One of the chaotic subplots this past offseason for the Florida Gators was its pursuit of a backup QB. Florida thought it had landed a viable solution when Deshawn Purdie, out of UNC Charlotte, committed to the Gators, but he never actually made it to campus and instead transferred to Wake Forest.
Purdie was named the backup QB for Wake Forest to start the 2025 season, and when one remembers why he never made it to Florida in the first place, it makes it all the more comical.
Deshawn Purdie named backup QB at Wake Forest
Purdie committed to the Gators back on December 22 and was seen as a decent option. He has a big arm that would have fit well in Billy Napier's base system, but everyone in the world knew that Purdie wasn't going to be needed unless something happened to DJ Lagway.
Well, everyone knew Purdie was going to be the backup except for Purdie because three weeks after committing he withdrew and wound up at Wake Forest.
What was reported at the time was that Purdie apparently thought he was going to get a fair shot at the starting QB job in Gainesville, and when he finally put two and two together, he left.
If Purdie had gone to Wake Forest and won the starting job there, hey good for him.
But instead, he couldn't beat out Robby Ashford, the former dual-threat QB at Auburn who spent last year as the backup for South Carolina.
So rather than spend 2025 as the backup at Florida, where he is one Lagway mistep away from getting on the field with the Gators, Purdie will spend the year as the backup at Wake Forest with games appearing on the CW.
Mind you, he also could have just stayed at UNC Charlotte and been the starter there for 2025.
It's a tale that's cropping up more and more in college football, where bad advice is sending guys down these long and winding roads where they would have been better off staying on their original path.