Billy Napier and Florida football took a step back in 2023, finishing the season with a 5-7 record, one win less than the previous season, and without a chance to make a bowl game. As they enter Year 3, it seems Napier needs to make a statement in 2024. Perhaps the No. 16 ranked transfer portal class will help.
At this point, it's uncertain what Napier truly needs for a successful season in 2024. Going beyond six wins is definitely a goal, with the magic number possibly being eight. But even then, it's tough to say if the Florida football fans in Gainesville would truly be willing to accept that.
Gators fans are some of the most notorious, rabid, and impatient fans in the entire country. After years with Steve Spurrier and later Urban Meyer, it's either you're competing for national championships or you're out as the Florida head coach.
It's been just two years, but Napier has looked nothing like the aforementioned coaches, and what's worse, not even like his predecessor, Dan Mullen, who had two double-digit win seasons with Orange and Peach Bowl victories in his first two seasons. In fact, Mullen's worst season (6-7) has been Napier's best.
But things have certainly changed in just three years since Mullen was the head man for the Florida football program. The transfer portal was really just amping up when Mullen was there. Now, it's running rampant across the nation, for better or worse, and many believe that a program like the Gators should be able to attract the best of the bunch, like they expect with traditional recruiting. This, of course, falls Napier.
Napier and the Gators are bringing in the No. 16 ranked transfer portal class for the second year in a row after bringing in the No. 20 ranked class in 2022. The Gators will have 11 incoming transfer commits to 22 outgoing. Among these incoming players are eight three-stars and three four-star players who will be suiting up in orange and blue in the fall. But it could be three-star edge rusher George Gumbs out of Northern Illinois who could be one to watch in 2024.
George Gumbs Transfers to Florida Football
If you followed the Florida Gators at all last season, you know that defense was not their strong suit. The Gators finished the season with the 69th ranked total defense in the country, allowed an 85th ranked 29.5 points per game, a 91st ranked 406.7 yards per game, and 124th ranked 6.5 yards per play.
That's typically not what many see out of the University of Florida when it comes to defense. But with those kinds of stats, it's no wonder the Gators couldn't make it to a bowl game and suffered a losing record for the third consecutive year.
That's most likely why Napier went defense shopping in his latest transfer portal pickups. Seven of the 11 transfers that are coming in from this winter cycle are defensive players, with George Gumbs obviously being one of them.
Gumbs arrives in Gainesville as a three-star transfer, ranked No. 716 overall transfer and No. 48 edge with two years of eligibility left, according to 247sports. What's notable about Gumbs is he began his career as a tight end for the Huskies, technically joining as a three-star wide receiver. In his first year, he caught four passes for 44 yards in eight games back in 2022.
In 2023, he switched to the defensive side of the ball and seemed to really find a way to channel his athleticism. In 12 games, he earned 32 tackles, 15 of which were solo, 6.5 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles, per Sports-Reference.
Napier perhaps saw the value in Gumbs as he snatched him away from the University of Cincinnati, where the edge rusher was originally slated to commit. Add in the athleticism, the pressing need to find a pass rush, and Napier's ability to steal his commitment away from another school, and Gumbs becomes the sneakiest transfer portal acquisition for Florida football and Napier in 2024.
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