Former West Palm Beach receiver Micah Mays ready to make impact at Florida
His answers roll a little faster. He’s clearly giddy, and it’s making his thoughts a little blurry. But don’t fault the man.
He stumbles through the first few words of each comment, knuckles tightening against the podium. This is truly an honor, he says, a dream to be doing literally this — standing behind a University of Florida-emblemed dais talking about his passion, football — as mundane as it sounds. Hard not to believe him after the West Palm Beach Pop Warner tales he brought to show-and-tell. Even harder once he spends a few minutes reminiscing about memories from his youth on the field with Micah Mays Sr., a well-known high school coach and administrator in the Palm Beach area, who doubles as the father of our speaker, Micah Mays Jr., in his spare time.
“It means ... means a lot to play in my home state,” the redshirt junior receiver says. He transferred in from Wake Forest in January with 302 yards to his name last year. As with the 111 other guys on Florida football’s roster, he wants to play. Unlike most, he didn’t select this destination with snaps on the mind.
College football’s freshest makeover — still in the barber chair because it can’t quite settle on a look yet — has permitted and even prompted players to enter the transfer portal with greater regularity. It grasps everyone from the all-conference sophomore to the GPA-lifting backup center, drawing them in. Want a chance to play? Elsewhere. Already playin’ well? I’ve got more cash for you.
But some unintentional purists, like Mays, remain on the hairy fringe. He knew that two seasons with fewer than 20 receptions at Wake Forest would thrust him into a sword fight for playing time in the SEC. The Gators are returning their top receiver, Vernell Brown III, who had only 512 yards last year. They also have freshman standout Dallas Wilson coming back. Mays isn’t even the most experienced transfer added — Auburn’s Eric Singleton had 534 yards last season.
The Florida boy just doesn’t seem to care. He might even like it.
“It kind of brings the best out of you every single day,” Mays said. “Straining more, putting in extra time. … Just having that accountability and that high demand every single day is just pushing you to be the best.”
That’s like a flower scrupulously nudging out from between sidewalk slabs, a breath of fresh air. With college sports being the most transactional they’ve been, seeking personalized joy through improvement wanes. Mays said he chose Florida, though, because of the challenge. He wanted the “SEC” plus “seeing coach [offensive coordinator Buster] Faulkner here really drove [him].” Under Faulkner, the Gators expect to run an offense that’ll require their receivers to be versatile. For fans, that means the eye-gauging 12-personnel days are over. For the players, it will be a test of adaptability. There couldn’t be a more worthy reason to come home, Mays said.
His approach is all routine. “Effort’s not coachable,” he scoffs. His rap sheet (the stat variety) doesn’t suggest he should earn a starting role, but his interest in the details is ruffling the depth chart.
“He’s got the right attitude,” Florida outside receivers coach Marcus Davis said. “He’s one of those guys who can move around and have some position flexibility just because he’s smart. He can, you know, take the offense.”
These are the types of compliments that sustain a bid for contribution, especially this deep into the spring. Florida’s spring game is Saturday, for that matter, and he’ll be an active participant. While he didn’t show up dying for the playing time, he’s growing toward it.
Track record suggests it’s feasible, too. Three of Florida’s last four leading receivers were in their first season at the school. That’s common across college football. Last year, five of the top 10 receivers in the country were past transfers. Experience, often in multiple systems, pays off at skill positions more than ever. Just look at Miami-native and soon-to-be top NFL draft pick Fernando Mendoza.
The bar also started on the ground, so if nothing else, Mays, among others, has eased some tension at Florida.
“I’d be okay with a second portal window, being a first-year head coach, because I think it gives you a chance to maybe assess who you are through the spring,” Florida coach Jon Sumrall said in February, “re-calibrate if you’ve got some gaps within your roster.”
As of this week, Sumrall no longer seems to feel that way. Mays probably wasn’t all that concerned, anyway. Midst a dream — as fleeting as they’ve become — everything else blurs.
“I’m just really just working every single day,” he says. “Just me.”