A new-look Princely Umanmielen poised for breakout season

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida junior Princely Umanmielen has made some changes in 2023. He’s wearing a new number, starting at a new position, playing at a new weight and, most importantly, practicing with a new mindset.

All of this has Umanmielen poised for a breakout season. According to Pro Football Focus, he is Florida’s highest-graded returning player on defense with a grade of 82.1, which also ranks first among returning SEC EDGE rushers.

Umanmielen switched from defensive end to outside linebacker this year, changing positions before spring ball. He has excelled with the move and dominated during fall camp, making a pick-six in the final scrimmage on Friday.

“I love it,” Umanmielen said of his new position. “I always felt like my body type and how I play football, I was going to end up being an outside linebacker, even though these past years I was playing four eyes and hand in the dirt.

“I always felt like I had the athletic ability to drop into coverage. But I think me changing my body physically was just to be a pro, just to make myself a better football player.”

Umanmielen needed to transform his body in order to move to EDGE and made changes to his diet. The toughest thing he gave up? Candy.

Umanmielen stopped eating Rips Licorice and other fruit snacks.

“It’s been a little tough, you know, trying to lay off the sweets,” he said. “I got a real sweet tooth, but it’s been good with the nutrition staff that we have here and just this new facility with the food and everything. I’ve just been trying to eat good and train hard whenever I have an opportunity to.”

The results have been impressive from Umanmielen, who gained nine pounds during the offseason to reach 254. Florida coach Billy Napier praised him at the start of fall camp for his work in the nutrition and strength program.

“Princely had a fantastic summer,” Napier said. “He maxed in all three lifts, all three core lifts, bench, squat, clean. He improved his max velocity, gained 10 pounds of lean muscle, and he lost seven pounds of fat mass. Really good summer there.”

In addition to changing his body and position, Umanmielen has also developed better practice habits. He credits his former position coach, Sean Spencer, for challenging him about his work ethic and improving his approach.

“Coach Spencer talked to me about my practice habits, and after he had talked to me about my practice habits I really locked in and it made me realize how important practice was,” Umanmielen said. “I felt like I just had the ability, like, I could just go out there and play.

“So, sometimes in practice, I would be lackadaisical and things like that. And then when he talked to me about it, he said in the NFL, that’s how guys practice in college. In practice in the NFL, you’ve got to go hard. And then after that, I started going hard and practicing in practice like it was a game, and the results showed at the end.”

Expectations are high for Umanmielen heading into this fall. He was named to PFF’s preseason All-SEC first team, along with watch lists for the Chuck Bednarik Award and Lombardi Award.

Umanmielen’s new position coach, Mike Peterson, isn’t letting the hype go to his head.

“He talks to me about it every day,” Umanmielen said. “He just always pulls me to the side and lets me know. He says things like, ‘It’s a lot of people talking to you right now. Don’t buy into it, you just got to keep working hard every day. You can’t buy into the hype just yet.’ Some people do that and it makes them big-headed, and then they feel like they don’t have to work no more. So, he just tells me to make sure I keep working.”

Florida junior defensive linemnan Cam Jackson, who transferred from Memphis in January, has witnessed Umanmielen’s transformation over the past eight months. Jackson wasn’t suprised in the least when his new teammate earned the No. 1 jersey for this season.

“Princely can do it all, like I ain’t never seen no EDGE rusher like it,” Jackson said. “Princely is a freak of nature. He is a freaky athlete. I like Princely, he’s a leader for sure. And I’m just ready to see him have an amazing year this year.”