The Gators have suffered through three straight losing seasons, including a 5-7 mark that kept them home from the bowl season in 2023. James played in just eight games a year ago, missing the entire month of November due to a knee injury that required surgery.

The Mobile native and former Faith Academy star still managed 55 tackles, second on the team behind safety Jordan Castell’s 60. With quarterback Graham Mertz and running back Montrell Johnson, James was among three players representing the Gators at SEC Media Days in Dallas on Wednesday.

“I’ve been staying close with the team,” James said. “You know, injuries can draw some guys away from the team, and I believe some guys consume themselves too much with football. That’s what they become. I would stay just staying around the team, encouraging the guys each and every week, each and every opponent we may have. I would say that.”

Said Napier, “It’s a big deal to have him back.”

James was a four-star recruit and Top 100 national prospect in Florida’s 2022 signing class, continuing a Mobile-to-Gainesville pipeline that has also included running back La’Mical Perine of Theodore and wide receiver Kadarius Toney of Blount in recent years. He’s arguably the most-decorated football player in the history of Faith Academy, the first in program history to sign with an SEC school.

James helped coach Jack French’s Rams to playoff berths every year of his high school career, though his senior season was marred by injury. Nevertheless, James looks back fondly on those carefree days.

“I miss it, life was simple,” James said. “You get to go to high school, practice, come back home to your mom. (Mobile) will always be home to me. Faith Academy, Coach French. I miss it a lot.”

James was a Freshman All-SEC performer at Florida in 2022, playing in 13 games, starting four and finishing with 47 tackles. He was on his to another outstanding season before he dislocated his kneecap in a loss to Georgia on Oct. 28.

That defeat dropped the Gators to 5-3, and they did not win again the remainder of the season. He’s now recovered, however, and is being counted on to be one of Florida’s defensive leaders this fall.

And he doesn’t resist an opportunity to crow about all the great players who have come out of his hometown.

“I’ve just been getting stronger, becoming a better leader, better communicator on the field and just becoming a better overall linebacker,” James said. “… As far as improvement over the years, I would say I improved in my vocal skills, my leadership. And as a football player I would say my tackling, I would say.

“And the thing … about taking pride in (area code) 251, in Mobile, Alabama, I come in the locker room every day and talk crap about it, saying we’re the best city, the best state in the country. So yeah, that’s the answer to that.”