Brenton Cox Jr.’s dismissal from the Florida Gators is the first on record in the Billy Napier era. We’ve seen 14 players enter the transfer portal since Napier’s hiring on November 28th, 2021, but zero dismissed from the football team.
Dismissals are rare in college football; Most coaches will let the player choose to transfer or leave the program “on their own terms”. This was not the case for Brenton Cox.
“Brenton, we’ve kind of decided to move on here I think — you know, I think that being a football player at the University of Florida is a privilege, right? There’s certain expectations and standards that come with that,” Billy Napier said on Cox’s dismissal.
“Brenton’s been here, in his third year,” Napier said. “Obviously he’s done a lot of good things for the University of Florida, and we wish him nothing but the best.”
“Sometimes you have to make decisions in the best interests of the team,” Napier said. “Certainly Brenton, we’re going to do everything we can do to help him with his transition, but as simple as that. I think we’ve decided to move on.”
The news dropped right before Monday’s press conference; the media was able to catch immediate reactions from teammates Jaydon Hill and O’Cyrus Torrence.
“ It definitely sends a strong message throughout the locker room,” Jaydon Hill said on Cox’s dismissal. “That’s my guy. I’m still rooting for B to this day.”
Many of the players found out the same time the public did.
“It kind of caught me off guard a little bit. I kind of found out when I got there,” Hill said. “That’s Coach Napier’s decision, and I leave that up to Coach. We’ve just got to keep growing as a team and finish out strong, but I wish him the best for sure.”
O’Cyrus Torrence claimed he doesn’t recall Billy Napier ever dismissing anyone at Louisiana.
“We had troubles with players maybe that I didn’t know about, but not for the most part,” Torrence said.
Torrence was asked what the message to the team is following the dismissal.
“Maybe like a message to some things you just can’t put up with as a team, as a whole,” Torrence said. “We’re in this thing together, so some things you do just can’t be accepted.”
Trey Dean took to social media following the news, initially claiming the report was false. He later deleted the tweet. He sent out another tweet later in the day showing his support for Cox; that tweet was also deleted.
Billy Napier isn’t going to have a long leash when it comes to players not seeing eye-to-eye with the standards he sets at Florida. I don’t think he’s one to overreact, but he’s going to have the team’s interest in mind at all times.
Florida will need to rely on younger and less experienced players in the final four games of the 2022 season. Jaydon Hill has complete confidence in the guys behind Cox on the depth chart. Hill says that Lloyd Summerall learned a lot from Cox throughout this process.
“Even with B, through the whole course, Lloyd has been taking from his game and just applying it to his,” Hill said. “I feel like Lloyd has learned a lot from B as far as like his play. Lloyd has learned the urgency, and I feel like Lloyd has taken the big step to be ready.”
“Honestly, I’m confident of Lloyd and his play and all the other bucks as well, Twaun, Reese. I’m confident in all those guys. I feel like they’re ready, no doubt,” Hill said.
Florida will need Antwuan Powell-Ryland, David Reese, and Llyod Summerall to step up and pressure the QB against an inconsistent Aggie offensive line this Saturday.