Florida Gators tight end Andrew Savaiinaea entering transfer portal

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida redshirt freshman tight end Andrew Savaiinaea announced Sunday that he’s entering the NCAA Transfer Portal. He’s the 10th scholarship player from the Gators’ 2023 transfer that will transfer.

Savaiinea posted the following message on X.

“First, I’d like to give all glory to man above for putting me in the position I am today. I am grateful for the opportunity, memories, and relationships that I’ve created here at the University of Florida. I want to thank Coach (Billy) Napier and the rest of the staff for giving me this opportunity and all who have coached me. Also want to thank all those at Hawkins and GatorMade as well. After careful consideration and prayer, I have decided to enter my name in the transfer portal. Thank you Gator Nation!”

Savaiinaea, a reserve, played in just one game this season. He did not see any game action as a true freshman in 2022 and redshirted. Savaiinaea started his UF career as a defensive lineman before switching to the offensive side of the ball.

Despite his departure, the Florida tights ends room remains strong and is expected to return multiple key contributors for the 2024 season.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

Transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle.

The window for FBS players to enter the portal opens on Dec. 4 and closes after 30 days on Jan. 2, 2024.