Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – On Friday night, less than 24 hours before Luke Del Rio runs onto the field for the first time as Florida's starting quarterback, a former high school teammate of Del Rio's will do the same 3,000 miles away.

Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey once took handoffs and caught passes from Del Rio. In their only season together at Valor Christian (Colo.) High in 2012, they helped lead the Eagles to a state championship and performed regularly in a front of a crowd of college recruiters.

"They had some players,'' Gators running backs coach Tim Skipper said.

Skipper was an assistant on Gators head coach Jim McElwain's Colorado State staff when Del Rio relocated to the Denver area from Jacksonville after his father, Jack Del Rio, was dismissed as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars and hired as defensive coordinator in Denver.

Luke's arrival in the Mile High City served as an intriguing sidebar to his father's entrance.

Denver high schools eagerly awaiting Luke Del Rio's decision -- headline on The Denver Post website on Feb. 4, 2012.

A promising quarterback prospect who started his prep career at The Bolles School in Jacksonville before transferring to Episcopal High for his junior season, Del Rio eventually chose Valor Christian, a private school, over large public school Cherry Creek for his final year of high school. Smart move with McCaffrey, a Heisman favorite when he makes his 2016 debut Friday night at home against Kansas State, in the backfield.

The Eagles ran a multiple pro-style offense similar to what the Gators run. Del Rio's job was not to overthink with McCaffrey around.

"It was basically just give him the ball any way you can,'' he said. "He played a lot of positions mainly so he could touch the ball as many times as he could and it worked."

Skipper got to see McCaffrey's magic up close.

"Every time I watched his games, he was the best player on the field,'' Skipper said. "They played schools in California and all over, and he was the best guy on the field. You could tell he was different than everyone else. It doesn't surprise me he is a Heisman hopeful. That's kind of what you would expect watching him in high school."

Skipper was sometimes on hand to watch Del Rio and McCaffrey play because McElwain and Colorado State were the first college to offer Del Rio a scholarship. Despite being an outsider and new to Valor Christian's powerhouse program, Del Rio quickly earned the respect of teammates.

But first, soon after enrolling at his new school, Del Rio took an accidental shot to the head from McCaffrey while playing handball.

"I hit him square in the face when he wasn't looking. That was my first introduction to him,'' McCaffrey said. "I don't know if he necessarily liked me at first, but we became really good friends and really close. You can always hang out with Luke and always rely on him to be there."

Many of his Florida teammates have shared similar sentiments about the 22-year-old Del Rio, a redshirt sophomore in terms of eligibility. Del Rio joined the Gators in the summer of 2015 after transferring from Oregon State.

He had to sit out last season due to NCAA transfer rules but was named Florida's starter for Saturday's opener against UMass after an extended battle with fifth-year senior Austin Appleby, a transfer from Purdue.

Del Rio will be the first quarterback in school history to transfer into the program after playing elsewhere and start a game for the Gators. Del Rio appeared in three games at Oregon State in 2014, completing 8 of 18 passes for 141 yards. The only other transfer quarterback to start a game for the Gators is Noah Brindise, who started five times in 1997. Brindise transferred from Division II Wingate in the spring of 1994 after redshirting his only season there.

Del Rio's background and overall knowledge of the game has impressed McElwain since he first offered him a scholarship.

"The guy was a winner and he's really a gym rat,'' McElwain said. "When you look at his completions and touchdowns to turnovers, that's something that is really efficient, which tells me he is a good decision-maker. How's that going to be the first time he steps foot in the Swamp in front of 90,000-plus? We'll find out. I don't think the arena is going to be too big for him."

Del Rio's former backfield partner admires his perseverance. Three schools after they were teammates and Del Rio gets his shot.



"I can't wait to watch him this year,'' McCaffrey said. "He's a great leader. He's had that in him obviously from his dad being a head coach and being an awesome player back in the day."

The paths taken by Del Rio and McCaffrey since their only season together could not be more different.

A year ahead of McCaffrey in high school, Del Rio graduated in 2013 and watched from the sideline as a walk-on at Alabama while McCaffrey was breaking more Colorado prep records and winning another state championship. After a season at Alabama, Del Rio transferred to Oregon State in 2014 where he mostly sat the bench behind Beavers starter Sean Mannion.

McCaffrey was a college freshman when the two crossed paths at Stanford Stadium in November 2014 as McCaffrey's Cardinal hammered Del Rio's Beavers 38-14. Neither was the story of the game, but both played.

McCaffrey caught a 42-yard touchdown pass and Del Rio replaced Mannion late in the game to finish 4 of 8 for a career-high 87 yards.

Del Rio is not at all surprised at the way McCaffrey's career took off a year ago when he rushed for 2,019 yards and broke the NCAA single-season all-purpose yardage record held by Barry Sanders. McCaffrey was the only FBS player to lead his team in rushing and receiving.

"Coaches told him you better put on some weight if you want to be the guy. If you tell him to do something, he'll do it. He put his mind to it and last year looked like his high school highlight,'' Del Rio said. "It looked like he was playing Denver high school teams. It was unreal. I'm really happy for him and really glad he's having the success he is. I wish he had won the Heisman, but I'm sure he'll have a chance at it this year."

The Del Rio-McCaffrey connection reaches beyond Valor Christian.

Jack Del Rio and Ed McCaffrey, Christian's father, both played in the NFL and have known each other for years. Ed McCaffrey is Denver's TV color analyst and the two reconnected when Jack Del Rio spent three years as Denver's defensive coordinator prior to becoming head coach in Oakland a year ago. In addition, the Raiders signed receiver Max McCaffrey, Christian's older brother, as a rookie free agent over the summer but he was waived on Monday. Finally, former Valor Christian coach Brent Vieselmeyer is Oakland's assistant linebackers coach.

Did Del Rio ever think about how different his and McCaffrey's college careers had evolved as he sat out last season?

"Absolutely,'' he said. "They played in big games. Quarterback is such a unique position, there is usually no rotation. Running backs, they usually rotate a couple of them. I understood it, but at the same time I was like, 'Ah, man, that would be nice.' I'm excited to get out there and play."

Skipper has his own history with Del Rio. Skipper's father Jim Skipper is a longtime NFL assistant coach and worked with Jack Del Rio on Carolina's staff in 2002. The little blond-haired kid Skipper remembers from those days had grown up by the time he watched him play in high school.

He's even more grown up now, finally ready to make his first start since that memorable season four years ago with McCaffrey.

"It's awesome. That's kind of the American way,'' Skipper said. "You just keep fighting, keep doing what you do and good things will happen for you. They had two different paths, but I think they are both going to end up having successful college careers."

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Editor's note: Special thanks to Stanford football sports-information director Alan George for assistance in McCaffrey interview and acquisition of audio file.