If he wants it, the door to The Swamp is wide open for a former Notre Dame quarterback.
The SEC confirmed Friday that it has made a significant tweak to its rules as it pertains to graduate transfers. Previously, teams in the conference who took in graduate transfers who failed to complete their academic requirements at their new school would be barred from adding another graduate transfer for a period of three years. Now, teams would only be barred for a one-year period should a grad transfer fail to make the academic grade.
Which brings us to Malik Zaire.
The quarterback, who was given an unconditional release from his Fighting Irish scholarship last November, is reportedly giving serious consideration to transferring to Florida or Texas. In fact, there are reports that he was doing a rather significant lean toward the Gators.
Under the old policy, UF wouldn’t have been allowed to add another graduate transfer until after Zaire had completed his collegiate eligibility. Under the new rule, however, Zaire would be able to transfer to UF if he so desires.
Reportedly, Zaire put off making a decision until the SEC ruled, one way or another, on how it would handle his type of transfers moving forward. A decision from the signal-caller is expected in short order.