Transfer TE Evan Chieca commits to Florida

New Haven tight end Evan Chieca has committed to the Florida Gators, he tells Gators Online. He was in Gainesville on Sunday for an official visit and has two years of eligibility remaining.

With this latest commitment, Florida has now landed three tight ends from the NCAA Transfer Portal. James Madison’s Lacota Dippre and Georgia Tech’s Luke Harpring are the other additions.

The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Chieca finished the 2025 season with 31 catches for 255 yards and four touchdowns. LSU, Kentucky and several additional schools offered him as well.

Evan Chieca is transfer commitment No. 27 for Florida

With the commitment of Chieca, the Florida Gators now sit with 27 additions from the Transfer Portal.

UF’s portal class is made up of Auburn wide receiver transfer Eric Singleton, Baylor safety transfer DJ Coleman, James Madison tight end transfer Lacota Dippre, Georgia Tech wide receiver transfer Bailey Stockton, Baylor defensive line transfer DK Kalu, Cincinnati running back transfer Evan Pryor, Penn State offensive line transfer TJ Shanahan, Jacksonville State DL transfer Emmanuel Oyebadejo, Wake Forest wide receiver transfer Micah Mays, Georgia Tech quarterback transfer Aaron Philo, Kentucky safety transfer Cam Dooley, Penn State offensive line transfer Eagan Boyer, ECU running back transfer London Montgomery, Stanford offensive tackle transfer Emeka Ugori, Georgia Tech offensive line transfer Harrison Moore, Georgia Tech tight end transfer Luke Harpring, UCF linebacker transfer TJ Bullard, UCLA DB transfer Kanye Clark, Southern Miss defensive lineman Mason Clinton, Oklahoma State WR transfer Jaylen Lloyd, Tulane punter transfer Alec Clark, Louisiana longsnapper transfer Carter Milliron, Washington long snapper transfer Hunter Solwold, Southwest Oklahoma punter Miller Fealy, Texas A&M transfer kicker Liam Padron, and Tulane kicker transfer Patrick Durkin.

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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