Written by Edgar Thompson at Orlando Sentinel.com
The Florida Gators’ quarterback race just became more interesting – and competitive.
Malik Zaire, a highly coveted Notre Dame graduate transfer, will visit UF this week with an eye on joining the Gators, according to reports from 247Sports and Fox Sports.
Speaking at the Elite 11 quarterback camp in Redondo Beach, Calif., Zaire said he is eager to test himself against SEC competition.
“Coming from Notre Dame, you’re playing top games every week, and I wanted to continue that trend,” Zaire told Luke Stampini of 247Sports.com. “I didn’t want to run from the challenge, I wanted to embrace the challenge.”
Zaire’s decision comes on the heels of the SEC’s decision last Friday to relax its rules on graduate transfers.
The conference reduced the penalty from three years to one year for schools that have graduate transfers who fail to meet academic benchmarks. UF faced a three-year ban from taking graduate transfers because former graduate transfers Mason Halter and Anthony Harrell failed to meet SEC academic requirements two years ago.
Zaire now is able to join the Gators, a move that had long been rumored although not formally announced.
Zaire, a 22-year-old left-hander, will have separate himself in a crowded quarterback room, led by redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks, who end the spring the frontrunner for the starting job.
Zaire must show he can handle a new offense in time for UF’s Sept. 2 opener against Michigan outside of Dallas.
Florida coach Jim McElwain said this spring coaches could tailor the Gators’ scheme to a player with more running ability than the current crop of signal callers.
Four of UF’s five current quarterbacks are pocket passers.
“The best guy is going to play, whoever’s ready,” McElwain said. “I think we can adjust based on what we need to do.”
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