With just six returning scholarship linebackers returning for 2015 – and an even lesser number currently healthy – the Florida Gators have looked to a graduate transfer to improve their depth at the position ahead of the season.
Former three-star recruit Anthony Harrell (Tampa, FL) has graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in business administration and announced on Twitter his intention join Florida on Monday ahead of the 2015 campaign.
[Update: Harrell is now listed as a redshirt senior on the Gators’ updated roster.]
“These past four years at Georgia Tech have been amazing. It is with a sad heart that I announce that I am leaving Georgia Tech and my Yellow Jacket football team,” he wrote. “I have been accepted to the University of Florida’s Masters Degree Program. My family and I have decided that it would be better for my future and where I want to go in life and that I will be attending and playing my 5th year of football at the University of Florida.”
Harrell wrote that as part of a six-paragraph reply to a tweet from Georgia Tech football’s official account, which announced the player as “suspended indefinitely” from the program.
Harrell (6-foot-3, 235 pounds), the son of former Gators walk-on LB James Harrell (1975-98), tore his ACL in 2013 but returned last season to register 19 tackles in 13 games as a redshirt junior with the Yellow Jackets.
Multiple Florida players that are aware of the younger Harrell’s decision has been congratulating him on joining the program via Twitter.
Harrell is the fourth immediately-eligible player to join the Gators via transfer ahead of the 2015 season, following senior quarterback/wide receiver Josh Grady (Vanderbilt), senior FCS All-American offensive lineman Mason Halter (Fordham) and freshman OL T.J. McCoy (NC State), a legacy in his own right.
Coach Mac seems to be pulling rabbits out of his hat to fill critical needs this year, makes me feel better and better about our chances this year.
Agreed. I am sticking to 7-5 as most probable, but have now changed 8-4 to be more likely than 6-6.
Coach ’em up Mac!
I’m much more optimistic than that. Even with the lack of depth in our lines, our schedule is very favorable this year. I could see a 9-3 or 10-2 type year. LSU seems likely loss, FSU is at home now without mr. crablegs. Missouri all depends on what attrition they had last year, but definitely winnable. UT UK improved, but I don’t see them as obvious losses. East Carolina to start with will tell a whole lot about the team and where it is going right off the bat, but I don’t know what they look like compared to the bowl team last year, either. The team chemistry and apparent bonding with the new coach seems obvious and that is a major positive intangible.
Congrats Gators! Welcome Mr Harrell!
Guess this is why he kept a few uncommitted scholarships, to get a couple grown men transfers up front. I like it…
WE SAY….”IT’S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR”…..class of 1975.
LOVE WHAT HE IS DOING HERE, HOPEFULLY HE CAN BRIDGE THE NUMBERS GAP THIS WAY.
Adam…
You have used the term “transfer legacy” and “freshman legacy”. What exactly does this mean? Thanks (I was a physics major, not an English major at UF)
Legacy refers to following in the path of a parent. Both of those kids’ dads played for Florida.
It actually refers to more than that. If anyone in the family was there, then someone is a legacy. Trivial difference though
I was explaining my usage of it in that context.
you meantion he was “suspended indefinitely”. Is this because of his impending transfer and just some legalese, or was there some disciplinary action taken for some reason?
We definitely need the bodies but I can’t get too excited about these graduate transfers. Maybe they will have great seasons with us and someone will feel they are good enough to draft. Am I missing something here?
Not missing much. We desperately need the bodies, and they are experienced and can contribute immediately. Most of the freshman are not going to be ready on the go and preferably linemen are often red-shirted. This will give maybe a couple a chance to red shirt, bulk up to college weight for a year and learn the system so they can contribute later, except we are so thin they may all be needed. Basically it is a way to survive a couple of injuries and get us through this year while they recruit 4-7 more next year to really add some depth to the line.