It appears former Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire has some potential options worth considering with his graduate transfer. In addition to Texas, and Wisconsin, UNC, and Baylor, another power conference program in need of some stability at quarterback seems to be making a push to land his commitment.
A report from Gator Bait suggests the Gators are eyeing Zaire as a potential transfer target, but the school must receive some help from the SEC office. That is because Florida has had two transfer players (Anthony Harrell and Mason Halter) fail to meet certain academic requirements upon arrival at Florida. As a result of taking transfer players failing to meet certain requirements, Florida is ineligible from accepting graduate transfers for three years.
If there is a glimmer of hope for Florida and the prospects of adding Zaire, it may come later this spring when the conference meets to review certain rules. Among the rules potentially up for review will be the graduate transfer policy initially designed to give a boost to the academic integrity of the graduate transfer process. Commissioner Greg Sankey has expressed an open mind to reviewing the rule as it stands, and an amendment to the rule could still be instituted in time to make Zaire eligible to transfer to Florida if he desired.
As a graduate transfer, Zaire will be eligible to play immediately this fall without having to sit out a season at a new FBS program.