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Ex-Florida transfer Princely Umanmielen being ‘coached harder’ at Ole Miss

Ole Miss pass rusher Princely Umanmielen met with reporters for the first time since transferring from Florida as one of the portal’s top-rated players. Looking for a new opportunity at another program, the unanimous All-SEC defender says he’s being coached differently than he was in Gainesville under Billy Napier.

“I feel like I was one of the best in the country as far as pass rushing. Something from last season that I could work on better (are) my drops and attacking the run game a little bit. I feel like here I’m getting coached harder for things like that,” Umanmielen said, via Inside The Rebels. “I feel like at Florida the way I was coached was kind of almost as if they were just telling me to go out there and ‘use my talent’, if that makes sense. Here, Coach Lou (Spanos) and Coach Joyner (are) really on me about the little things. Coach Lou really goes through the progressions and drops and the routes that are being run when I have to go in coverage.

“When I was at Florida, they would just tell me ‘go drop to this area’ and I’d have to figure everything else out on my own. But here they go into depth. I feel like I’m actually getting developed here.”

Umanmielen arrived at Florida prior to Napier’s arrival and was a four-star signee in the 2020 class. He was rated the 11th-best strongside defensive end that cycle and hails from Manor, Texas.

Noted Swamp247’s Jacob Rudner in December after one of the Gators’ best defenders entered the portal, Umanmielen was force on the edge of Florida’s defensive front throughout the 2023 season, proving to be one of the nation’s most effective pass rushers as he secured an elite win rate against opposing offensive linemen. Umanmielen paced all Florida defenders with career-highs in tackles-for-loss (11.5), sacks (7.0) and quarterback hurries (17) and tied his career-high in tackles (39), which was tied for fourth on the team but first among the Gators’ defensive linemen.

The addition of Umanmielen and former Texas A&M five-star defensive lineman Walter Nolen is a big reason why the Ole Miss transfer class ranked No. 1 nationally this cycle.

More major recruiting wins for Lane Kiffin in his quest to win the SEC and make the College Football Playoff in 2024 after posting his second double-digit win season last fall.

Another No. 1 quarterback officially came off the board over the weekend as Georgia landed a commitment from Jared Curtis, who ranks as the very early No. 1 QB in college football’s 2026 class. With Curtis giving his verbal pledge, the No. 1 QB in the 2025 (Bryce Underwood, LSU) and 2026 (Curtis) classes are both spoken for.

Curtis’ commitment got us curious at 247Sports: How often do those initial No. 1 quarterbacks stick? Not just do they stay with the school they initially committed to — spoiler, not always — but how often does the first No. 1 QB in a cycle manage to stay at No. 1 during the entire high school evaluation process?

Underwood and Curtis hope to go wire to wire.

Here’s what 10 years of Top247 history says about their chances of doing so. Just as importantly, the 10 years of data says a lot about the process of evaluation and the importance of having a full cycle to do so.

Rosen initially wanted to be a tennis player, but he quickly found his way to football and emerged as a national recruit as an underclassman starter for national power Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco. He committed to UCLA over USC and Michigan following his junior season and stuck with the Bruins through National Signing Day.

Rosen went on to earn Freshman All-American honors and become a first-round draft pick of the Arizona Cardinals.

247Sports ranked Jarrett Stidham — who could start for the Denver Broncos next season — as its final No. 1 overall QB in the 2015 class.

A big-armed and big-framed classic pro-style QB from the Northwest, Eason impressed 247Sports early on with his multi-sport background, including throwing 90-plus mph from the pitcher’s mound. Eason committed to Georgia over a host of national offers following his sophomore season. He’d later reopen his process after the Bulldogs fired Mark Richt. But new Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was able to reel Eason back into the fold.

Eason started as a true freshman and began the 2017 season as the team’s starter, too. But an early-season injury gave Jake Fromm a chance to take the reins, and he never gave them back en route to a national title game appearance. Eason transferred following that season and finished his career at Washington. The Indianapolis Colts took him in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

247Sports ranked Shea Patterson (Ole Miss/Michigan) as its No. 1 overall QB in its final 2016 rankings.

A true freshman starter for Brownsburg (Ind.) High, Johnson quickly commanded national attention and offers. He was a big (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) athletic QB who earned all-state honors in track and field. Johnson initially committed to Tennessee just ahead of his junior season. But he flipped to Clemson a few months later as the Tigers stormed to the playoff for the first time.

Johnson never started for the Tigers. Clemson signed Trevor Lawrence the next cycle and Johnson, stuck behind both Lawrence and Kelly Bryant, opted to transfer following spring practice in 2018.

Northwestern landed Johnson as a transfer, but injuries largely derailed his time there as Johnson finished with 1,110 yards and 7 TDs passing in his career. He eventually transferred back to Clemson for his final season of eligibility.

Davis Mills finished the 2017 cycle as 247Sports’ No. 1 overall QB. He’d emerge as third-round pick out of Stanford.