Florida Football: Princely Umanmielen is off to the transfer portal

Florida football had a handful of players hit the transfer portal during its first official day it was open, but the Gators were able to retain all of their projected starters for 2024.

Those projections took a hit on Wednesday as defensive end Princely Umanmielen announced he would return to play college football in 2024, just not with the Florida Gators.

Florida Football: Goodnight sweet prince

Umanmielen was a top 300 prospect in the class of 2020 who signed with the Gators out of Manor, TX.

He saw minimal action during the 2020 campaign and began to rotate in the lineup during the 2021 season.

It wasn’t until last season that Umanmielen saw full-time snaps, and his workload was increased after Florida football dismissed Brenton Cox from the team. Umanmielen finished 2022 with 39 tackles and 4.5 sacks.

He had increased attention and pressure put on him this year, especially once Justus Boone went down with a season-ending injury during Fall Camp. Umanmielen again racked up 39 tackles with seven sacks during the 2023 season.

He was constantly in the opponent’s backfields and was named to the All-SEC Team.

The belief was that Umanmielen would go pro after this season. He is seen as a Day 2 prospect in the NFL Draft if he were to enter his name into the 2024 draft.

So the fact that Umanmielen won’t be with the Gators in 2024 isn’t a huge surprise, but the fact that it is because he is hitting the transfer portal and not because he is entering the NFL Draft is a disappointment to Billy Napier and his staff.

In a post on X, Umanmielen he made sure to thank Napier and former head coach Dan Mullen. He ended his post by saying:

"“We all must do what is best for us and I think this is what is best for me at the time. Thank you, Gator Nation. #Gator4L.”"