Billy Napier updates status of Micah Mazzccua following injury, transfer announcement

Florida offensive lineman Micah Mazzccua is apparently sticking with the Gators after he tweeted — then deleted — a message saying he was re-entering the transfer portal following an injury. Mazzccua transferred to Florida from Baylor following the 2022 season.

Mazzccua’s since-walked-back declaration that he would transfer from Florida came after an injury that head coach Billy Napier said would “set him back a little.” It was originally discovered after a recent MRI.

“Tough dynamic. I think lot going on there behind the scenes. Micah, Micah was injured. Then we ended up doing an MRI, he has some prior injury that was kind of uncovered, something that’s happened in the past for him. I think nowadays with these players and there’s a ton of expectations put on them, injuries are a challenge. It certainly puts you in a bad place,” Napier said on Tuesday. “And Micah’s a guy who is late in his career, certainly had big ambitions here. So this is going to set him back a little bit. He had surgery just a few days ago. And he will be in return to play protocol, we’ll hopefully get him back in training camp.”

Napier didn’t share any details about the nature of the injury and didn’t offer a specific timeline for Mazzccua to return. He did say they hoped to get him back by fall camp.

Napier did, however, highlight how when something like this occurred in years past, it stayed behind the scenes. With it out in the open now, he and the Florida program are going to do what they can to support Mazzccua.

“But, you know, 15 years ago you would’ve never known about that. The kid goes through just a tough time and certainly injuries are a challenge. And we’re hopeful Micah makes a healthy return. We’re going to help him and support him through his rehab and all the things that come with an injury these days,” Napier said.

In his initial tweet announcing he intended to re-enter the portal, Mazzccua wrote the following: “Appreciate Coach Napier and his staff but I feel it’s best for me to put myself back in the portal.”

Before a number of seasons at Baylor where he played sparingly, Mazzccua played high school football at St. Frances (Maryland) Academy, where he was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 673 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.