Jayden Woods Breaks Silence on Return to Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Jayden Woods took the necessary steps to leave the Florida Gators. Despite entering the NCAA Transfer Portal and visiting other programs, including Texas, the rising sophomore ultimately changed his mind.

A day after a visit from Florida head coach Jon Sumrall, defensive coordinator Brad White and outside linebackers coach Bam Hardmon, Woods on Wednesday was reported to have plans to withdraw from the portal and return to the program. The plans became official on Thursday with Woods breaking his silence on the portal process and eventual re-signing with the program.

“I wanted to make an informed decision. I had lost my head coach, defensive coordinator, and position coach, so I needed to be sure that if I came back to Florida—which I always wanted to do—it was the best decision for me and my family,” Woods told Florida Victorious, the program's official NIL collective partner.

Go Gators!🐊@Fl_Victorious https://t.co/6Tf72NRHdU pic.twitter.com/vsGlvwlP5O
— Jayden Woods (@Atm_Jayden) January 8, 2026

Woods, who was tied for the team-high with 3.5 sacks with 28 tackles and five tackles for loss, was one of the top players in the transfer portal, ranked as the No. 4 edge rusher by both On3 and 247 Sports and as high as No. 11 nationally by 247 Sports.

As a result, he was a hot commodity even before officially entering the portal. Once he entered, a move to Texas seemed the likeliest choice. Yet, as Florida continued to retain other star players and target different edge rushers in the portal, Sumrall and his staff kept Woods a priority.

Their persistence paid off.

“I compared this process to last year when I chose Florida over Penn State. I realized I wasn’t choosing based on circumstances—I was choosing where I truly wanted to be and where I believe I can make things happen,” Woods told Florida Victorious. “It felt like I was making the same decision again, and that made everything click.”

Woods' return marks a 5-for-5 performance from Sumrall on retaining players considered to be the most important from the Gators' 2025 team: Woods, running back Jadan Baugh, linebacker Myles Graham, receiver Vernell Brown III and receiver Dallas Wilson. The group is five of the 41 total confirmed or reported retentions for Florida this offseason as the Gators put together the final pieces of its roster.

“Roster building, it starts with our current team. I just got the chance to meet with those guys. Retention in these days of the college football world is the most important thing to build a team,” Sumrall said during his introductory press conference. “We need those guys to stay."

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