Just an hour after Matt Viator was named the new McNeese State head football coach, his best player hit the transfer portal.

Micah Davey, the All-American linebacker, announced on social media on Monday afternoon.

Davey, a junior, missed a good portion of this season with injuries but was still able to be selected to the Southland Conference’s second team. After a stellar sophomore year, he was a consensus All-American who saw him average just over 15 tackles a game. 

That earned him first-team honors on the SLC and Louisiana Sports Writers teams. Davey finished the 2023 campaign with 20 tackles against Houston Christian and 21 vs. Lamar.

Despite rumors, Davey returned to the Cowboys for this year and was named a preseason All-Almerican. However, injuries cost him parts of five games, including three straight at one point.

He was a preseason all-American pick this year. Last week, he and several other players came out in support of defensive coordinator Tony Pecoraro as the next head coach. Pecoraro was named the interim Cowboy head coach after Gary Goff was let go a week ago.

In three seasons with McNeese, Davey collected 311 tackles, 164 of them solo. He had 5.5 sacks, an interception, two fumble recovered, and three forced fumbles in 29 games.

Davey also had one touchdown.

He becomes the fifth McNeese player to announce he would be entering the portal, which doesn’t officially open until Dec. 9. With the number of scholarships being lowered, this will likely be the most overfilled portal in history.

Last week, defensive backs Levi Wyatt and Boogsie Silvera, quarterback Kamden Sixkiller, punter Finn Lappin, and offensive lineman Hayes Creel announced on social media that they would be entering the portal as well.