Florida football: Chris McClellan drops hints on why guys are in the transfer portal

The transfer portal is hectic for everybody, but Florida football has had a particularly tough time when it’s come to losing guys to the portal.

It’s important to remember, however, that large amounts of transfers aren’t necessarily a bad thing. When an entirely new coaching staff comes in, there is bound to be some friction between players and coaches, especially when the new staff has a stronger emphasis on discipline.

A few days ago, a couple of players were in a Twitter Spaces conversation with some media members, and they were asked about all the transfers and if there were any particular reasons why so many guys were leaving.

One of the players in the space was 2nd year DL Chris McClellan. When asked about the slew of transfers, he pointed to the higher standard that players were held to as one of the reasons.

He referenced the Mullen administration and said that older players had a little more leniency back then than they do now under Napier.

“No disrespect to Coach Mullen, but from what I’ve heard from the older guys, they had a lot more leniency with the last staff than they do with this staff”

When he first got to Gainesville, it was clear that Napier was going to take discipline very seriously, and he brought in his army of staffers to help enforce that. When a program goes from the laid-back atmosphere of the last staff to the very disciplined and efficient program that Napier brought, you’ll always find some guys who don’t like it.

“Coach Napier does ask a lot of us, but it’s all for our best interest and I don’t think they were prepared for that.”

“It all goes back to discipline”

This interview also proved that all the transfers aren’t just guys being pushed out of the program for roster spots, or guys who wanted playing time elsewhere. There are a few cases where it just comes down to guys not wanting to put in the necessary work to play for UF.

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