Breaking: Gators land LB transfer to the roster from the Transfer Portal

Florida adds a familiar name to the roster from the Transfer Portal

The Florida Gators put focus on the linebacker room during the 2024 recruiting cycle, and ended their Early Signing Period haul by inking a pair of Top247 linebackers. However, the Gators have also seen some of their linebackers from this past season elect to enter the portal in search of a new team. That has left Florida wanting to infuse another name with some college experience to their remaining roster and incoming talented freshmen.

Florida did just that by adding a commitment from former South Carolina linebacker Grayson Howard. He entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on the evening of January 2, which was the final day of the portal window being open for players to enter.

Howard will have multiple years to play in Gainesville. In his one season with the Gamecocks, Howard played in 11 games and totaled 19 tackles with 10 being solo stops with one tackle for loss while also forcing one fumble. His best game statistically came in the win over Furman in Week 2 when he logged four tackles with three being solo stops.

Florida was a major player for Howard coming out of high school. He chose the Gamecocks over finalist Florida, Clemson, Georgia, and Texas A&M. The Gators, Bulldogs, and Gamecocks were the three teams that received official visits from him as a high school prospect. He had built strong relationships with former assistant coaches Jay Bateman and Jamar Chaney out of high school, but has also been tight with current outside linebackers coach Mike Peterson as well. Peterson recruits the Jacksonville area, so the two got close over the course of his recruiting process. Even after he had committed to South Carolina in the summer of 2022, Florida continued to recruit Howard until pen went to paper that signing day. While it took much longer than anyone in Gainesville had anticipated, the Gators were able to eventually land Howard during his second recruitment.

Howard joins Florida’s current transfer portal haul that consists of former San Diego State offensive lineman Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, former Penn defensive lineman Joey Slackman, former Oregon defensive back Trikweze Bridges, and former Wisconsin wide receiver Chimere Dike.

Florida inked a talented high school duo of four-stars Myles Graham and Aaron Chiles as well in the 2024 cycle. They saw former four-star commit Adarius Hayes flip to Miami on the first day of the Early Signing Period last month as well. Landing Howard gives Florida not only a talented player, but one with multiple years of eligibility at the next level for Billy Napier and his coaching staff. He will now have to wait and see who the Gators target as their next inside linebackers coach after former assistant Jay Bateman left to take the defensive coordinator job at Texas A&M last month.

Howard was ranked as the No. 115 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class and No. 9 ranked linebacker in the 2023 recruiting class out of Jacksonville (Fla.) Andrew Jackson high school.