Woah! Great news for Cormani McClain. Over the last few months, the cornerback barely got a moment for a “phew” break. Starting with the dramatic voyage out of the Colorado Buffaloes to landing in Florida Gators and ending with the fiasco. Here, Locked on Buffs podcast host Kevin Borba comes as a savior. He is not a member of the “Blame Cormani Squad”; instead, he passed a golden ticket to the player. Not only that, but the analyst lifted the lid to reveal the chaos that Deion’s Colorado went through during the same timeline. Meanwhile, the Gators HC Napier, too, broke his silence on the McClain topic. 

To some extent, Borba seems to be not okay with McClain hitting back-to-back roadblocks. First, the CB decided to move out of Colorado because he believed Deion’s program would stunt his growth. And now he faces a rough patch and being tagged as “immature” for allegedly not giving his 100% in Florida. But Borba is not joining the hate club. Instead, he highlighted what Napier said about McClain’s rich history. “I think he’s a young player obviously we’re well aware of his history Cormani’s a local kid from Lakeland,” he emphasized. Back in Lakeland, Cormani had 58 total tackles and 19 interceptions in just two seasons. He added that McClain is still on good terms with some of the Buffs players and ticks off crucial checkboxes that a player needs: “He’s got relationships with players on our team. We run a tight ship there’s structure, there’s routine, there’s discipline, there’s accountability.”

Hold on! Does that mean that McClain faced some resistance in Colorado? At least, Borba feels so. Deion’s decision to demote offensive coordinator Sean Lewis led to chaos. “There was a coach that left the program…who I had talked to someone very close to them and they were like yeah it’s a mess right now…this was around the time that Sean Lewis had been demoted they’re like it’s a mess no one knows what’s happening everyone’s kind of on edge,” revealed Borba. With this, McClain passed the authenticity test while Napier threw cold water on the cornerback rumors. 

McClain receives a thumbs-up from coach Napier

Things were going slow but well for McClain in Florida until rumors started to do rounds that the CB would be dismissed from the Gators. The cause? On July 14, the GatorsOnline senior writer and analyst Nick de la Torre shed light on the chatter, “I was told that Cormani McClain has been late to most of the requirements (meetings, lift, etc)… Essentially, you get a warning, then you have to do extra run/lift… which he’s showed up late to ask well.”

It was time for Napier to face the media four days later during the SEC Media Days. And lo-and-behold, the McClain query made a grand entrance. But the Florida HC’s address came as a whoosh of relief. Here’s what Napier had to clarify about the McClain gossip: “[McClain] is doing fine.” He takes accountability for the fact that Florida runs high in discipline, which might have been too much for the young player. 

Meanwhile, McClain has added 10 pounds to his frame since moving to Gainesville. With this, it’s confirmed that there has been some kind of improvement that the CB has hit. But as Napier pointed out, there is a dire need for patience and understanding regarding Cormani’s growth.