Florida Gators’ Birmingham Bowl MVP, RB Adam Lane, Leaving Program

Written by Ryan Wright

First-year Florida head coach Jim McElwain was dealt a surprising blow on Sunday with the announced departure of sophomore running back Adam Lane.

Lane’s contributions to the Gator’s production on the field were limited in 2014 only appearing in three games. His first appearance did not come until Game 8 against Vanderbilt (Nov. 8) carrying the ball three times for 12 yards. He did not record a statistic in the following game against South Carolina but rushed five times against Eastern Kentucky for 60 yards in Game 10. Lane did not carry the rock in Florida’s regular season finale against Florida State but he did make his impact in the Birmingham Bowl against East Carolina rushing for 109 yards on 16 carries with one score in a 28-20 Florida victory.

During spring practices Lane sat out with a hamstring injury but was supposed to push penciled in starter Kelvin Taylor for carries throughout the 2015 season.

Lane was part of Florida’s 2013 recruiting class. As a 3-star recruit out of Winter Haven, the 5’8”, 224 pound, bowling ball had offers to top schools like Alabama, FSU, South Carolina, South Florida, Rutgers, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Purdue, and Georgia.

The details on Lane’s departure are being described as family issues drawing him back to Winter Haven. When McElwain announced the loss of Lane he stated, “Family comes first in this program, and we will grant him his release and we will do everything we can to help him.”

Florida landed a pair of highly regarded running backs in the 2015 recruiting class. The loss of Lane opens up an even better opportunity for playing time for true freshmen Jordan Cronkrite (Westminster Christian HS) and Jordan Scarlett (St. Thomas Aquinas).

Photo credit: sportingnews.com; No. 22 Adam Lane accepts the Birmingham Bowl MVP.