Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – There is not a louder chorus in college football than when a segment of fans join in unison and begin to call for the backup quarterback. The echo chamber gets so noisy that soon it becomes mind-numbing if a change is not made.

Welcome to Florida football for the past seven seasons.

If not at the time, everyone now knows Tim Tebow was a once-in-a-generation (perhaps lifetime) phenomenon in his four seasons at Florida. Not only was Tebow a great college quarterback – one of the best ever, in fact – his persona stretched so far beyond Florida Field and into popular culture that he remains one of America's most famous citizens today.

Tebow made everyone around him better and inspired countless new devotees to the University of Florida that may never be replicated. Nine starting quarterbacks later, the Gators continue their search for a quarterback to build around and generate excitement in a position that has been the program's poster boy over the years.

Tebow may have been the peak, but Steve Spurrier, John Reaves, Wayne Peace, Shane Matthews, Danny Wuerffel, Doug Johnson, Rex Grossman, Chris Leak and others ensured playing quarterback at Florida was one of the college game's glamor positions.

With news earlier this week that Luke Del Rio, who started six games last season and is the most experienced quarterback on the roster, will miss spring camp due to shoulder surgery, two redshirt freshmen take center stage in Florida's ongoing quest for quarterback stability.

Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask joined the program a year ago as mid-year early enrollees straight from high school. By the second half of the season when Del Rio encountered injury woes and Austin Appleby was up and down, fans barked it was time for Franks or Trask to take over.

Second-year head coach Jim McElwain, known for his ability to develop quarterbacks, held steady and stuck with Appleby down the stretch as the Gators repeated as SEC East champions and concluded a 9-4 season with a 30-3 win over Iowa in the Outback Bowl earlier this month.

The time wasn't right for Franks or Trask. It is now.
 
McElwain was asked on multiple occasions late in the season about Franks and Trask and the overall health of the position's future. His most pointed response came after Florida's loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game last month.

"That's something we've got to do. We've got to make sure it happens sooner than later," McElwain said of stabilizing the position. "That's my responsibility, and it will get done."

The two young quarterbacks have very different stories on the way to UF.

The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Franks was ranked among the country's top quarterback prospects coming out of Wakulla High in Crawfordville, Fla. He originally committed to LSU but flipped to the Gators.

He made is Florida debut in last spring's Orange & Blue Debut, throwing three interceptions and generally looking like a player who needed much grooming before being ready to play. By the end of the season, Franks had made significant progress and started to look sharper at practice.

Florida offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier has high expectations for Franks after working with him for a full year.

"You're talking about a guy, ultra-talented that came in and we threw a lot him early,'' Nussmeier said prior to the Outback Bowl. "And he's really, really learned how to prepare and how to take the offense and take the tools we're giving him and now apply them to the field."

With Del Rio unavailable, Franks served as Appleby's backup down the stretch.

Meanwhile, the 6-foot-4, 228-pound Trask was often one of the last Gators to leave practice, knowing he had a lot of catching up to do. Unlike Franks, Trask was not his high school team's starter and played behind D'Eriq King at Manvel (Texas) High.

Manvel's spread-style offense was more suited for King, who signed with Houston and moved to receiver as a freshman, catching 29 passes for 228 yards in his first college season. Trask watched and learned, displaying a strong arm and sharp accuracy.

"Kyle is a guy that when you tell him it one time, he gets it right now," Nussmeier said. "He can process information very, very well, his accuracy is unbelievable and he's just done a really, really good job for a guy that doesn't have a ton of snaps. When you put him in situations, he reacts very, very well."

As a fifth-year graduate transfer from Purdue, Appleby quickly asserted himself as film-room junkie in his one season with the Gators. That meant spending a lot of time with Franks and Trask.

Like Nussmeier, who also serves as Florida's quarterbacks coach, Appleby saw how the two quarterbacks developed during the course of their first year on campus.

"They've come so far,'' he said. "From day one when they got here, they didn't even know how to call a play in the huddle. It's been so cool to watch them grow and to learn from Luke and myself. The Gator program is in very, very good hands with these young guys. The only people who are going to get in their way is them. They're both extremely talented."

While Franks and Trask are slated to get the bulk of the snaps this spring, early enrollee Kadarius Toney could have an opportunity to join the mix. Toney made it clear on the recruiting trail he wants a shot to play quarterback at Florida.

Toney was a multi-purpose threat at Blount (Ala.) High, playing quarterback, receiver and running back. He is one of five mid-year enrollees who joined the program earlier this month and is listed as an "athlete" by recruiting analysts. What happens this spring could change by fall if Del Rio is fully healthy and shows the form he did early in the season before knee and shoulder injuries limited his ability.

Regardless, Florida's primary focus will be on finding its quarterback of the future. It's a familiar story line for Florida fans, one that has loomed over the program longer than anyone imagined possible, even in the wake of Tebowmania.