GAINESVILLE, Fla.– The Florida Gators received its first midseason opt out last week with sophomore wide receiver Tank Hawkins ending his 2025 season after four games played to preserve a redshirt, interim head coach Billy Gonzales confirmed on Saturday.
On Monday, Gonzales confirmed that Hawkins, who has two catches for 16 yards this season, is the only player to opt out of the season to preserve a redshirt. Hawkins has not revealed his future plans as far as entering the NCAA Transfer Portal, but the expectation is for him to continue practicing with the team, Gonzales said.
“As of right now, Tank’s the only one that’s done that to me, as far as saying that he wants to do that,” Gonzales said. “His expectation is to show up at practice and work extremely hard to try to make himself a better football player and make our team a better football team. So nothing’s changed from that standpoint. Our job is to continue to develop him and make him a better football (player), too.”
Florida Gators wide receiver Tank Hawkins played in seven games as a freshman in 2024. / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
Gonzales further explained that Florida has tracked players’ participation levels throughout the season with game appearances, and with only three games left in the regular season, they are going through the list to see who will be available as the Gators fight for bowl eligibility.
“We talk about that every week. We always have an update as far as where players are, as far as the numbers that they’ve played. I respect that 100%,” Gonzales said. “… But we have a count on a piece of paper of how many games the guys played in and we monitor that. Part of that goes into talking through with the staff, talking with our front office people, talking with parents, talking with the people that are going to help them make those decisions of where they’re at, what they need, if they want to continue, if they’re going to continue to help us, or if they are looking at that.”
As it stands, the only freshmen on Florida’s roster who remain eligible for a redshirt after appearing in at least two games are quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. (two games played), running back Duke Clark (three games played), receiver Naeshaun Montgomery (three games played) and safety Drake Stubbs (four games played).
Jones Jr. will be one player to keep an eye on moving forward after replacing DJ Lagway at halftime of the loss to Kentucky. While Lagway will remain the team’s starter, according to Gonzales, Jones Jr. can only appear in two of the last three games to keep his redshirt intact.
“I know those discussions have been spoken with our quarterback coach and, again, front office and his parents,” Gonzales said. “So, that’s something definitely to monitor where we’re at with that as well.”
Florida Gators quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. has played in two games this season. / Travis Register-Imagn Images
Additionally, freshman receiver Dallas Wilson, sophomore edge rusher LJ McCray and junior corner Dijon Johnson will receive redshirts after appearing in four games or less each before suffering season-ending injuries. Johnson did not redshirt in any of his previous two seasons with the program.
Linebacker Grayson Howard, who has only played in three games this season, is also eligible for a redshirt but has not officially been ruled out for the season. However, he has not played since the Miami game, making a redshirt highly likely.
Hawkins and Howard are the only non-freshman scholarship players who are eligible for a redshirt.
Meanwhile, freshmen in running back Byron Louis (one game played), tight end Micah Jones (one game played), tight end Cameron Kossmann (one game played), offensive lineman TJ Dice Jr. (no games played), offensive lineman Jahari Medlock (no games played), offensive lineman Daniel Pierre-Louis, edge rusher Jalen Wiggins (one game played), corner Ben Hanks III (one game played), kicker Evan Noel (no games played) and punter Hayden Craig (no games played) will all receive redshirts with their maximum appearances being four games or less due to there only being three games left.
Florida travels to Ole Miss on Saturday before home games against Tennessee and Florida State to round out the regular season. The Gators need to win all three games to reach bowl eligibility.
Should that happen, a bowl game would not directly affect any player’s eligibility.