Kiyaunta Goodwin leaves Florida Gators due to family reasons

Untitled designby:Nick de la Torre•07/21/23•

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Sophomore offensive tackle Kiyaunta Goodwin has left the Florida Gators due to a personal reason within his family, Gators Online has learned. Goodwin transferred to Florida after spending just one season at Kentucky.

Goodwin will look to transfer closer to home to be with his mother and intends to apply for a NCAA hardship waiver.

Goodwin transferred to Florida from Kentucky prior to spring practice. The 6-8 355-pound offensive tackle was viewed as a potential starter for the Gators on the right side of the offensive line.

“You know, his length and size, right? It’s hard to find those guys, you gotta get them,” offensive line coach Rob Sale said. “Everybody’s working hard in recruiting to get them, to get them on your team, especially guys like him, so he’s long. He’s played left, he can play right, so it’s good to have guys like that, that’s what we need to get, more of them.” 

Goodwin played high school football at Charlestown (IN) High School, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 55 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. After entering the portal, Goodwin became the No. 27-ranked offensive tackle transfer this cycle, according to the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings.

Goodwin was one of 14 transfers coming in for Florida this year, including quarterback Graham Mertz, who’s competing to be the Gators’ starting quarterback. That group comes after Billy Napier and Co. brought in six transfers a year ago as he took over the program.

Goodwin’s departure leaves the Gators with 83 scholarship players

This past Wednesday, Billy Napier noted how the Gators had done well in the transfer portal adding veteran players as well as talent that could come in and help right away. While Goodwin hasn’t had much time to play at the college level, he was viewed as a player that would have helped the team this season.

“I think one of the things that we benefitted from is that, you know, 90-plus percent of our team has been there since January,” Napier said. “We had 27 mid-year players. We did minimal work in the spring portal. But you know, I think it’s a reality in college football right now. Especially in the earlier stages of building a program. You’re going to have to do work in the portal. Again, we want to continue to recruit the best high school players in the country and establish some stability from a roster management standpoint and do less work in the portal in the future.”

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