Florida has been far more active this transfer portal cycle than they were in 2025 and made another addition out of the transfer portal on Thursday and once again looked towards Baylor to poach another player. This time, Jon Sumrall and crew grabbed nose tackle Samu Taumanupepe.
Taumanupepe will be an intriguing addition who has size but hasn’t seen much playing time in this college career.
Gators add Samu Taumanupepe out of the transfer portal
Taumanupepe is listed at 6’3” and 376 pounds. But despite his size, he has played sparingly in his college career. He started at Texas A&M as a lower-tier three-star prospect and played just 22 snaps for the Aggies before he transferred to Baylor this past season.
In 2025, Taumanupepe played just 27 snaps, 17 of which came during the first two games of the season against Auburn and SMU.
But Taumanupepe does fill a need for the Gators as Florida continues to beef up its defensive line. In particular, Florida needs to find a replacement for the outgoing Micah Boireau. Taumanupepe makes the 23rd transfer the Gators have signed this offseason, and he is the third transfer from Baylor that Florida has grabbed. Previously, Florida got safety DJ Coleman and fellow defensive lineman DK Kalu from Baylor.
Florida has also added defensive lineman Emmanuel Oyebadejo from Jacksonville State.
With the transfer portal set to close on Friday, teams are able to continue adding players who are already in the portal. Players themselves, however, have to declare by Friday whether or not they will enter the portal. The Gators have had 30+ players enter the portal heading into Friday.
In the On3 transfer portal team rankings, the Gators are ranked 8th after being ranked 65th in the 2025 transfer portal rankings. Florida is also hosting Louisiana-Monroe defensive lineman Jerome Simmons this weekend.