Jerseys may change but friendship? No, NEVER. The Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. proved it yet again. Months have passed since cornerback Cormani McClain has swapped teams, leaving Buffs and boarding Billy Napier’s Florida Gators. And as your memory is fresh, McClain’s exit has not been a nice one rather a period of ugly transfer drama. But so what?

Horn’s heart still craves for his old friend as he couldn’t resist but celebrate McClain’s highlight reel. Not just from his friend, the CB landed a gold star from the Gators’ HC as well. 

Cormani McClain finally finds his fit in Florida

The Buffs right now have quite a long list of things to celebrate. Like their 34-7 win over Arizona, Shilo coming off as a powerful player after his ‘horrible’ play. However, Horn chose to celebrate his good old friend, McClain’s stormy Gators debut. Posted by CBS Sports, it showed Napier’s CB in full action as the former 5-star recorded pick-six against Kentucky Wildcats.  

On October 20, joining the rookie quarterback from Kentucky, Cutter Boley, McClain returned his 29-yard first pass for a pick-six touchdown. Ranked as the No. 1 cornerback and No. 13 overall player, he recorded his first interception of his college career. Well, that means he finally got what he had always wanted.

The only reason McClain cut ties with the Buffs was because, somewhere deep down, he had this belief that Deion Sanders and Colorado stunted his growth. Right after hitting the transfer portal, he said, “Be a part of a real and a great program that’s going to impact me at my best ability and yeah ready to get to a new place and get to work.” Thank god! He finally found his “real” program and made the most out of it. But mind you, McClain’s time in Napier’s program has not been easy either.         

How Cormani McClain overcame initial doubts

Moving into Florida after getting bashed out for leaving someone like Deion and Colorado, McClain had high expectations. And vice versa. Gators HC Napier too had pinned high hopes. But rather than being a phenom, the Buffs transfer appeared to be an “immature” chap. Dropping in late for meetings, and not attending the training sessions diligently, McClain found his name in every wrongdoing. 

As Nick de la Torre, the senior writer for GatorsOnline wrote, “You’re not going to be liked in the locker room if your tardiness/immaturity is causing the rest of your team to have to run…Just immature. Needs to grow up.” Finally, FINALLY, McClain has buckled up, and guess who is the happiest now? Of course the Florida HC.  

After crushing Kentucky on Sunday, when Billy Napier faced the camera he shared how he had been skeptical about Cormani McClain at the beginning. “So the guy, he’s got a long way to go. Let’s, don’t put the crown on the guy’s head right now. But he stepped up. Guy got injured and he was able to go in there and do his job in a critical moment. He’s got great instincts,” stated the Gators HC. Will Deion Sanders now regret losing McClain? Do share your thoughts.

Meanwhile, if you would like to explore NIL and NFL, you can check out the latest episode of the Think Tank podcast.