S Shaw, DE Trail to transfer from Florida Gators

By Adam Silverstein
November 29, 2011

Two more Florida Gators football players – redshirt freshmen safety Joshua Shaw and defensive end Lynden Trail have decided to leave the program, The Gainesville Sun’s Pat Dooley confirmed Tuesday.

Both four-star recruits from Florida’s heralded 2010 recruiting class, Shaw and Trail are the 10th and 11 players to depart since head coach Will Muschamp took over.

“We wish Lynden and Josh the best of luck in the future and we certainly appreciate their contributions to the football program,” Muschamp said in a school release.

Shaw registered 22 tackles (one for loss) and a pass breakup in 10 games this year, while Trail never saw the field and did not even dress for the vast majority of contests.

“I have enjoyed my time at Florida but I feel like I need to be closer to my family right now,” Shaw said in the same school release. “This is not a football decision, this is a family decision. I need to be with my family.”

Each player came into the program with a previous relationship. Shaw (Palmdale, CA) was close to and from the same state as sophomore defensive end Ronald Powell (Moreno Valley, CA), and Trail attended the same high school as redshirt freshman wide receiver Quinton Dunbar (Booker T. Washington).

“I have decided that I would like to pursue opportunities elsewhere,” Trail said. “I want to thank the fans and Gator Nation for their support. I’ll always be a Gator at heart.”

Trail also wrote about his decision on his Twitter account Tuesday.

GATORNATION I LOVE YALL AND LOVED ALL YALL SUPPORT I LOVED THE COACHES MY TEAMMATES AND THE STUDENTS HERE ONCE A GATOR ALWAYS A GATOR <3 [and] I have nothing negative to say about UF I LOVE THE PROGRAM THE STUDENTS THE FRIENDS I MADE AND OVERALL THE FANS #GATORNATION

The duo join DE Chris Martin, WR Chris Dunkley, WR Javares McRoy, running back Mike Blakely, tight end Michael McFarland, linebacker Dee Finely, TE Gerald Christian and WR Robert Clark as players who transferred this season. Cornerback Janoris Jenkins was dismissed from the team following two marijuana arrests in less than 90 days.

Additionally, redshirt junior offensive lineman Daivd Young announced that he plans to graduate and will not participate in his final year of eligibility. Young saw action in all 12 games so far this season.

24 Comments

  1. Brett says:

    That 2010 class gets thinner and thinner

  2. Ken (CA) says:

    off to OSU, maybe?

  3. cline says:

    talk about lack of depth.

  4. zurbo says:

    Nobody wants to earn their playing time anymore…pathetic

  5. JCGator says:

    At least Driskel said he was here for the long run…then again, I don’t know if I can trust anyone anymore :\

  6. Joe says:

    We have never restricted where a transfer wanted to go, but now I think it’s time to start.

  7. GatorCooken says:

    What’s that get us down to now in schollys? 67 not including walk ons?

  8. Sroode21 says:

    Once you quit on the gator nation, not a Gator anymore

  9. Tractorr says:

    How many scholarships will we be at after the seniors leave?

    Is it possible that Muschamp is cleaning house (probably not likely in Shaw’s case but entirely likely in Trail’s).

    • Mark says:

      Shaw supposedly was home sick. Can’t blame him.

      Trail was probably told that he can stay if he wanted, but that he might not get much playing time ever.

  10. npgator says:

    Around every corner is good news with our program these days. 2011 will look best in the rear view mirror.

  11. CJ says:

    Muschamp a players coach ??, Trail helped keep this class together, anyone can blame the players, his schemes didn’t fit the players on offense or defense, you adjust to the players you have. If he makes it three years I will be surprised.

    • Mr2Bits says:

      He did a great job planking instead of lifting weights and competing for playing time. I thank him for helping keep things together when Urbs was faking his health issues but he didn’t play hard enough to even dress this year.

    • Gator John says:

      But you can only adjust to the players so far. The coach has to begin at some point to install his own offense and defense, even if it doesn’t work with the current players, it will help those returning next year to already have a start in the new system.

  12. scooterp says:

    I guess this is Meyer’s fault

  13. swiftt_tech69 says:

    Dante fowler…….Come On Down!!! Happens in every program, I had really high hopes for trail and shaw. But with pop and evans and elam taking most of the reps at safety I can see why he’s leaving. Thank god our secondary is really deep. And this is why we brought in six dbs last class, and why we have 5 now.

  14. Will W says:

    Wow. Just wow. Everytime Coach M talks about problems with the program, he mentions “numbers.” This certainly doesn’t help. I remember when Shaw came out of HS, it was said he was “NFL ready.” I guess not. Good luck guys.

  15. aziatic41 says:

    Its fair to give Muschamp a fair chance before calling for his head but I think the biggest mistake he made as a first year coach was getting rid of the spread offense. Our roster was composed of spread offense players and he decided to throw it out the window and install a pro-style offense with spread players. Just not a very smart idea.. Demps, Rainey, and most of all our wrs are spread system players.

    Also, as a first year coach at a big-time program you should never kick your best player off the team right away. Muschamp booted Janoris Jenkins off the team. I think that was a mistake. How many other coaches in the SEC have kicked their “best” players off their team?? Not many that I know of. Just think guys, if we would have had Janoris against UGA, Auburn, SC, I think we would have probably won those games. All of the crucial 3rd and 4th down completions against us, with Janoris defending those plays, they would probably been incomplete passes or ints, and we would be currently standing at 9-3 or 10-2 right now.

    As far as guys transferring, not a surprise to me. Young athletes nowadays have that mentality that if things don’t go well they will leave. Its very common in high school, college, and pro sports. Very sad but a trend among young athletes today

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