Former Florida Gators Cornerback Transfers to Purdue

Florida loses a fifth defensive back from its 2020 team.

Former Florida Gators cornerback C.J. McWilliams announced via Instagram on Tuesday that he will transfer to Purdue for his sixth season of college football eligibility.

McWilliams entered the NCAA transfer portal on Jan. 23 after spending five years in Gainesville with the Gators. He only played in one game during the 2020 season before reportedly opting-out for the rest of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Beyond 15 snaps against Ole Miss in week one, McWilliams has not played for Florida since the 2018 season. The 5-foot-11, 183-pound cornerback tore his Achilles prior to the beginning of the 2019 season and did not participate in any games throughout the year. 

Across his first three seasons at UF, McWilliams tallied 18 tackles and four defended passes in 16 games.

At Purdue, McWilliams will reunite with former Florida safeties coach Ron English. English and UF went in different directions on Jan. 1 this year, and the 52-year-old would accept the Boilermakers' defensive backs coaching job on Jan. 25. Florida has since replaced English with former Auburn assistant Wesley McGriff.

McWilliams is the fifth defensive back to part ways with the Gators since the end of the 2020 season, joining cornerbacks Marco Wilson and Chester Kimbrough, and safeties Shawn Davis and Donovan Stiner.