Florida football: CB Jaydon Hill, OL Micah Mazzccua enter transfer portal as graduates

Football

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Image Credit: GatorsFB on Twitter

Two Florida Gators who walked on Senior Day at the conclusion of the 2023 season announced over the last couple of days that they will enter the transfer portal as graduate students. Cornerback Jaydon Hill and offensive lineman Micah Mazzccua will not return to the team for the 2024 campaign despite the fact that both would have seen significant opportunty in Year 3 under head coach Billy Napier.

Hill’s redshirt junior season saw him appear in all 12 games starting 11 at the “star” position. He finished with a career-high 39 tackles (four for loss), four pass breakups, two sacks, two quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery. This after Hill started the final nine games of the 2022 season following a recovery from an ACL injury that stretched for over a year.

It’s not a huge surprise that Hill is moving on as he likely wants to start at a true cornerback position before attempting to make it as a professional. Still, his departure — given he was arguably the most consistent player in the secondary last season — is a loss for the team’s overall talent.

Mazzccua, a transfer from Baylor last offseason, started 11 of 12 games at right guard. The game he missed was due to a fight at the end of the Tennessee game. Mazzccua nearly left Florida during spring practice and was reportedly at odds with the program throughout the season

It was thought that both players would attempt to move on to the NFL after this season, but clearly they did not receive positive enough grades from evaluators as they are instead choosing to try their luck elsewhere at the collegiate level rather than return to the Gators for an additional season.

While UF has suffered significant transfer portal losses, they are not notably more than other top programs nationally. Specifically frustrating for Florida, however, was the departure of sophomore running back Trevor Etienne, who has committed to transfer to rival Georgia.

The Gators have now lost five players who would have started or played significant snaps in 2024.

This offseason will be one of significant change for Florida, which will not only be replenishing its roster through the transfer portal but reshaping its coaching staff. How drastically the latter will be changed is still somewhat up in the air.

Napier fired two assistant coaches and took significant time replacing them. Now he must fill a hole created at linebacker coach after Jay Bateman left to take the defensive coordinator job at Texas A&M. This as expectations remain that the Gators will make changes to the offensive side of the ball. Napier is also in the process of hiring a new strength & conditioning coordinator with