One of the biggest developments entering the 2026 season has been the elevated play of fifth-year edge rusher Kofi Asare, who transferred to Florida from UMass before the 2025 season and recorded 19 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack in his first year with the Gators.
Asare’s playing time was spotty a year ago, receiving 35 or more snaps in just three games and fewer than 10 in seven games while totaling 154 snaps across 11 appearances. The Worcester, Massachusetts, native could find a more consistent role in his final season after making strides both physically and mentally.
“[Asare] arguably had as good an individual camp as anybody we had on the defense, you know, in terms of where he started from to where he is now,” defensive coordinator Brad White said on Wednesday. “So again, you know, confident that he can go in and play high-level winning football for us, and that’s what we need.”
Learning a third defense in as many years, Asare didn’t get off to a fast start in Brad White’s complex system. That began to change toward the end of spring camp. As he became more comfortable with the play calls, his confidence grew, allowing him to play more freely and let his natural ability take over.
“I think he’s one of those guys that you can point to that has made significant strides from when we got here, from a strength standpoint, from an understanding, from a comfort level,” White said of Asare. “I think in spring ball, especially early in spring ball, you know, he was thinking a lot. So, you know, a bigger, longer guy tends to look more stiff and rigid, especially if he’s thinking and he’s not going full speed. He wasn’t sort of using the natural snap that he has in his body, so he looked a little oozy. And then you saw him get more comfortable with the calls by the back end of spring. And then in the summer, and then in fall camp.”
Head coach Jon Sumrall shared a similar sentiment two weeks ago, saying Asare performed well in Florida’s most recent scrimmage and has been the “unsung surprise” of training camp.
As for Asare, he believes his improvement in the weight room is translating to more success on the field. He said all of his lifts improved by at least 100 pounds, while he reached 21.6 mph on Catapult, a number he’s never reached before.
“Coach [Rusty] Whitt got me so strong and fast in such a short amount of time,” Asare said. “My striking has gotten way better. Now I’m able to use a little bit more of my length to get people off of me, get those big guys off of me.”
Entering the final season of his college career, Asare is hungry and prepared for a bigger role on defense.
“This being my last year, I want to definitely have a lot of a big role on defense and even some of my coaches have asked for me to, like, take that step. Like, I need to have a big role on this defense, play a lot more snaps, even special teams.”
The 6’5″, 247-pound edge rusher will play the JACK position alongside sophomore Jayden Woods and freshman KJ Ford.