The transfer portal has changed the way that college coaches recruit. In the past when a student-athlete wanted to go from one school to another, no matter the reason, they would have to sit out a season due to NCAA rules. Now, with the transfer portal and the increased frequency that eligibility waivers are being granted, there is a whole new way for college coaches to fill holes on their roster and the Florida Gators have taken advantage of that in a huge way.
The portal won't completely replace the need to recruit at the high school level but Dan Mullen and his staff have had a lot of success supplementing their high school recruiting efforts through the portal.
The first foray into the portal brought Jon Greenard to Gainesville. The former Louisville edge rusher spent just one year in Gainesville but was an instant impact player leading the Gators in sacks (9.5), tackles for a loss (15.5), quarterback hurries (8), and forced fumbles (3). He also immediately stepped into a leadership role for the Gators' young defense.
"We try to address needs with transfers more than just take transfers," Dan Mullen said. "What ends up happening is maybe you look successful because instead of just saying, ‘This guy’s a great player and it doesn’t matter, just take him out of the transfer portal.’ We’ve probably had some opportunities to get some guys that ended up being great players that we didn’t get, but maybe at that moment, we didn’t feel the need. We had depth, we had experience at that position. We don’t go to the transfer portal always just to create depth or to go get backups. We go get guys that we expect and we need to be impact players and play for us."
The plan has worked. Florida plucked two former five-star recruits in running back Demarckus Bowman and tight end Arik Gilbert a year ago. They added another five-star in Lorenzo Lingard prior to the 2020 season as well.
This year the Gators have also added two veteran defensive linemen in former Auburn defensive tackle DaQuan Newkirk and former Penn State defensive tackle Antonio Shelton. With the losses of TJ Slaton and Kyree Campbell, the Gators badly needed some veteran depth at defensive tackle.
"We kind of have that gap," Mullen said of the depth chart at the position for 2021. "I think we have some really good young talent, interior defensive linemen, and we had a bunch of guys over the last two years, you know that leave and walk out the door. And so there is kind of this little gap in the middle between the two."
"They’re very, both older experienced players with great, with maturity. And they understood coming in, that they are some of the older players in that group and that meeting room now. And in that unit position unit. And so they are expected to have leadership qualities. They’re not expected to come in and just act like the new guy. They got to learn the program and what it is fast, but we have very high expectations for them and they've really shown that."
The transfer portal won't replace the need to recruit at the high school level but it can supplement your recruiting classes. Mullen and the Gators have shown how to successfully navigate the new transfer rules and its paid dividends.
