Best of luck to Princely Umanmielen as he finishes his college career elsewhere. (Photo via Florida Gators)
Florida’s roster flip for 2024 is now officially one piece harder.
Edge Princely Umanmielen, who’s spent the last four years with the Gators, has announced that he’s entering the transfer portal and looking to continue his college career elsewhere. He’s technically a junior in 2023 because of the blanket eligibility waiver in 2020, and so he’ll have one year of eligibility remaining.
Umanmielen announced his decision on twitter earlier today.
This loss is a rather tricky one to make heads or tails of.
There was no denying what Umanmielen was capable of. He knows how to win off the snap and get into the backfield. That’s pretty clearly evidenced by his 24.5 TFL and 15 sacks for Florida. Even when he doesn’t make the tackle, the havoc he causes can redirect the play or force the offense to bail on it entirely. PFF credits him with 91 pressures for the Gators- which is certainly impressive.
More specifically, Princely Umanmielen broke out in 2023 with 11.5 TFLs, seven sacks, and 17 QB hurries. He also racked up 39 tackles on the season. So certainly, from the standpoint of what he’s capable of, this hurts.
But there were other things- like failing to set the edge and sometimes simply just not giving full effort– that make his departure seem more like a case of, “it is what it is.” No doubt Umanmielen is tremendously talented and obviously put in enough work to get to be a two-year SEC starter, but specific stuff like that isn’t going to be missed. That’s not to say he did that on most plays, or half the plays, or that he was the only one ever caught loafing on tape, but that’s just not what you want from your veteran upperclassman. So of course the Gators are going to miss the havoc-wreaking abilities he brings, and now that makes one more roster spot Billy Napier will have to fill, but this isn’t quite the crippling loss that some Gator fans are making it out to be.
Regardless, as is the case with (just about) every player who winds up leaving Florida, I of course wish Princely Umanmielen nothing but the best of luck in his next chapter.