One of the lingering questions of Florida’s offseason has been whether it plans to add another face to its quarterback room, but we should get an answer to that this week as the SEC holds its annual spring meetings, which start today and run until Friday in Destin, Fla.
The big topic worth monitoring will be whether the league opts to alter its current rules regarding graduate transfers. As we mentioned in our insider update last week, Notre Dame graduate transfer Malik Zaire has strong interest in the Gators and is in wait-and-see mode regarding a decision – one that could largely hinge on what ends up happening at SEC spring meetings.
Right now, Florida cannot take a graduate transfer, due to SEC bylaw 14.1.15.3 (b). In 2015, linebacker Anthony Harrell and offensive tackle Mason Halter did not meet their academic requirements, enacting a rule that would not allow the Gators to take a graduate transfer for three seasons. Both players were suspended for the 2016 Citrus Bowl after becoming academically ineligible.
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* Video of Malik Zaire's three starts at Notre Dame
* Five prospects Florida gained ground with over the spring
* Five prospects Florida lost ground with over the spring
* Roundtable: How many games will Florida win in 2017?
* Getting to Know: Marco Wilson
* Getting to Know: Donovan Stiner
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On Sunday, the talk of Zaire and Florida being linked heated up some more when WNDU-TV’s Alex Wilcox tweeted that Zaire has told people he has chosen Florida and is now just waiting for the SEC to change its transfer rules. That certainly makes sense, considering Texas, Wisconsin and Harvard have looked more and more like long shots as the weeks pass by and Zaire continues to delay his decision.
This all makes the focus on the current graduate transfer rules, implemented by the league initially to set an example for other conferences, that much more under the microscope this week. Currently, the SEC is the only conference implementing such a rule.
“This will be the first meaningful conversation that we’ve had since the proliferation of graduate transfers has happened nationally,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told the Associated Press last week. ”I expect our membership to have a pretty meaningful conversation about the right perspective on graduate transfers entering the SEC from outside and then the topic of inter-conference transfers.
”A football player that enrolls as a graduate student and never goes to class, that’s not healthy. We want to tend more toward our Canyon Barry’s.”
It’ll be interesting to see whether the majority of SEC coaches vote in favor of changing the rule or against doing so, considering altering the grad transfer rule could end up benefitting the Gators competitively this season. However, some schools may find it in their best interest to change it, in the possibility that they could fall into a similar situation like Florida down the road.
For example, Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn acknowledged that he is in favor of Sankey and the rest of the league discussing whether the current policy is what’s best for the conference.
"I think it's going to be more and more popular," Malzahn said recently of graduate transfers. "I think (Sankey)'s right on target to look at that and see what's best for the league.
"I think the commissioner is on target. It's more and more - it's getting to be more popular every year, so it definitely needs to be looked at, but a lot of schools are doing it, including us."
Meanwhile, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron said on the SEC teleconference this month that he’s OK with the current rule set in place.
If the rule happens to be changed – and Florida does manage to land Zaire – whether taking another graduate transfer at the quarterback position is the right move will be up for debate among the fan base in the following months. However, Jim McElwain has expressed before that he doesn’t believe a grad transfer would hinder the development of his younger quarterbacks.
In fact, he believes it would foster more competition among the current group.
“I think the big thing is that whatever position it is, you’re always trying to get better,” McElwain said last month in Orlando. “If there is an opportunity to get better, you know, that’s it. You’ve heard me talk about it. Great teams have competition at every position. You can never be comfortable. We’ve got to get to that point, we’re not there yet, and yet we’ve got to get to that point at every position.”
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