Florida DL seeking additional eligibility enters NCAA transfer portal
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Florida defensive lineman Brien Taylor Jr. is entering the transfer portal, his agents announced to On3 on Tuesday afternoon.
But Taylor’s future is a lot cloudier than that. In addition to seeking another collegiate destination for the 2026 season, Taylor isn’t even sure he’ll be allowed another season of eligibility. The 6-foot-4.5, 295-pound Taylor is now among many other late transfer portal entries who are waiting on a JUCO ruling just to see if he has any eligibility options for this fall.
That means Taylor’s situation is doubly dicey, both in where he could transfer to and if he will even have that option. If the JUCO ruling does go Taylor’s way, he would enter the transfer portal with one year of eligibility left.
Taylor spent 2 seasons at Blinn College, a junior college in Texas, before playing the past 2 seasons at Florida. During his 2 years in Gainesville, Taylor registered 38 tackles, 5 tackles-for-loss and 2 sacks, which both came during the 2025 season. But after playing in all 12 of the Gators’ games this past fall as a rotational defensive tackle, Taylor is seeking greener pastures — that is, if he is allowed another season of eligibility.
During his couple seasons at Blinn, Taylor had 39 total tackles, 9.5 tackles-for-loss, 2 sacks and 7 quarterback hurries. He was one of the top JUCO edge rushers in the 2024 transfer class, and Taylor ended up at Florida.
Taylor picked UF over offers from SEC rivals Auburn and Georgia, as well as Miami.
Now, he’s heading elsewhere again for the 2026 season — Taylor hopes so, at least.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
