Rutgers defensive back Peyton Powell says he's transferring due to school's COVID-19 vaccine mandate

Peyton Powell's time at Rutgers has ended.

Citing Rutgers University's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the defensive back announced Tuesday that he has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Powell, a Texas native, transferred to Rutgers in December 2019. He did not see any playing time while with the program.

"The University of Rutgers has made the COVID vaccine mandatory to attend school and play football, therefore I have no other choice but to enter my name into the transfer portal," Powell said in a tweet.

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said at the start of training camp that Powell was not a part of the Scarlet Knights' roster. When asked again about Powell's status following Monday's practice, Schiano said that nothing had changed at that point.

Powell joined Baylor as part of the 2019 recruiting class, but then left the program before the start of the season. He initially committed to Utah before flipping to Rutgers.

Powell was rated the No. 263 recruit in the nation coming out of high school, according to 247Sports' Composite rankings, as well as the 33rd-best prospect out of Texas.

Schiano said prior to the start of training camp that the Scarlet Knights' vaccination rate was higher than 90%.