Following two injury plagued seasons Colin Thompson has decided to get a fresh start and transfer away from the University of Florida. A Pennsylvania native, Thompson first visited Penn State and Gator Country was able to confirm that Thompson spent Thursday and Friday in Happy Valley.
Thompson chose to attend Florida over scholarship offers from Alabama, Boston College, Cincinnati, Maryland, Penn State, Northwestern and South Carolina — among others.
Thompson joined Kent Taylor in the 2012 recruiting class and the two talented tight ends were seemingly set to be the future at Florida. Thompson played in just three games in his career due to foot injuries and Taylor played sparingly before transferring to Kansas after the 2013 season.
Thompson was granted a release from his scholarship at Florida and took a visit to Penn State on Thursday. Gator Country was able to reach Thompson on Friday afternoon but he was still on Penn State’s campus, waiting to meet with the coaching staff.
The writing had been on the wall in regards to Thompson’s future. He was removed from the official roster before the spring and Florida signed three tight ends in the 2014 recruiting class.
The Gators released this statement regarding Thompson.
“We granted permission for schools to contact Colin. The SEC approved a medical exemption for him in May and we will share that information with the other institutions.”
The Gators were preparing to play without Thompson due to his injuries. Florida will have three senior tight ends (Tevin Westbrook, Clay Burton and transfer Jake McGee) as well as three freshmen (DeAndre Goolsby, C’yontai Lewis and Moral Stephens) when they kick off the 2014 season.