Here’s what we've been able to gather recently regarding Notre Dame graduate transfer Malik Zaire’s situation:
It’s no secret that Florida is interested in bolstering the quarterback room, as well as other positions on the roster. Gators head coach Jim McElwain even admitted to such when meeting with the media a couple weeks ago.
“The best guy is going to play, whoever’s ready,” he said. “And in that case we’re still short from our number that we want on scholarship, anyway. So we’ve definitely got room at that position, as we do at the tight end spot, for example, as we do at the nickel spot as far as your roster and where you apply your scholarships.”
Florida does have five scholarship quarterbacks on board currently, but two are redshirt freshmen (Feleipe Franks, Kyle Trask), two are freshmen (Jake Allen, Kadarius Toney) and one is a redshirt junior fresh off of two shoulder injuries who couldn’t stay healthy last year (Luke Del Rio). Without any more changes to the position, it would be one of those signal-callers starting under center against the likes of Michigan and Tennessee in two of the first three weeks of the season.
So the reports that have circulated over the months regarding Florida and Zaire having mutual interest certainly make sense, if you keep those things in mind and look at it from that perspective. McElwain has even said before in the past that he doesn’t believe a graduate transfer would hinder the development of any of the younger signal-callers this season.
Based on what I’ve been able to gather up to this point, and being able to connect the dots in between, Zaire’s interest in the Gators appears quite strong and his camp is high on the direction of the Florida offense under McElwain.
This past weekend, our network's Texas site, Orangebloods.com, reported that Zaire had it down to primarily two final candidates: Texas (which only has two scholarship QBs on its roster) and another program. We were able to confirm that Florida is that other school. (Wisconsin, at this point, seems like a long shot.) Zaire, who graduated from Notre Dame on Sunday, should announce his decision sometime in the coming weeks – but the time of when that will be hasn’t been specified.
It would make sense that some sources would be hesitant to tell OB initially that Florida was the other school, consider the nature of where things stand with the Gators and graduate transfers and the uncertainty of it all. In 2015, graduate transfer linebacker Anthony Harrell and offensive tackle Mason Halter did not meet academic requirements - leading to the enforcement of SEC bylaw 14.1.15.3 (b), which states that “If the student-athlete does not earn all possible APR points,” the school cannot use a graduate student exception “for three years following the student athlete’s first date of initial full-time enrollment at the certifying institution.”
However, right now the SEC is the only conference currently employing that rule – and whether it'll be changed is a topic that figures to be under discussion next week during SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida, from May 30 to June 2.
“It will come up,” Sankey said more than a month ago on the Pat Dooley Show. “I do think we need to look where we’ve been restrictive in the past because of the absence of national rules and look at reducing some of those restrictions. I’m one who would position it as interest in freeing things up without just removing every restraint, because I think the restraints have been healthy for us.”
It remains to be seen, though, how many SEC coaches would be in favor of changing the rule. McElwain clearly has expressed that, while Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn is also in that club.
LSU head coach Ed Orgeron appears to be on the opposite end of the spectrum, saying last week during the SEC spring teleconference that he’s OK with the current rule.
At this rate, based on everything we’ve been able to gather, it seems more and more like Zaire is in wait-and-see mode regarding any developments with Florida and the SEC's graduate transfer rule – and that he’s keeping Texas under consideration as possibly his Plan B. If UF was not a school Zaire had high interest in, logic would probably indicate that he would have already announced his destination at another program by now.
It’s no secret that Florida is interested in bolstering the quarterback room, as well as other positions on the roster. Gators head coach Jim McElwain even admitted to such when meeting with the media a couple weeks ago.
“The best guy is going to play, whoever’s ready,” he said. “And in that case we’re still short from our number that we want on scholarship, anyway. So we’ve definitely got room at that position, as we do at the tight end spot, for example, as we do at the nickel spot as far as your roster and where you apply your scholarships.”
Florida does have five scholarship quarterbacks on board currently, but two are redshirt freshmen (Feleipe Franks, Kyle Trask), two are freshmen (Jake Allen, Kadarius Toney) and one is a redshirt junior fresh off of two shoulder injuries who couldn’t stay healthy last year (Luke Del Rio). Without any more changes to the position, it would be one of those signal-callers starting under center against the likes of Michigan and Tennessee in two of the first three weeks of the season.
So the reports that have circulated over the months regarding Florida and Zaire having mutual interest certainly make sense, if you keep those things in mind and look at it from that perspective. McElwain has even said before in the past that he doesn’t believe a graduate transfer would hinder the development of any of the younger signal-callers this season.
Based on what I’ve been able to gather up to this point, and being able to connect the dots in between, Zaire’s interest in the Gators appears quite strong and his camp is high on the direction of the Florida offense under McElwain.
This past weekend, our network's Texas site, Orangebloods.com, reported that Zaire had it down to primarily two final candidates: Texas (which only has two scholarship QBs on its roster) and another program. We were able to confirm that Florida is that other school. (Wisconsin, at this point, seems like a long shot.) Zaire, who graduated from Notre Dame on Sunday, should announce his decision sometime in the coming weeks – but the time of when that will be hasn’t been specified.
It would make sense that some sources would be hesitant to tell OB initially that Florida was the other school, consider the nature of where things stand with the Gators and graduate transfers and the uncertainty of it all. In 2015, graduate transfer linebacker Anthony Harrell and offensive tackle Mason Halter did not meet academic requirements - leading to the enforcement of SEC bylaw 14.1.15.3 (b), which states that “If the student-athlete does not earn all possible APR points,” the school cannot use a graduate student exception “for three years following the student athlete’s first date of initial full-time enrollment at the certifying institution.”
However, right now the SEC is the only conference currently employing that rule – and whether it'll be changed is a topic that figures to be under discussion next week during SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida, from May 30 to June 2.
“It will come up,” Sankey said more than a month ago on the Pat Dooley Show. “I do think we need to look where we’ve been restrictive in the past because of the absence of national rules and look at reducing some of those restrictions. I’m one who would position it as interest in freeing things up without just removing every restraint, because I think the restraints have been healthy for us.”
It remains to be seen, though, how many SEC coaches would be in favor of changing the rule. McElwain clearly has expressed that, while Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn is also in that club.
LSU head coach Ed Orgeron appears to be on the opposite end of the spectrum, saying last week during the SEC spring teleconference that he’s OK with the current rule.
At this rate, based on everything we’ve been able to gather, it seems more and more like Zaire is in wait-and-see mode regarding any developments with Florida and the SEC's graduate transfer rule – and that he’s keeping Texas under consideration as possibly his Plan B. If UF was not a school Zaire had high interest in, logic would probably indicate that he would have already announced his destination at another program by now.
