Florida Gators to start spring without top playmaker

The florida gators will be without Treon Harris and Antonio Callaway when spring football starts, Jim McElwain announced Tuesday.

“They haven’t been with us since January,” McElwain announced Tuesday. “That’s the last we’ll talk about it.”

McElwain deflected questions on if the players would be missing for the entirety of spring practice but did say that both players would continue with their “schoolwork.”

Last season Callaway broke Reidel Anthony’s school record for receiving yards by a freshman with a 26-yard screen pass in the Citrus Bowl. He ended his freshman campaign with 35 catches (3rd on the team) for a team best 678 yards and four scores. Callaway provided the highlight of the 2015 season with his 63-yard catch and run that gave its eventual winning score over Tennessee.

Callaway’s production wasn’t limited solely to offense; he was a weapon on special teams as well. His 15.54 yards per return was second best in the SEC — tops among freshmen — and his two punt return touchdowns gave Florida’s struggling offense a break.

Heading into this year, Callaway is projected to be the No. 1 receiver for the Gators.

Treon Harris started the first game of the season for the Gators before being replaced by Will Grier. Harris took over the job before the LSU game after Grier’s suspension for PEDs. Harris played his best game of the season that week in Baton Rouge, completing 17-of-32 pass attempts for 271 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. His play slowly tapered off as the season went on and teams forced him to stay in the pocket and throw the ball.

It appeared that Harris would be in a quarterback battle with Luke Del Rio and graduate transfer Austin Appleby this spring, if Harris decided to stick it out at quarterback instead of switching positions.

Florida will start spring practice on Wednesday, March 9.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC

2 COMMENTS

  1. So they haven’t been with the team since January. Must’ve been something pretty bad if it’s like that. Callaway has the world in front of him for the taking so I hope he didn’t do anything like asking for jail time. As for Harris, why is he still on the team? He’s been suspended twice now, not counting the time for the alleged sex assault. Trouble seems to follow Harris and that’s not something that should be around this team.