For the second time in less than 24 hours, Florida has reportedly lost a player to transfer.
The Gainesville Sun is reporting that oft-injured offensive lineman Matt Patchan has decided to take his leave of the Gators football program and transfer elsewhere. As was the case with De’Ante Saunders, who is likely to transfer to Louisville to be reunited with Charlie Strong, the school has yet to confirm Patchan’s impending departure.
The Sun writes that Patchan “will either transfer to Ohio State, where Urban Meyer is the coach, or Boston College, where Steve Addazio is the coach.” Meyer recruited Patchan to UF, while Addazio served as the lineman’s position coach.
The decision to move on by Patchan ends a Gator career littered with injuries.
After playing in 11 games as a true freshman in 2008 as a defensive lineman, he suffered a leg injury that cost him a chance to play in the BCS title game. An October ACL tear prematurely ended Patchan‘s 2009 season and cost him the entire 2010 season as well, while a back injury sidelined the starting offensive lineman for Florida’s bowl win over Ohio State at the end of last season. He missed all of the 2012 season with a pectoral injury suffered during a summer camp scrimmage this past August.
After starting the final seven games of the 2011 regular season, Patchan entered that camp as the presumptive starter at right tackle before suffering the latest in a string of injuries.
Patchan was a five-star member of Meyer’s 2008 recruiting class, rated as the No. 5 offensive tackle and the No. 18 player at any position in the country.