Florida LB makes appearance on Paul Finebaum show

Florida linebacker Derek Wingo made an appearance on the Paul Finebaum show on Thursday as he shadowed former Gator and college football analyst Chris Doering at the SEC Network.

Doering and Wingo have been friendly for a few years after meeting through Taylor, Chris’ daughter who is a student a Florida. Wingo was also an intern at Doering’s mortgage company this spring.

With Finebaum, Wingo talked about staying with Florida during the transfer portal era, among several other topics. The full conversation can be found below.

“I came to the University of Florida, not for specific coaches. I came for the University of Florida,” Wingo said. “I wanted to be close to my family, so I bought into the program. Even though the program might have changed, I had a plan for myself, and when these new coaches came in, they presented a plan for that, and I believe that with everything going on in the transfer portal world and all these kinds of things, if you just trust yourself, trust your abilities and trust the people you have around you even know that might come and go, you’re going to be alright at the end of the day.”

Wingo is set to be an important piece of the linebacker rotation as he nears the end of his college career. Made evident by his time with Finebaum, Wingo has a bright future ahead of him if it’s not in football. Perhaps he’ll follow Doering’s path as a businessman and analyst.

“It was awesome to see how well he did and how engaged Paul was in listening to the perspective of an active college football player that is experiencing all the craziness that is college football right now,” Doering said.

Wingo’s day didn’t end there, though. He sat in on Doering’s draft coverage with SECNow, including the production meetings. Observing everything with intent, Wingo took in as much as he could from Doering and the other SEC Network folks. It’s that kind of attention to detail that Doering says will make him even more successful than himself.

“He is always prepared. He shows up, takes notes and listens because he wants to learn,” Doering said. “Thinking back to my career, I wish I had been exposed to some of these things earlier to make some different decisions. These guys are getting presented with opportunities now that we never had a chance in college.”

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