Houston LB Transfer Mannie Nunnery Commits to Gators

Former Houston linebacker Mannie Nunnery commits to the Gators, providing Florida its third transfer portal addition at the position this offseason.

Houston linebacker transfer Mannie Nunnery is committed to the Florida Gators.

After a last-minute entry into the transfer portal, he failed to find his new home before the winter portal window closed. However, even after it shut down from accepting entries, the Gators continued their pursuit of talent to fill the holes remaining in the roster.

They landed the Pearland, Texas, prospect.

He's the third transfer to enter Jay Bateman's linebacker room this offseason, joining Teradja Mitchell (Ohio State) and Deuce Spurlock (Michigan).

Appearing in 22 games for the Cougars over four seasons, Nunnery performed mainly in a special teams role for the first three years before stepping into a more voluminous role in 2022. He accounted for 34 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and one pass breakup as a redshirt sophomore this past season.

He sports two years of eligibility after redshirting as a freshman in 2019 — playing in just one contest — and can exercise the NCAA-granted COVID year to sport two years of eligibility 

He'll head to Florida to present a complementary piece to Mitchell in the second level. While the former Buckeye brings the traditional run-stopping abilities that the middle inside linebacker role entails, Nunnery is likened to the new-age prospect with above-average coverage skills. His presence will give the Gators an option to play opposing tight ends at a high level, an aspect of Florida's defense that has lacked in the rough stretch its endured of late.

He'll likely rotate with rising sophomore Shemar James at the weakside spot previously anchored by Amari Burney.

Simultaneously, Nunnery will bring a special teams ace to aid Florida to overcome its noticeable woes over the past two seasons in the third phase of the game. 

He will be a late spring enrollee, joining Florida's current practice regimen to begin the 2023 offseason.

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