Even before Steve Spurrier took over the Florida football program in 1990 the Gators were known for producing some solid quarterback talent, headlined by the aforementioned Heisman-winning Spurrier as well as others such as John Reeves, Wayne Peace and Kerwin Bell.
After the UF legend took over, things went into overdrive stretching from Shane Matthews to Rex Grossman, which included Florida’s second Heisman Trophy winner, Danny Wuerffel. Never mind that Grossman was cheated out of his rightful honor in 2001 losing out to Nebraska Cornhusker Eric Crouch— but that is another story.
Things petered out a bit under Ron Zook, but he does get credit for bringing in Chris Leak, who thrived under Urban Meyer along with the Gators’ third Heisman winner, Tim Tebow, to keep the legacy alive. After the departure of the two-time championship skipper, things reached a nadir under center for the Orange and Blue.
While many of the later talents were highly rated coming out of high school, they mostly floundered in the Swamp stretching between the Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain eras, only to be resurrected by once-heralded quarterback guru Dan Mullen. Thanks to the success of Kyle Trask and Anthony Richardson — the latter of whom was recruited by Mullen but played mostly under Billy Napier — it appears that Gainesville is once again among the top destinations for aspiring pass-callers.
ESPN’s David Hale recently published his “Position U” rankings in which he surveyed the collegiate football landscape for the best programs for players to flourish. Florida came in at No. 8 at the quarterback position, earning a mention as the new school on the block from Hale.
Florida didn’t actually enjoy much on-field success with Anthony Richardson at quarterback last season, but he sure did help its standing in our QBU rankings. Florida jumped from 11th to eighth in large part due to Richardson’s high draft stock. Should Kyle Trask win the starting QB job for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this year and start padding his NFL stats, the Gators might see an even bigger leap next year, but Florida fans would probably trade all that for a little hope at the QB position in Gainesville this season.
The expectations from Florida’s QB corps this coming season are low but Wisconsin Badgers transfer Graham Mertz has put up solid numbers in Big Ten competition before heading south to Gainesville. Can some of that Swamp mojo rub off on him?
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