Give Will Muschamp a hand. The new Florida coach could have allowed star cornerback Janoris Jenkins to stay on his team. He could have handled matters internally. He could have allowed fans to make the “it was only marijuana” case for him.
Instead, he’s announced on Twitter today that the Gator star has been dismissed from Florida’s football team after his second pot-related arrest since January. (Jenkins was arrested three times total while in Gainesville, but only twice on Muschamp’s watch).
After meeting with Janoris Jenkins today, we both felt it was in his best interest to move ahead to the next stage of his career.
We appreciate Janoris’ contributions to the University of Florida during his time here and wish him the best of luck.
While I’m a fan of second chances and third chances — and I guess this would have been a fourth chance for Jenkins — I must applaud a coach who realizes that second and third chances don’t necessarily come on a football team. Jenkins can now take his talents to the NFL — likely via the supplemental draft — for a second chance. But he won’t be breaking team rules again in Gainesville.
This is a strong message for Muschamp to send. His new players can now see that even stars must play by the rules if they’re going to play for Muschamp. Character counts as much as talent, at least in Jenkins’ case.
Kudos to Muschamp for not allowing a young man to bring down his name as well as Florida’s. I think we all know that if Urban Meyer were still in Gainesville, Jenkins would likely still be on his football team.
There truly appears to be a new sheriff in town.
