Jac Caglianone's post game comments go viral after Florida Baseball is eliminated

In an age of NIL and transfer portals, one may get a bit jaded with college athletics. Whether it is Florida Baseball or any other big-time squad, fans sometimes wonder how much the players really care when the paychecks flowing into these players get bigger and bigger each year.

But Florida's biggest star of them all put to bed any notion that the Gators were merely playing for a paycheck after an interview he gave following their elimination from the College World Series has gone viral.

Florida Baseball: It Just Means More

The Gators were eliminated after losing the Texas A&M 6-0 last night. Even though Jac Caglianone has one more year of eligibility left, he is destined to be a top five draft pick in the MLB Draft and the odds of him returning to Florida are next to zero.

In an interview with Daren Stoltzfus of news station WESH in Orlando, Caglianone appeared to be feeling the finality of the moment.

"I gave all I had to this program. I just can't thank the coaching staff enough for what they have done for me. It's tough to talk right now I'm not going to lie to you. I dread the day I'd have to take this jersey off for the last time. I guess that's tonight. But I guess I just wasn't mentally ready for it."

- Jac Caglianone

Caglianone's comments are part of a truth around this time of year: Either a team wins the national title, or their season and/or careers will end in a loss.

But Caglianone's speech has gone viral with over 5,000 likes on X and close to one million overall views because it's a reminder there are still players out there willing to play for the logo on front of the jersey as much as they are for the paycheck they collect behind the scenes.

Even Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN chimed in with how much he loved the words from Caglianone.