BREAKING: Elijah Conliffe granted medical exemption

Florida Gators junior defensive lineman Elijah Conliffe is no longer with the team after receiving a medical exemption.

The news, first reported by Zach Abolverdi, was confirmed to Gator Country by Florida spokesperson Skip Powers.

Due to his medical exemption, Conliffe will remain on scholarship while he attends school but will not count against the Gators’ scholarship limit of 85 — Florida now has 83 players on scholarship. This is similar to

A four-star defensive tackle prospect from Virginia, Conliffe’s commitment to Florida was a huge get at the time. The talented defensive lineman played in eight games as a freshman in 2017 making eight tackles and one quarterback hurry. He made his collegiate debut against Tennessee and first career tackles and quarterback hurry against LSU that season. As a sophomore in 2018, he played in 11 games, including two starts and notched his first career fumble recovery in a win over Colorado State, as well as a career-high five tackle game against Kentucky.

However, Conliffe’s junior season was cut short before it would even begin with an unspecified foot injury during offseason workouts. He missed the entire season with the injury but was hoping to return in 2020.

Without Conliffe, the Gators will have a little less experience on the defensive side of the ball. The Gators do return seniors Kyree Campbell, T.J. Slaton, and Marlon Dunlap, in addition to three newcomers in Gervon Dexter, Lamar Goods, and Jalen Lee.

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