Tag: Mohamoud Diabate

Florida’s student-athletes have plenty of NIL opportunities

Official jerseys were once just a pipe dream. Florida took a major step into making it a reality on Thursday.

Student-athletes can profit off their name image and likeness without penalty for the first time this year, and Florida is looking to capitalize. The Gators partnered with The Brandr Group on Thursday to establish group licensing for student-athletes across all 21 sports.

The partnership means that players can use the school logo in their personal endorsement deals. Three or more athletes from a team or six or more athletes from multiple sports can join the program and TBG will facilitate the licensing.

“The Florida Gators have one of the strongest brands in all of college athletics, and this agreement with The Brandr Group provides great value to our student-athletes in expanding their NIL opportunities,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said. “This is a win for Florida student-athletes and Gators fans, who will be able to represent their favorite players like never before.”

The big news here for Gators fans is that the door is now open to merchandise with players’ names and numbers. Fans have long desired official team jerseys but only now has that dream become a reality.

Florida fans will have more to look forward to with the launch of the Gator Collective, a fan platform founded by former Gators pitcher Eddie Rojas. The Gator Collective offers fans access to players through interviews and video conferences, and there are plans for raffles and giveaways.

Rojas lived the struggle of a student-athlete and wanted to give back to his school after hearing about the NIL changes.

Five Gators have signed with the Gator Collective: linebacker Mohamoud Diabate, linebacker Diwun Black, defensive end Zachary Carter, offensive lineman Gerald Mincey and tight end Keon Zipperer. While all are on the football team, the goal is to branch out to other sports. The group licensing agreement extending across all sports should help with that.

[lawrence-related id=52249,51987,51973,51969,51971]

[vertical-gallery id=51540]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

These two Florida players made The Athletic’s 2021 ‘Freak List’

Florida running back Dameon Pierce and linebacker Mohamoud Diabate made The Athletic’s “Freak List”.

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic has highlighted some of the biggest freaks in college football since the early 2000s. Monday he dropped his “Freak List” for 2021 that includes 101 players rather than 50. Two Florida players made the cut this year: running back Dameon Pierce and linebacker Mohamoud Diabate.

Pierce entered Feldman’s list at No. 21. Here’s what Feldman wrote about him.

He led the Gators in rushing with 503 yards last season and also caught 17 passes for 156 yards. The 5-10, 215-pound senior might have the strongest lower body of any running back in college football. Pierce squats 705 pounds and vertical jumps 37 inches. He’s clocked a 4.50 40 and has just 6 percent body fat. In addition, he benches 390 pounds.

The senior running back has been known at Florida for his ability to run through defenders and break lots of tackles. He didn’t have the opportunity last year to display his skill set last season due to the Gators’ excellent aerial attack. He may not lead the team in rushing yards at the end of the year due to how deep Florida’s running back room is but expect him to get a good amount of carries.

NEXT: How Diabate stacks up

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Florida football’s defense is out to prove critics wrong

Many Florida defensive players remember all the hate hurled their way last season. They remember it and use it as motivation for 2021.

Many players on the Florida defense recall all the criticism they got last season. During spring and fall camp media availability, they’ve brought it up and said they’re ready to get the team back to a top-10 unit on that side of the ball.

“All of us got a chip on our shoulder,” linebacker Mohamoud Diabate said Friday, according to The Alligator. “We’re seeing what everybody was saying about our defense, our coaches, about us. So, it’s like, how can you not have a chip? How can you not remember that when you’re working out, when you’re watching film? It makes you hungry.”

Every player regardless of offense or defense has reiterated their desire to return to the SEC Championship game. Cornerback Kaiir Elam said the team feels motivated after they lost the last three games in 2020 and the loss to Alabama in Atlanta left a sour taste in their mouth.

[exco_embed id=”e5869bc6-faf6-4b7a-8c06-b5610c96a8fe”]

“That’s unacceptable,” he said. “That’s not the Gator standard.”

Elam believes the spring practices they had this offseason will make a difference. He said part of their problem was that they weren’t communicating. The lack of communication was apparent. Florida surrendered 428 yards per game and nearly 31 points per game last season.

Diabate said this year’s unit is the closest team he’s ever been on. Elam added he’ll do almost anything to win.

“When push comes to shove all I wanna do is win… If someone told me to cut off my finger to win, I’m gonna do it.”

Florida fans should hope that it never has to come to that, but it does give fans major Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel vibes when he said he would cut off his manhood to win a Super Bowl.

Fans will see if the Gators are truly a different unit when they kick off the season on Sept. 4 versus FAU in the Swamp.

[lawrence-related id=48647,48651,48645,48630,48604]

[listicle id=48013]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Mohamoud Diabate could be poised for monster junior season

Mohamoud Diabate started six games in 2020, but his production wasn’t quite where the team hoped. In 2021, that could change significantly.

Name: Mohamoud Diabate

Number: 11

Position: Linebacker

Class: Junior

Height: 6’3″

Weight: 221 lbs

Hometown: Auburn, Ala.

High School: Auburn

Twitter: @MDiabate11

2020 statistics:

TOT SOLO SACK FF INT
67 33 1.5 2 1

Overview:

Originally a four-star recruit out of Auburn, Alabama, Diabate spurned the hometown Tigers to sign with Florida in the 2019 recruiting class. He saw a lot of action as a true freshman, appearing in all 13 games for the Gators and starting one at linebacker. He notched 18 tackles and 4.5 sacks, and he secured an SEC Freshman of the Week award for a three-sack performance in the win over Vanderbilt.

He entered the 2020 season poised to play a major role, and he did, starting six of Florida’s 12 games and appearing in all of them. His total tackles skyrocketed to 67, though he only managed 1.5 sacks. Heading into 2021, he should be one of UF’s starting linebackers, likely taking the weakside spot beside starting middle linebacker Ventrell Miller.

His production as a sophomore may have been a bit of a disappointment, but he should be a centerpiece for next year’s defense.

Video:

[vertical-gallery id=42539]