What’s the deal with Trevor Etienne? (Photo via Florida Gators)
Among the many other hot topics of discussion in the first week of a long offseason for the Florida Gators has been the wave of rumors surrounding star running back Trevor Etienne.
The Louisiana native was one of Napier’s first prized recruits, choosing the Gators over Clemson and LSU. He has rushed for over 700 yards in each of his first two seasons at Florida and was, most fans would probably agree, set to be the most important returning piece for the Gators in 2024 not named Graham Mertz. And maybe he will be.
But whispers have grown to murmurs, and murmurs have graduated into outright agitation about Etienne as that supposed certainty has devolved into a hope. The rumors are true: Trevor Etienne is indeed looking at other schools to transfer to in 2024. He is by no means a guarantee to return to Florida.
Let’s take a few seconds to distinguish fact from fiction, and break down the situation as it appears to be.
First things first, Trevor Etienne has not actually entered the transfer portal yet. Because he can’t. The transfer portal does not open to non-graduate players until December 4th.
The second thing to note is that even if he does enter the transfer portal, that’s no guarantee that he’ll actually leave. It’s the quasi-equivalent to submitting NFL Draft paperwork after your junior season; you’re simply looking for honest feedback on what you’re worth. If you remember, Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims entered the transfer portal two offseasons ago, and FSU thought they had him. Some FSU sites even write articles declaring as such (check out the URL address on this article, for example. They still haven’t changed it. Hysterical.). But they didn’t. Mims changed his mind and returned to Georgia. That’s a very possible outcome with Etienne.
But even with those two disclaimers in place, it’s probably worth placing all the cards on the table and shooting straight. Trevor Etienne is legitimately considering playing his third, and likely final, year of college football at a school other than Florida.
The reason for this is pretty cut and dried: he wants to win. Money is not an issue. It’s not a situation where other schools are offering him forty times as lucrative of an NIL deal as Florida. He simply wants to win.
And you can’t blame him. Etienne’s explosive abilities make him a surefire top-three-round NFL Draft pick next year, and his first two years in college have been- sorry, I know this hurts to say, but it’s the truth- completely and utterly wasted. Florida went 6-6 in his first year and 5-7 in his second, and Etienne’s dreams of playing on the biggest stages of college football just don’t look as likely to pan out right now at Florida as they would at certain other schools. Going 6-6 and 5-7 in back-to-back years has consequences, and even for as great of a recruiter as Billy Napier appears to be, his array of in-game brain malfunctions that led to those numbers have created a situation of dire straits here.
Napier met with Etienne this week and made his pitch earlier this week, and the rumors are that the meeting went well. Napier made a good impression on Etienne, and while I won’t publish the details of what exactly he said- due in part to the fact that I don’t have them all and it’s all a third-hand game of telephone anyway- Etienne was said to have left the meeting feeling better about the prospect of staying at Florida than he did entering the meeting. Which is good.
But a source close to the situation also told me: “We’ve done everything we can to keep him, Neil. It’s up to fate now.”
Losing Etienne would be an absolutely devastating blow to Billy Napier’s program, and would put the program behind the eight-ball a solid nine months before the season even begins. It wouldn’t necessarily be fatal- Florida does still have a very good running back in Montrell Johnson, and the Gators could in theory hit the offensive line jackpot in the transfer portal to clear enough room for anybody with working legs to run through- but it would be a mortifying setback for the program to lose such an electric playmaker.
There’s no anti-Napier agenda here at In All Kinds Of Weather. We do believe Napier is a good man, and while these feelings are dwindling in strength, we do believe he still could be the right man to lead the Gator football program. Losing Etienne, however, would objectively be a pitiful look, and would put that much pressure on Napier to hit on every move he makes from now until December 1st, 2024- both on and off the field.
As the source said about Etienne, it’s up to fate now. We’ll just have to wait and see.
