Florida head coach Will Muschamp announced on Monday the Gators will play the 2014 season without one of their top incoming recruits available on the defensive line. Defensive tackle Thomas Holley will miss the entire season after undergoing surgery to repair a hip labral tear that was suffered during high school.
''He had a sports hernia in high school,” Muschamp said in a report by FOXSports.com. “Had it repaired before he came here. That’s where we thought his discomfort was. On the initial physical, we found a labral tear on his hip and impingement on his hip.”
Holley, a four-star recruit out of high school and the nation’s second-ranked player at his position in the Class of 2014 according to Rivals, will use his redshirt this season in order to protect his eligibility. Muschamp suggests the recovery could take about four months, so if all goes well it sounds as though he will be available to participate in spring football workouts and practices.