Florida Gators redshirt senior wide receiver/kick returner Andre Debose will likely have one more chance to play college football as head coach Will Muschamp announced Monday that the player plans to return for a sixth season.

Debose, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in early August and has been sidelined for the entire 2013 season, has decided to seek a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA that, if granted, would provide him with a sixth year of eligibility.

Considering Debose also missed his entire freshman season (2009) to a serious knee injury, it is likely the NCAA will give him the opportunity to continue his career.

In his first year with the team, Debose underwent a graft on his biceps femoris, a muscle that connects the knee and hamstring. The procedure was required after an injury he suffered in high school failed to heal before the start of his college career.

Expected to be a dominant play-making receiver for the Gators, Debose has only hauled in 29 balls and totaled 543 yards of offense in three years.



He struggled to get on the field as a redshirt freshman in 2010 but stepped up and made a dent for Florida with a pair of 75-yard touchdown receptions in 2011. Debose finished the campaign with career-highs of 432 yards and four touchdowns.

Entering his redshirt junior season in 2012, Debose once again fell out of the coaching staff’s good graces due to his questionable work ethic and barely saw the field on offense, catching just three passes for 15 yards on the year.

Where Debose has made his greatest impact for the Gators is on special teams. He’s averaged 27.4 yards per kickoff return in the three seasons he played, racking up 1,592 total yards and a school-record four touchdown returns. His return average is a school record high and second-best in Southeastern Conference history, while the four touchdown returns tie him with three others for an SEC record.

He was expected to retain his role as starting kick returner in 2013, but his coaches and teammates also had high hopes for him at wide receiver where his routes had become crisper and his attention to detail much greater.

“I’m excited about him going into his senior year and understanding what he has at stake. He’s a senior, and some of us mature quicker than others at times,” Muschamp said in early August.

For a player who appeared to be in the midst of turning his career around, at least according to those closest to him, Debose making the mature decision to continue playing football and remain in school goes a long way to proving them right.