Florida senior DB Cody Riggs to transfer in May

By Adam Silverstein
February 5, 2014

Updated on Thursday at 6:45 p.m.

Florida Gators redshirt senior defensive back Cody Riggs will transfer out of the program, head coach Will Muschamp announced Wednesday at his post-National Signing Day press conference.

“Cody Riggs and his parents came to me and he’s going to finish up in May and transfer to another school to finish his last year of eligibility, wanted a fresh start,” Muschamp said. “And I appreciate his contributions to Florida.”

Riggs, who has played in 40 games with 25 starts over the last four seasons, only saw action in two contests as a true junior in 2012 after fracturing his foot during the second game of the campaign.

He started 10 games at cornerback in 2011 but moved to safety to help the Gators in 2012-13, finishing fourth on the team with 51 tackles (10 for lost yardage) last year.

According to The Gainesville Sun‘s Pat Dooley, Riggs’s desire to return to his natural position of cornerback fueled his decision to transfer.

(It also leaves Florida without a returning starter at safety from the 2013 season as Jaylen Watkins graduated at the end of the year.)

Riggs denied that notion on Thursday, telling Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated that he would have left prior to the 2012 campaign if he was concerned about preparing for the NFL. Instead, he wants to “attend graduate business school and pursue either an MBA or other business degree” elsewhere in order to “expand his network.”

“This was the hardest decision I ever had to make,” Riggs said. “I love my teammates and the fans here. I really feel awful about leaving my teammates, especially a young secondary. This was something that I needed to do.”

He added: “Muschamp is the best coach I’ve ever had. His defense is always going to be good, regardless of who is back there. They have a lot of talent back there, it gives me a little peace knowing that they’re going to be OK.”

13 Comments

  1. cline says:

    Good contributor while he was here. Best of Luck. Go Gators!

  2. Ken (CA) says:

    was this the “one more transfer” you expected that you mentioned yesterday, or kind of out of the blue? Seems pretty last minute for recruiting purposes

  3. Daniel M. says:

    Where and how do we make financial contributions Adam? I saw the pop up but am at work sneaking peeks on mobile.

    • It’ll pop up again in a day or two. I think I have a link that I can put up on the sidebar or in this thread soon.

      • Michael Jones says:

        I tried to make one on tinypass around 1:00 p.m. but it’s been “processing” all afternoon and hasn’t been deducted from my account yet.

        • If I were you, I’d cancel it and do it again. If I see a double charge, I’ll refund it.

          Just looked now and you have NOT been charged.

          • Michael Jones says:

            Never doubted that, Adam. Cancelled and will try to figure it out, lol (I’m a bit of a technological dinosaur). I saw above where you mentioned that you would be presenting the opportunity again so we’ll get it done sooner or later.

            As I’ve said many times before–and particularly with the game last night and all of this going on today–can’t imagine how many hours you’ve put in to keep us updated. So, as always, MANY THANKS!

  4. aziatic41 says:

    Not a big loss at all. Riggs was not a good player IMO. Very small and suspect in pass coverage.

  5. Graydon says:

    Who do expect to start at safety this year? Think we will see much of a drop off from RIggs and Watkins?

  6. aziatic41 says:

    -Graydon

    I expect either Marcus Maye or Brian Poole to start at safety this year. Hopefully Maye can get it together because he is probably the more athletic of the two.

  7. Michael Jones says:

    Too bad. We’ll miss you, Cody, especially your experience. Thanks for your contributions.

    But the cupboard is not bare. Jabari Gorman will knock you into next week, and Maye is a stud who had ups and downs last year but should be ready to explode. Plus we have a ton of safety talent from last year’s recruiting class that hasn’t even seen the field yet.

    Still, experience is huge, and that’s where Cody’s loss will hurt the most.

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