UF can’t pry top QB from Georgia
Junior college kicker commits after snub of Bama.
Florida was hoping to fill two areas of need Tuesday.
Instead, the Gators will have to settle for improving one major weakness. After five-star Lake Stevens (Wash.) quarterback Jacob Eason announced in the early afternoon that he would be sticking with Georgia, Florida ended the day with some good news.
Junior college kicker Eddy Pineiro of ASA College verbally committed to the Gators on Tuesday night. The news comes after the Miami native decommitted from Alabama on Monday night.
Pineiro, an early enrollee, is expected to be Florida’s starting kicker next season in place of Austin Hardin. The struggling Hardin has made five of his 14 field goal attempts and has missed three extra points this season.
With Hardin ranked 110th nationally in fieldgoal percentage, Gators coach Jim McElwain took it upon himself to pursue Pineiro. McElwain visited Pineiro at his Miami home the day after Florida’s loss to Alabama in the SEC championship game.
Pineiro is rated as a three-star kicker by 247 Sports. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Pineiro features a strong leg, as he posted a video of himself drilling a practice 77-yard field goal attempt earlier this month.
But the Gators couldn’t convince Eason to flip from Georgia.
Eason flirted with the Gators and took an official visit to Florida on Dec. 1 after the Bulldogs fired head coach Mark Richt. But Eason’s visit to Georgia this past weekend solidified his commitment to the Bulldogs and new head coach Kirby Smart.
The good news for Florida is that it still has two quarterbacks committed to its 2016 class — fourstar Crawfordville Wakulla’s Feleipe Franks and three-star Manvel (Texas) quarterback Kyle Trask. Both plan to enroll in January.
Grier returning: Quarterback Will Grier will be back after bowl season.
McElwain announced Tuesday that Grier will return to the team on Jan. 5, just days after the Citrus Bowl. Although Grier is allowed to practice with the team during his suspension, the redshirt freshman has been away since the NCAA suspended him on Oct. 12 for one calendar year for a vio- lation of the NCAA’s policy regarding performance-enhancing drugs.
“He can’t go to the bowl site anyway,” McElwain said.
Grier has continued to go to class throughout his suspension despite traveling home to North Carolina during the appeals process. The NCAA turned down the appeal, ruling not to reduce Grier’s yearlong suspension.
“It’s tough on everybody,” McElwain said. “The poor guy, walking on campus ain’t easy. I just feel sick about it. Yeah, it’s not easy, and yet, you learn things when they don’t go well and they really make you stronger.”
Grier will be ineligible to play until the seventh game of the 2016 season — a home game against Missouri on Oct. 15. He will be a redshirt sophomore when he returns.
Before his suspension, Grier beat out Treon Harris for the starting job. He completed 65.8 percent of his passes for 1,204 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions in six games this season.