In a significant move for the Florida Gators, punter Alec Clark, who was recognized as a first-team American All-Conference player in 2025 while at Tulane, has officially signed with the team.
Clark took on the role of the Green Wave's starting punter this past season, building on his previous two years at Marshall. During his redshirt sophomore year in 2025, he completed 48 punts, achieving a remarkable long punt of 70 yards, with an average distance of 46.5 yards per kick—ranking him tied for No. 11 in the nation. To put his performance into perspective, just the previous year at Marshall, he averaged 42.4 yards per punt, with a long of 67 yards, managing to place 17 punts inside the 20-yard line and executing 11 kicks that traveled over 50 yards.
Last October, his impressive skills earned him a spot on the 2025 Ray Guy Award Watch List, which honors the best punter in FBS college football each year.
Hailing from Australia, Clark is set to join the Gators in Gainesville, where he will reconnect with Jon Sumrall, the team's new head coach, who also has ties to Tulane. Additionally, Clark's time at Tulane was under the guidance of Johnathan Galante, who is now UF’s special teams coach. In 2025, Galante was nominated for the prestigious Broyles Award, which is awarded annually to the top assistant coach in college football, named after the legendary Frank Broyles, who previously served as an assistant at UF.
Galante recently wrapped up his first season at Tulane after spending three years at Marshall. Before that, he held the position of special teams analyst at Alabama from 2019 to 2022, and he was a graduate assistant specializing in special teams at Virginia Tech from 2017 to 2018.
Understanding the NCAA Transfer Portal
The NCAA Transfer Portal is a vital resource across all NCAA sports at the Division I, II, and III levels. This private database contains the names of student-athletes who wish to transfer, but it remains inaccessible to the general public.
The portal is operational for a designated window from January 2nd to January 16th each year.
The process for entering the portal starts at the compliance office of the athlete's current school. When a player decides to transfer, they must submit written notice of their intent, prompting the compliance office to enter their name into the portal within 48 hours. Crucially, the office must comply with the request and cannot deny it.
Once a player's name appears in the portal, they become available for contact from other schools. It's important to note that players have the option to change their minds during this period and withdraw from the portal. However, once they enter, their current scholarship is no longer guaranteed. Essentially, if a player opts to remain at their school after entering the portal, the institution is not obligated to continue offering them a scholarship.
The portal functions as a sortable database, categorized by various criteria, including sport and player name. Each entry includes essential details such as contact information, scholarship status, and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.
Players can also request a "do not contact" label on their report, indicating they prefer not to be approached by other schools unless they initiate contact themselves.
