Jim Mcelwain addresses potential SEC graduate transfer rule change

On Monday Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey met with reporters in Birmingham Alabama. On the agenda was discussing the SEC’s graduate transfer rule, one that could greatly impact the Florida Gators this fall.

The SEC holds itself to a different standard than NCAA regulations. The league mandates that any graduate transfer hit certain benchmarks once they arrive at a new school that show the student-athlete is working towards the graduate degree that allowed them another immediate year of eligibility at another school. If a school has a player that fails to meet those benchmarks they will be restricted from taking graduate transfers for three years. This is a SEC-specific rule, not a NCAA one and Florida had two graduate transfers — Mason Halter and Anthony Harrell — not meet those benchmarks during the 2015 season.

However, more than a handful of SEC teams have inquired to Commissioner Sankey about changing the rule, that when the SEC adopted it the hope was that other conferences would follow suit. They haven’t and it’s put the league as a whole at a disadvantage.

How does this pertain to Florida?

Well, Jim McElwain has shown a willingness to take graduate transfers at Florida, including the aforementioned duo.

“I know it really helped us, how desperate we were on the offensive line when we first got there,” McElwain said on Tuesday in Orlando before meeting with the second stop on his spring speaking tour. “We were able to and Mason (Halter) that really got us through that season as we tried to develop our offensive line.”

Halter started 13 games during the year he transferred into Florida from Fordham before he was ruled academically ineligible for the Citrus Bowl.

Florida was also able to take advantage of the graduate transfer rule last year, bringing in Purdue transfer Austin Appleby. While Appleby lost out the starting job to Luke Del Rio he still served as the Gators starting quarterback in seven games as Del Rio nursed various injuries.

“We did that a year ago with Austin,” McElwain pointed out. “When Luke went down, he (Del Rio) was playing pretty good, we had some things clicking pretty good and yet Austin being able to come in and the way he finished, I looked at that and talking even about the bowl game I think the positive momentum of that had a lot to do with Austin and his approach.”

The biggest graduate transfer still on the market looking for a new school is former Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire, who has been training in Arizona while weighing out options for his next stop. Sources have told Gator Country and it has now been widely reported that the two parties have mutual interest, but Florida and Zaire might as well be the Montague’s and Capulet’s, unable to pair due to the SEC regulations.

“When you’re at a place like the University of Florida, with that national brand, the inquiries about that start even now about next year,” McElwain, who can’t name specific players by name, said Tuesday. “Guys that are looking to graduate and (asking) would you have a need? In our case we’re constantly trying to get the roster better. If it’s a position of need or if we have the spot we’ll obviously add one.”

That, however, will be on the docket when the league holds its annual SEC Spring meets in Destin, where they could vote to change the rule.

“It will come up,” Sankey said on Monday. “I do think we need to look where we’ve been restrictive in the past because of the absence of national rules and look at reducing some of those restrictions. I’m one who would position it as interest in freeing things up without just removing every restraint, because I think the restraints have been healthy for us.”

Zaire has set a tentative decision date to announce the school he would be attending, which may be before the SEC has a chance to vote on changing the rule, but Zaire has set and pushed back commitment dates previously. He is set to graduate from Notre Dame this month. Florida would open their arms to Zaire and toss him right into the mix with redshirt freshmen Kyle Trask, Feleipe Franks and Del Rio.

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