Florida EDGE Jayden Woods entering the transfer portal

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida Gators EDGE Jayden Woods plans to enter the transfer portal. On3’s Hayes Fawcett was first to report the news on Monday.

UF’s had 21 scholarship players announce their intentions to transfer so far, but Woods is one of the most notable names, along with starting quarterback DJ Lagway, starting defensive lineman Michai Boireau and starting safety Jordan Castell.

Woods made three starts in 12 games played this season, earning Freshman All-SEC honors along with UF wide receiver Vernell Brown III. Woods was also named to On3’s Preseason True Freshman All-American team.

Woods registered 28 tackles, 3.5 sacks, three QB hurries, a pick, one pass breakup and a fumble recovery. He closed out the season co-leading the team with sacks (3.5) and was third on the team in TFLs (5.0) and interceptions (1).

Woods made his first career start and first career sack against No. 4 Miami. He also three tackles, half of a sack, one pass breakup and one QB hurry in the win over No. 9 Texas.

Woods had his first career interception at Ole Miss and returned it 25 yards. He also recorded three tackles, 2.0 TFL and one sack in the regular season finale against Florida State.

Transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

The window for FBS players to enter the portal opens Jan. 2 and closes on Jan. 16.

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