With the Week 0 Florida-Miami clash just around the corner, UM is losing some depth in the secondary – and the injury bug isn’t to blame.

Nigel Bethel Jr., a cornerback entering his redshirt freshman season at UM, announced Friday afternoon that he has entered his name into the NCAA’s transfer portal.

“Thank you to coach Manny Diaz, Ephraim Banda and the rest of the coaching staff at the University of Miami,” Bethel wrote in a note posted to Twitter. “But as of now I have entered my name in the Transfer portal and my recruitment is open.”

Bethel’s note does not explicitly state he has left the team, but a public transfer portal announcement strongly implies he no longer considers himself a member of first-year head coach Manny Diaz’s squad. Earlier this week, junior S Derrick Smith took to Twitter to announce he had left the Miami football team and entered his name into the transfer portal.

The Hurricanes face Florida on Aug. 24 in Orlando, college football’s Week 0 kickoff game for the 2019 season.