Florida DT Elijah Conliffe ends Gators career due to injury, takes medical exception

By Adam Silverstein
July 28, 2020
Florida DT Elijah Conliffe ends Gators career due to injury, takes medical exception
Football

Image Credit: UAA

With the 2020 college football season in limbo at this time, the Florida Gators are still in the process of finishing up voluntary workouts and determining their roster for fall camp. When Florida does convene for practice, it will be without redshirt junior defensive tackle Elijah Conliffe.

Conliffe, who played in 19 games with two starts over three seasons with the Gators, will take a medical exemption that ends his career but keeps him on scholarship so he can complete his academic journey, a program spokesman confirmed to Only Gators. This after he suffered a foot injury a year ago that forced him to miss the entire 2019 season.

Though he was not a big contributor at Florida totaling just 15 tackles, a fumble recovery and a quarterback hurry, Conliffe — a former four-star prospect — was expected to see increased playing time in 2019 prior to his injury. Expectations were not especially high for the 2020 season, though if he stayed healthy, he would have been the lone upperclassman at the position in 2021.

The Gators defensive line will not be affected by his loss much in 2020 with seniors Kyree Campbell and Tedarrell Slaton plus redshirt senior Marlon Dunlap taking up space in the middle; however, beyond those three, they will be relying on a trio of freshmen led by five-star Gervon Dexter (Lake Wales, FL), the No. 12 overall player in the nation, per the 247Sports Composite.

Florida only has one defensive tackle committed for 2021 with its class nearing capacity, though Conliffe’s departure does open an additional slot.

Join The
Discussion

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top
WordPress Appliance - Powered by TurnKey Linux