Barrington expected to rejoin Bulls today at practice

Posted Aug 20, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Aug 20, 2010 at 01:03 AM

USF sophomore linebacker Sam Barrington is expected back at practice Friday afternoon after spending three nights in jail for failing to take care of legal matters related to multiple charges of driving without a valid driver’s license.

Barrington was released from the Hillsborough County Jail at 12:39 this morning following his court appearance on Thursday afternoon. Represented by public defender William Malachowski, Barrington pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of driving with an invalid license in June, and he has a court appearance for the same misdemeanor charge from a July 28 arrest in Tampa.

As part of his plea from the June charge, Barrington was placed on six months probation. He’ll face a similar court appearance in October in the middle of USF’s season.

Expected to start at middle linebacker, Barrington’s failure to properly address his legal issues related to three driver’s license-related arrests in the past 13 months have earned him a spot in the coaching staff’s doghouse and dropped him behind Michael Lanaris on the depth chart.

Barrington missed the Bulls’ final three practices in Vero Beach due to his legal trouble, and prior to that had been plagued by a lingering left shoulder injury from spring and a right shoulder “tweak’’ that kept him out of Saturday’s scrimmage in Vero Beach.