Florida football’s blue-chip offensive lineman transfer returns to portal

A big L for Napier and the Gators, but we wish nothing but the best for Goodwin and his mother.

Billy Napier and the Florida football program got some bad news on Tuesday when offensive lineman [autotag]Kiyaunta Goodwin[/autotag], who had transferred from the Kentucky Wildcats to the Gators back in January, returned to the NCAA transfer portal, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz.

Goodwin stepped away from the program a little more than a week ago following his mother’s recent cancer diagnosis and it appears that the situation is a bit more grim than initially expected.

The highly-coveted lineman joined the Orange and Blue for spring workouts and scrimmages after spending his first year of college ball in Lexington. Early on, the 6-foot-8-inch, 340-pound behemoth was the Gators’ top-ranked transfer but unfortunately for the staff and his teammates, it looks like someone else will need to fill his shoes.

The former five-star recruit in the 2022 cycle saw little action during his true freshman campaign, getting reps mostly as a special teams blocker. There is no indication yet as to which programs he prefers to transfer to.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1368]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.