Florida football edge defender Jack Pyburn’s decision to hit the transfer portal brought a jolt to the entire football community, especially the Gators’ fans. The sudden departure decision of the ultimate defensive weapon in Billy Napier’s team came off as a shock, vehemently finding ‘the why.’ Well, the reports dig out that Pyburn demanded a $45,000 monthly stipend, a guaranteed playing time as an outside linebacker, a promise of playing on third downs, and increased snaps in the rotation, which seemed a bit too much to bear for the Gator nation and hence they preferred to let him go. Whether it’s a good move or not is a different debate, but Pyburn, as a Jacksonville product by heart, still holds a gentle place for his school and the people.

Transfer has become quite a joke in the current age of football. People have come and gone in the blink of an eye, and it’s all about money. But when it comes to Pyburn, he brought a different kind of energy to the Florida locker room, flashing pure passion and love for the school, his childhood dream house. He has grown up playing high school football in the state of Florida. From being a fanboy cheering from the sideline to pumping up the team as a standout edge rusher before a fiery rivalry game is really surreal.

Walking out must be very hard. Well, it is. Articulating the deep-down homesickness, the Florida native said during an interview with LSU Tigers on Tigerbait, ”You know, obviously, it was really hard, that was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life. It felt like a divorce, I’m going to be honest. It’s still hard you know, I have all love and respect for everybody over there. It’s a tremendous program,” 

While fans have criticized him enough for trading Florida for money, thinking from the contemporary point of view, it made sense. He has given a lot to Florida football, bringing both talent and determination to the field, culminating a total of 80 tackles in three years. But now, he thinks it’s time to give a new boost to his career. ”I think that’s the point where you know you get out in life, and you understand that right now, the nature of college football is more business-like than it used to be you know and you have to take the right opportunity for yourself, and you have to bet on yourself in a little bit of ways,” the standout DE justified his LSU move with logic.

Right now, Pyburn is fully devoted to his new role with the Tigers. Although it’s not his native place, it’s not too far-fetched from it. He had some strong family connections to follow there, which made the hard move relatively easier. ”My stepmom is from here (Hammond) so I have a ton of family connections here a lot of friends been to a lot of games here you are familiar with the area so this kind of feels like a home away from home and that definitely helped a lot of it,” Pyburn divulged another big reason of his uncompromised comfort in the new school.

But before you jump on laming him for leaving the Gators defensive room, just remind yourself that it was just never money.

Jack Pyburn came clean on his LSU decision 

Money has been a pivot to his transfer, no debate on this at all. But all he wants is a better playing opportunity, a better place to foster, nurture his talent, and explore the horizon more. Feeling stuck to a typical setup is never a good feeling for a true athlete like him.

”I just want to play for a team that fits me a little more…I was looking to play for an aggressive four-down defense, and that’s something that Blake Baker and LSU are 100% running. You know, he runs with attack-style defenses, trying to get after the quarterback, trying to create negative plays,” the Defensive End cleared his focal point behind coming to LSU.

But he finds more on his plate to weigh. There were coaches lining up to talk to him, but he never got an edge. Pyburn, despite all the flakes and brickbats, stuck to his decision and wanted to prove himself right this time. He is super at home in Baton Rouge. The history etched in the school attracts him to a great extent, keeping aside the on-point aggressive defensive strategy. He is solidifying himself among LSU’s spring two-deep and we are here to note down the progress.