The disappointment of former Florida quarterback Will Grier’s transfer from the program in December still sticks with some in Gainesville.
Gainesville Sun columnist Pat Dooley spoke with 1010XL Jax Sports Radio on Tuesday to shed some light on Grier’s separation with the Gators.
“(Grier and his father) wanted guarantees. The father came in there and said, ‘What’s the plan to get Will back in the lineup?’” Dooley said. “(The coaches) were like, ‘There is no plan. He can’t even rep until the seventh week. We’re going forward without him.’
“Florida was kind of taking the approach, ‘What are you thinking? He’s not eligible. You can’t just step in from non-eligibility and be the starter.’”
Dooley said he didn’t think there was any real angst among the UF coaching staff that Grier decided to leave despite the fact that he led the team to a 6-0 start before being handed a year-long suspension for failing a test for using performance-enhancing drugs.
Grier’s next destination is still unknown, although it won’t be at another SEC school, according to a report in December from the Associated Press’ Mark Long.
Former Gators QB Will Grier did not get full release from scholarship. He's banned from transferring to other SEC schools, maybe more
— Mark Long (@APMarkLong) December 21, 2015
You have to figure Florida State was also part of that ban.
It was reported earlier this month that Grier was on West Virginia’s campus. However, word is we won’t know where Grier will be continuing his football career for at least a little while.
“The word (Grier’s) dad gave me a month ago is that (Will is) going to wait until after spring ball and assess where his best chance to play not this year but next year (2017) would be,” Dooley said.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
