Scarlett determined take advantage of 2nd chance

GAINESVILLE — UF tailback Jordan Scarlett expected to spend last fall chasing a 1,000-yard season.

Instead, Scarlett stumbled badly, fell hard and was unable to get back on his feet for some time following his suspension for his role in credit card fraud scheme that sidelined nine Gators.

Scarlett eventually would dust himself off and receive a second chance from a new coaching staff, led by Dan Mullen.

Following practice Friday, Scarlett insisted he is a changed man and will not squander this opportunity to prove himself.

“It was very difficult, tough times for me, considering how much I love football,” he said. “It was just a time for me to sit back and reflect on life. It was a big learning lesson.

“I just learned I can’t take the game for granted. I realized that the whole time, that I obviously was taking the game for granted when I made that mistake. I will never do it again.”

Scarlett’s hard-charging running style had positioned him to become the 2017 Gators’ featured back and a team leader. That strength and determination had to serve him in other ways as days turned into weeks, weeks into months and his junior season finally slipped away.

While in exile and limbo, Scarlett went to class and worked out twice day to fill the time normally devoted to football. On Saturdays, Scarlett tuned in and helplessly watched the Gators’ season collapse and his former coaches lose their jobs.

Scarlett considered declaring for the NFL draft, but decided it would have been a selfish, if not cowardly, move.

When Mullen allowed Scarlett to rejoin the Gators, he jumped at the chance.

“I feel like I owe my team, so I came back to help them,” he said.

Scarlett’s return could be a game-changer for a struggling offense. After he rushed for 889 yards in 2016, Scarlett was poised to become a top SEC back because of his blend of size, power and speed.

While Mullen looks to develop a quarterback to run his spread offense, the 5-foot-10, 213-pound Scarlett could prove a bell cow back able to handle a sizeable workload.

“He knows the pass game, he knows the run game,” senior left tackle Martez Ivey said. “And he’s been around. He’s experienced. That’s a big boost for us in the offense.”

In fact, Ivey said Scarlett made the most of his time away. One of the team’s most impressive physical specimens returned fitter and faster.

“He looked better,” Ivey said following the first two practices this spring. “Way better.”

But to term Scarlett’s return a success, he will have to improve himself off the field, too.

Scarlett, a former standout at Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas High, missed the team’s bowl game during his freshman year following a citation for misdemeanor marijuana possession.

The credit card scheme, however, led to felony charges and raised serious questions about Scarlett’s character. Scarlett, like several teammates, transferred close to $2,000 from stolen credit cards to purchase electronics. Unlike anyone else implicated, though, he transferred money into the account of his girlfriend, telling her it came from a sports agent in New York.

Since Scarlett and six other Gators were first-time offenders, the state attorney’s office offered pre-trial intervention that would lead to the dismissal of third-degree felony credit card fraud charges if certain conditions were met.

“In the beginning it was really stressful because I really wasn’t sure what was going to happen and how the consequences were going to play out,” Scarlett said. “Thankfully, God blessed me and has me standing here today.”

Mullen played a key role, too.

“I just told him I apologized. I was really sorry for what I did,” Scarlett recalled. “The choice is his, but I was just ready for whatever decision he was going to give to me.”

Scarlett cannot make another slip-up.

New running backs coach Greg Knox has Scarlett on a short leash. Following a recent practice, the 52-year-old coach pull Scarlett aside to remind him how lucky he is.

“We had a meeting about him taking advantage of this second opportunity,” Knox said. “I think he understands the situation and understands the urgency of it and he’s trying to get it right.”

If he does not, it will not be for lack of effort. Scarlett said he hopes people he disappointed eventually will see him in a favorable light.

“They’ll get 110 percent out of me,” Scarlett said.

AP FILE RB Jordan Scarlett was suspended last season for his role in a credit card fraud scheme that sidelined nine Gators.