Gators Edge Rusher Jack Pyburn to Enter Transfer Portal

The Jacksonville (Fla.) native leaves Florida with one year of eligibility remaining.

Oct 19, 2024; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Kentucky Wildcats running back Chip Trayanum (4) rushes with the ball while being tackled by Florida Gators defensive end Jack Pyburn (44) during the second half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida Gators edge rusher Jack Pyburn will enter the NCAA Transfer Portal after three years with the program, On3's Hayes Fawcett revealed Tuesday. He will have one year of eligibility remaining.

BREAKING: Florida EDGE Jack Pyburn plans to enter the Transfer Portal, he tells @on3sports

The 6’4 260 EDGE totaled 60 Tackles, 2 Sacks, 5 TFL, & 1 INT this season

Will have 1 year of eligibility remaining https://t.co/ERwIr080Cf pic.twitter.com/rVAYznCAOa

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 10, 2024

A Jacksonville (Fla.) native, Pyburn joined Florida as part of Billy Napier's first recruiting class ahead of the 2022 season, where he played in eight games as a freshman and recorded three total tackles.

In an elevated role as a sophomore, Pyburn began to hit his stride before suffering a torn ACL in the loss to Arkansas, which ended his season.

"I would say the hardest thing was just not being able to play the game I love for so long," he said on Oct. 2. "That was the hardest part. The rehab wasn't the hardest part for me, just because, in my opinion, it's a mentality thing. If you approach everything like you need to get better, no matter what the situation is. So, I took it as 'Okay, I hurt my knee. There's things in my game that I can work on while I'm coming back to my rehab that can help me to come back as a better player.'"

However, a strong recovery allowed Pyburn to not miss any time in 2024, and he experienced a breakout season. As part of Florida's midseason defensive turnaround, Pyburn was second on the team in tackles (60), with one sack, one interception and one forced fumble.

"That's part of the value there is how he makes everybody around him better," Napier said on Oct. 2. "I think ultimately that's what I would say is not only production, but also just a little bit of that edge rubs off on the rest of them a little bit. So, proof's of the pudding, and I think ultimately he's done a lot with the snaps that he's gotten. Then obviously his practice habits,  even today it's very evident 44 is on the field. So we need more like him."

Pyburn is the 14th total outgoing transfer for the Gators and the 10th on scholarship. A complete transfer portal tracker for all of the Gators' moves can be found here, and a complete roster outlook can be found here.