Former Florida QB Jalen Kitna 'grateful' to play at UAB - ESPN

Jalen Kitna, who was dismissed by Florida following an arrest on felony charges that were later dropped, has committed to join the football team at UAB.

The sophomore quarterback has been admitted to school, a university spokesperson told ESPN. Kitna, the son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, plans to be on campus for an official visit Wednesday.

Kitna, who was a backup quarterback for the Gators, was arrested on five child pornography charges in November 2022 after police received a tip that a user had distributed an image of child sexual abuse material on the social media platform Discord. But the charges were dropped in July after he reached a plea deal in which he pleaded no-contest to a second-degree misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. He served six months' probation.

In a statement to ESPN, UAB coach Trent Dilfer and athletic director Mark Ingram said «extensive due diligence» was performed in reviewing Kitna's application to the school and interest in playing football.

Kitna said in a statement to ESPN that he was «grateful for the opportunity.»

«I acknowledge that I made naive decisions that I deeply regret and have since learned from,» he said. «As a result, I took responsibility by pleading no-contest to second-degree misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges related to those decisions.»

Kitna said he is in good standing at Florida and weighed «multiple offers to play football from different schools.»

«However, I firmly believe that UAB is the perfect fit for me,» he said. «I consider myself fortunate to be in Birmingham, surrounded by an incredible support system, having found a church family, and being able to take advantage of the numerous resources offered by the university.»

Dilfer, who went 4-8 in his