Ben Troupe – Syndication Server

Talking with 5 former Gators about their NFL draft-day experiences

Pat Dooley catches up with five former Gator greats and talks with them about their draft-day experiences.

For both NFL and college fans, Thursday night is a national day of importance.

College fans want to see their players drafted because it helps with recruiting and validates their belief in those players when they were wearing the uniform.

For NFL fans, they know the NFL draft can change a franchise — for the better or the bust.

Of course, then there are the actual players. They want their time in the sun to come as quickly as possible, celebrate it and then start playing football for a living.

(Although the way NIL is going, it’s getting harder to differentiate between college and pro players).

It won’t be a big draft for the Gators, which is one reason Florida has a new coach. But we wanted to give you a look at five guys (five players, not the burger chain) and what the draft days were like for some former players.

Ben Troupe discusses current Gators tight end group, 2021 season

Troupe previewed the offensive unit and spoke highly of the tight end group that has to try to pick up where Kyle Pitts left off.

Gators Wire assistant editor Tyler Nettuno recently spoke with former Florida tight end Ben Troupe in an interview that covered a wide range of topics, including his upcoming book, the evolution of the tight end position and the 2021 Gators squad. Here’s the second segment from that interview.

Former Gators tight end Ben Troupe discussed the upcoming season of Florida football and previewed the offensive group, including the tight end position specifically after the departure of Kyle Pitts.

TYLER NETTUNO: Without Kyle Pitts, what are your thoughts on the current tight end group heading into 2021 with guys like Kemore Gamble and Keon Zipperer?

BEN TROUPE: I think we have one of the best tight end rooms in the country. I think these guys, because of what they saw in front of them, they know what the expectation is. Gamble has already said, they say “You’re the best tight end in the SEC,” and he’s like “No, I’m the best tight end in the country.”

Those are the kind of players you want. Why would I think less? I go to the University of Florida, I played behind Kyle Pitts last year. If the guys in my meeting room, on my team are good enough to beat me out, that’s why I practice the way I practice.

Look, all these guys can be starting right now but we in the same room, so yeah man, I like our group. Gamble plays the position in a disrespectful way, I like it, I like that he doesn’t like other players. If you don’t play for Florida, he don’t like you.

You kind of got to see him and Zipperer in the Florida-Georgia game last year because Kyle Pitts got hurt, and those guys showed what’s to come… Now, if you’re a tight end at Florida and you wear 84, you better be nice. Forget what I did, freaking Kyle Pitts took it to another level. The tight end at Florida is the new “it” position. Look, I know people fell out because Arik Gilbert didn’t come to Florida, now he’s at Georgia, but if I’m Arik Gilbert I’m saying to myself “Dude, just because they’re saying ‘look what Kyle Pitts was doing,’ if I can’t do that, I’m not coming there. I can’t do that.”

So I like our tight end room, I think all those guys are gonna be a weapon. I think 12 personnel, maybe even trey personnel with having three tight ends on the field. The tight end position is back at Florida, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere. Those guys are earning snaps Monday through Friday and they show what they’ve earned on Saturday.

I would’ve never said I was the best tight end when I was in college, but these guys put in that work. Just like I think Emory Jones is going to benefit because he sat behind Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask and he didn’t jump into the transfer portal and even though he’s got Anthony Richardson behind him, it’s something to say when the guy in front of you is doing it the right way and at the highest level, they’re showing you just how to do it. Play in and play out. Game in and game out. Rep in and rep out.

I think our tight end room is the best in the country. I know (Georgia’s) got a 6-foot-6-inch dude that wears No. 0, our tight ends wear tight end numbers. We’ll see when we get to Jacksonville. (Editor’s note: Gamble actually switched to No. 2 ahead of the 2021 season).

TN: The expectation with Emory Jones has been that the offense will look a bit different, focusing on the run and option game. Do you think Mullen will be able to keep up the offensive success in spite of that?

BT: Yes, if you look at the mode of quarterback that Dan Mullen is used to having, that’s Emory Jones. Emory looks more like Dak Prescott, Tim Tebow, Nick Fitzgerald than Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask. The reason why he said “I don’t need you to be a great runner, I need you to be a willing runner,” because he knew the type of quarterbacks he was inheriting. He knew that Feleipe Franks didn’t have the wheels. Kyle Trask is more like a distributor of the football.

Now, he’s got a guy with a big arm that’s got wheels. If you ask me what type of quarterback (I want), I’d like a dual threat. I’d rather have a guy that can get me out of trouble, that I can do RPOs with, but Emory Jones is the quarterback that got recruited by Dan Mullen, he didn’t recruit Trask or Franks. So I think (Emory) is going to light it up.

If we can get the running game going, and it doesn’t have to be the best running game, but it just can’t be the worst running game. If we have a solid run game with a quarterback with wheels and receivers, I like Whittemore, I like Henderson, I think Copeland‘s going to light it up… we got guys. We’ve got Bowman, Wright and Pierce, we have weapons.

They talk about Florida like we don’t have weapons… If Dan Mullen can do what he did what he did with two quarterbacks he didn’t recruit, Emory Jones has been in this system for four years now, this dude is going to light it up. As long as you don’t try to do to much, dump the ball down to the backs, run out of bounds, don’t try to run people over, live to play another play, I think Florida’s got as good a shot as any. We’re going to learn a lot about them the third game of the year, but Emory Jones, I think he’s poised to be a superstar.

TN: I think Dan Mullen has mostly proven himself when it comes to coaching quarterbacks, but it seems like the limiting factor on offense is the offensive line. After losing two starters, how do you feel about that unit?

BT: Those guys are going to have to go out there and want to do it. Running the football is a want-to thing. And that’s with anybody that blocks. That’s receivers, tight ends, fullbacks, offensive linemen, it’s a want-to thing. Running the football is football 101.

Florida’s offense was ranked ninth last year and we couldn’t run the ball, could you imagine what the offense would be if we could? It takes stress off of everybody. You’ve got able backs that can go out and make life easier. If it’s second and 1, third and 1, man we’ve got to get that. We can’t be lining up three wide on third and 1.

I don’t know what it is about offensive line play at the big three schools (in Florida). They get the athletes, but they don’t get the O-linemen. Those guys have to stop being the weak link, because we’re winning in spite of you, not because of you. I said this as a player, I may not be the reason we win, I refuse to be the reason why we lose. Guys work too hard.

So to me, the offensive lineme has got to look themselves in the mirror and stop lying to themselves. I’m not blaming them, but dude, you came to Florida because you’re the créme de la créme, let’s go. It’s time.

The success or failure of the University of Florida in 2021 will rest on the shoulders of five gentlemen: the two guards, the center and the two tackles. Not Emory Jones, not the guys in the backfield, not the tight ends or the receivers. If we can’t have a foundation set by those five guys, it’s going to be a long season because we’re going to make difficult things more difficult and we’re going to make easy things hard.

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Former Florida and NFL tight end Ben Troupe discusses upcoming book

Ben Troupe discussed his upcoming autobiography, which releases on Sept. 21.

Ben Troupe, who played for the Gators from 2000-03 and professionally with the Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, co-wrote an autobiography that releases on Sept. 21. We talked to Troupe to discuss the book and the process of writing it.

TYLER NETTUNO: So, you’ve got a new book coming out next month, Uncommon and Unfinished: The Ben Troupe Story. Can you talk about what inspired you to write this and without giving too much away, what people can expect to find when they read it?

BEN TROUPE: Well, long time coming. I met B.J. (Bennett) who co-wrote it with me maybe say around, like, 2008-2009. And, you know, we’re just talking, you know, and the notion of a book will just come up. And, we were much younger then, and it’s not really something that we really had time to do. And then you fast forward to working with ESPN Radio with BJ Bennett again, and Kevin Thomas, the pandemic gave us a chance to really finally do it. Like, look, man, we got a lot of a lot more free time, a lot more time to do it.

So we did it. Me and BJ, you know, he went to my hometown, Swainsboro, and Augusta, Georgia, where I went to high school, got to talk to some people that knew me, got to talk to my family. And him being around me every day because we work together, he told me he had to become me to write the book, which that’s pretty unique to be able to tell it from that perspective.

But I think when I’m getting older, and the type of things I want to do, other people call it bucket lists, I call checklists. It was a checklist of mine to be able to put my thoughts, you know, my life out there. And most people always think they know you based on what they know you from. And this is my way to kind of shape the narrative and kind of tell my story from my point of view. And hopefully, like, the people that get the book will realize, I always say this, people know me as Ben, they’ll get a chance to know Benjamin.

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TN: Even as a professional writer myself, the idea of trying to write a book just seems like a very daunting thing. Were there things that surprised you about the process or things you learned?

BT: Absolutely. The writing of the book is the therapeutic part, because you’re getting your thoughts on paper, and it’s almost like, “Okay,
I’m talking about this, I’ve addressed this, I can move on.” You get to editing a book, like a fine-toothed comb, every single thing from commas, what should be capitalized, what shouldn’t be capitalized, what kind of context are you using this in, the most minute small thing. You got to make sure you know people’s names are spelled right. It’s like, it’s not the writing part. The editing felt like you wrote the book twice.

But I think throughout the editing process, you gain an appreciation because I read my book 1,000 times, right? But every time I’m reading it, and even though I know what the words say they mean something different. Because I will say this, you’re gonna go back and forth with what you want to put out there, but me and B.J. wrote it from a place of vulnerability, because I may never get another book. I hope I put out a bunch of books.

But if this is my only book, I want to make sure I’m telling my truth, I’m telling the truth. I’m not sensationalizing anything, I’m not throwing anybody under the bus. I’m really saying thank you, man, to the people, places and things that not just allowed me to be who I was back then but who I am now. So it’s my chance to kind of cheer for the people and celebrate the people who always cheered and celebrating me.

NEXT: This isn’t Troupe’s only book

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