Kanye Clark arrived at Florida with a fairly quiet profile, but Jon Sumrall has made it clear that the transfer defensive back is turning heads in fall camp.
Clark spent three seasons at UCLA before heading to Gainesville, and his path there was anything but smooth. He began as a walk-on, earned a scholarship before the 2024 season and had to deal with injuries along the way, including one in 2024 that kept him out for most of the year.
On paper, that’s not the kind of résumé that usually screams immediate impact. In camp, though, Clark has started to change that perception.
Sumrall was asked Monday about Clark’s limited playing background, noting that the redshirt junior has logged just 289 snaps in his three years at UCLA, according to Pro Football Focus. The Florida coach didn’t hesitate to explain why Clark has caught his attention.
“Has a knack for leverage and instincts on the football. Really good in coverage.
Kind of a hard guy to block at times. He's not the biggest guy, but sometimes those guys can slip blocks easy.
He can create negative plays at times because of his elusiveness. Fun player to watch.
He's got a little spark plug mentality. Like the way he plays, he gives you a little juice.
A little bit of an edge, a little bit of a chip on his shoulder.”
That praise fits the tone Sumrall has used since Clark got to campus. He previously described him as a "plesant suprise," and Clark backed that up in the spring game with six tackles.
Clark also wasn’t exactly a forgotten player back at UCLA. The Daily Bruin noted in January that “He was one of the quickest players on the team and was a nice piece to the solid Bruin defensive back room.”
The big question now is where Florida uses him. If Bryce Thornton and DJ Coleman end up as the starting safeties, Clark looks like the leading candidate to settle in at STAR. There’s also another path, with Thornton sliding to STAR and Coleman teaming with Cam Dooley.
Either way, Sumrall has time to sort out the pieces. For now, Clark keeps giving him reasons to keep talking about him.
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