Matt Rolin no longer with the Florida Gators

Florida Gators redshirt junior linebacker Matt Rolin is no longer with the team, the school confirmed on Monday morning. Rolin’s career has been plagued by injury, limiting his experience to just three games and one start in three seasons.

“He just kind of lost the love of the game. He’s going to stay and graduate, should be done actually this semester if he chooses to use his time right,” McElwain said following practice Monday. “And that’s kind of the goal for him. And for the right reasons. He wasn’t really into it and yet at the same time he saw he was taking reps from some of the young guys that have been showing some promise. So for him and the injuries he’s had, he’s just chosen that maybe there’s something else in his life. For the right reasons. He really wasn’t into it. At the same time, he thought he was taking reps from some of the young guys that have been showing some progress. Him and the injuries he’s had, he’s chosen to maybe do something else with his life.”

The Ashburn, Virginia native was originally committed to South Carolina before tearing his ACL during his senior year of high school. Despite the injury the Gators continued recruiting Rolin and he eventually flipped his commitment. Rolin suffered another ACL tear shortly after arriving on campus. Rolin sat out the entire 2013 and 2014 seasons due to surgery. Rolin saw no game action through the Gators first 10 games of the 2015 season. He saw the first game action of his career against Florida Atlantic, also his first career start.

Rolin’s departure leaves the Gators with just eight scholarship linebackers. Only three of those linebackers (Jarrad Davis, Alex Anzalone, Daniel McMillian) have game experience.

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