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BREAKING: Returning Starter for Georgia Bulldogs is No Longer with Team

Xzavier McLeod is no longer at Georgia according to a team spokesperson.
Dean Legge|
Xzavier McLeod (94) celebrates in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sept. 13, 2025.
Xzavier McLeod (94) celebrates in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sept. 13, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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Georgia Bulldogs

ATHENS - A starting defensive lineman for No. 3 UGA Football is no longer with the program. That news comes only days before the No. 3 Bulldogs first game of the season.

Xzavier McLeod is no longer at Georgia a team spokesperson confirmed to Dawg Post. McLeod transferred to Georgia from South Carolina. He had 30 tackles in 29 games for the Bulldogs. His first start came a year ago against Mississippi State.

Dawgs247, which broke the news earlier Monday, reported that McLeod described himself as “done with football” and “retired.”

The roster move means the Bulldogs will have to gather more snaps from a defensive line that’s steady if not spectacular. Georgia is expected to have one of the best rushing defenses in the country, but losing McLeod will hurt them in terms of depth and production.

McLeod was a steady force for Georgia - starting the the Bulldogs’ Sugar Bowl appearance last season.

The question now is which Bulldog will get more snaps as a result of a starting defensive lineman leaving the program. The return of the bulk of the Dawgs’ defensive line from a season ago - Jordan Hall, Gabe Harris, Elijah Griffin, Joseph Jonah-Ajonye and Josh Horton means the Dawgs are still deep at that critical position.

But the focus will be on how much Griffin and Harris can combine to neutralize opposing run games as well as get pressure on the quarterback, which was a weakness a season ago. Georgia ended 2025 with only 20 sacks all season long.

Griffin was one of the top young defensive linemen in the SEC a season ago.

Coach Kirby Smart did not address McLeod’s departure Monday at his regularly-scheduled press conference. The No. 3 Bulldogs open against Tennessee State Saturday Between the Hedges in Sanford Stadium. Georgia is listed as a massive 45.5-point favorite to win the game.

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Dean Legge
DEAN LEGGE

After two-plus decades of covering the Georgia Bulldogs and the SEC, Dean Legge is one of the definitive voices in Athens and beyond. Legge has authored two books - DAWGSTRUCTION and DOUBLE DAWGS - with each chronicling Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs' run to national titles in 2021 and 2022. Legge has been a Heisman Trophy voter since 2005 and a Biletnikoff Award voter since 2009. He’s covered SEC Championships, Peach Bowls, Orange Bowls, Sugar Bowls, the Rose Bowl Game, College Football Playoff National Championship Games, the NCAA Tournament, the College World Series as well as a slew of college football, basketball and baseball games. Legge graduated from Coker College in 1999 with a degree in Political Science. He played both tennis and basketball for the Cobras. After graduating, Legge completed his academic career at the University of Georgia where he earned a Master of Public Administration from the School of Public and International Affairs in 2001. In 2008, Legge was elected President of the Coker College Alumni Association. He served on the Board of Trustees at Coker from 2009 to 2017 and was a member of the Executive Committee, Student Services and Enrollment Committee and Athletic Committee in that time. Legge is a native of Tucker, Georgia.

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