Florida Football: Former Gator Mannie Nunnery finds a new home for 2024

One of the defining moments for Florida Football had linebacker Mannie Nunnery was front and center in the middle of it. When the Gators failed to stop Missouri on 4th and 17 to allow the Tigers to drive down the field and kick a game-winning field goal, Nunnery was one of the players called into question for why the coverage went south.

After entering the transfer portal following spring camp with some rather direct words in a parting shot posting online, Nunnery has officially found his new team for the 2024 season.

Florida Football: Everything Is Bigger In Texas

Nunnery began his college career as a low rated three-star linebacker out of Pearland, TX in the class of 2019. He committed to the Houston Cougars and stayed with the squad from 2019 through the 2022 season.

He entered the transfer portal and committed to Florida in 2023 and spent most of the season as a backup linebacker for Billy Napier and crew. After Shemar James was injured for the season, Nunnery saw an uptick in playing time during November and started the final three games of the season for the Gators.

Nunnery was a serviceable enough tackler if the play came to him, but he struggled to make enough dynamic reads to fill the correct gaps consistently. Pro Football Focus graded Nunnery with a 60.7 rating, 17th on the Florida defense among the 24 Gators who took at least 100 snaps in 2023.

The play that Nunnery is most remembered for during the 2023 season was when Florida failed to stop Missouri on 4th and 17. It appeared Nunnery was caught in no man's land and allowed Luther Burden to run right by him to make the game saving catch.

Nunnery hit the transfer portal in January, but wound up sticking around for Florida's spring practie. He had a solid spring game which included an interception of DJ Lagway, but the reality is that he wasn't going to be anything more than a backup in 2024 and he re-entered the portal.

On his way out the door he took to Instagram and had some very direct words for Austin Armstrong in a post to his story that was later deleted. One thing we have noted since 4th and 17 happened is that while Nunnery probably wasn't where he was supposed to be on the play, it felt like a massive gamble to ask a backup linebacker to drop 20 yards into coverage. It also didn't help that safety Jordan Castell was told to play 30 yards off the line of scrimmage and was of no help on the play.

Whether or not Nunnery's parting words had an impact on finding a new home or whether it was just his overall play on the field, he wasn't swooped up immediately in the spring portal.

According to a report from Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports, Nunnery took visits to Virginia and Arizona but will ultimately play the 2024 season with Texas State. The Bobcats were 8-5 last season and beat Rice in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl.