There were many people, ourselves included, who felt that Will Muschamp would have no choice but to give Janoris Jenkins the boot following his third arrest in two years -- and second this year -- earlier this month.
Unfortunately for the player, and even more unfortunate for UF’s secondary, that turned out to be the case.
Muschamp announced Tuesday afternoon -- via Twitter incidentally -- that the All-SEC corner has been dismissed from the football program.
“After meeting with Janoris Jenkins today, we both felt it was in his best interest to move ahead to the next stage of his career,” Muschamp said in the first tweet, before adding in a second one that "[w]e appreciate Janoris’ contributions to the University of Florida during his time here and wish him the best of luck.”
Jenkins was arrested early in the morning this past Saturday and charged with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana. He was cited for the same offense in late January. In May of 2009, Jenkins was charged with resisting arrest without violence — after being on the receiving end of a taser.
He was named first-team All-SEC this past season as a junior, but surprised many by eschewing a shot at the NFL draft and returning to Gainesville for another season. Based on what’s happened in the past three months, we’re guessing Jenkins might be ruing that decision right about now.
As for Jenkins’ football future, it’s unclear whether he will attempt to play at a level lower than the Div. 1-A level or if he would attempt to make himself attempt for the NFL’s supplemental draft. There’s no guarantee, though, that there will even be such a draft or, if there is, that Jenkins would be included in that normally shallow pool.