It’s been a tough go lately for Florida State tight ends. Yesterday, a video surfaced of Seminoles junior Nick O’Leary surviving (and walking away from) a brutal-looking motorcycle accident. Though O’Leary is fine and will be able to play in 2013, the same cannot be said for Kevin Haplea, who sustained a torn ACL last month.
Now, it appears FSU will be losing another tight end. Warchant.com reports (with ESPN confirming) that sophomore tight end Christo Kourtzidis will transfer from the program.
“It was a tough decision for him, a gut-wrenching decision,” Kourtzidis’ father told the Rivals.com site. “It had been weighing on his mind ever since he had the (shoulder) surgery.”
Kourtzidis suffered torn labrum in his shoulder during FSU"s Orange Bowl victory in January. Despite initially working out during spring practices, Kourtzidis eventually underwent surgery and was expected to miss a good portion of the 2013 season. There’s no word of where Kourtzidis will transfer and he plans on sitting out this year anyway to recover from his surgery. That would allow him to be eligible to play immediately in 2014. FSU hasn’t confirmed anything, but Kourtzidis is expected to be granted his release.
Kourtzidis’ departure would hurt depth more than anything else. The sophomore was expected to serve as a primary backup for O’Leary with Haplea being injured, but now the Seminoles have just two scholarship tight ends on roster: O’Leary and freshman Jeremy Kerr.