Dan Wenger - Return To The Sunshine State
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 | Football
By Jennifer Mereby, UF Communications
Coming home is a feeling that many people often take for granted in the day-to-day routine of life. For University of Florida redshirt senior Dan Wenger, it is something that no longer rests idly in his head. After spending four years in the bone-chilling weather of South Bend, Ind., as an offensive lineman at the University of Notre Dame, Wenger has returned closer to home.
Amidst the passing of spring, the Coral Springs, Fla., native transferred to play football at The Swamp. From 2007 to 2009, Wenger tallied 29 appearances and made 19 starts for the Fighting Irish, until his 2009 campaign came to an early close following a series of injuries. In an effort to make it back for the 2010 season, the center suffered a pair of concussions, which eliminated his final year of eligibility at Notre Dame. With the blessing of the NCAA under his belt, Wenger was granted a rare sixth year of eligibility, which he chose to spend donning the Orange and Blue.
“It was really exciting to have the opportunity to come back and play at Florida, to play closer to home,” acknowledged Wenger, who is pursuing is Master's of Science in Management.
While transfers are a common occurrence in the world of collegiate athletics, the story pieces together a little more cohesively for Wenger.
A product of one of the nation's top high school athletic programs, Wenger graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas in 2006 as a top-tier offensive lineman and headed to Notre Dame to play for then-head coach and current Gator offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis. While in South Bend, the 6'3”, 294-pound center also spent a year under the direction of current Florida offensive line coach/running game coordinator Frank Verducci, making his transition into the new scheme of first-year head coach Will Muschamp a little more effortless.
Wenger's arrival in Gainesville was highly-anticipated, as the strength of the Gators' young offensive line was in question. If he could provide anything for his new team, it was his experience and knowledge of Weis' complex offensive structure, not only for the group of youngsters, but for the returning veterans as well.
“It's a very positive note to have Dan here right now,” remarked Muschamp. “He's a guy who has been through our offensive system and understands it. Dan's been very beneficial for our players and is a hard-nosed, tough kid. To have him for one year is a bonus for us.”
“If Dan couldn't play a down, he would have still helped us tremendously because he knows the offense better than all the rest of them,” Weis said. “He's got very high football IQ. Even if he physically couldn't hold up, what he was going to bring, his intangibles are through the roof.”
During the time over the summer when coaches were prevented from having contact with the players, the 23-year-old Wenger took on the role of player-coach by helping teach his new teammates some of the intricacies of Weis' pro-style offense.
With coaching aspirations in his future if an NFL career is unattainable, Wenger is thankful for the second opportunity with the Gators.
“This couldn't be a better situation for me right now,” Wenger said. “With everything I have dealt with in the past and especially the situation I had last year, being able to be a part of Florida and the Gator family, it's just been amazing.”
What his role would be heading into the 2011 season had yet to be determined, but at that point, Wenger had fully bought into Muschamp's “all about Florida” presence, and was confident in the fact that whatever he could do to benefit the team was enough.
“My biggest thing is, that whatever my role on this team is, I'm going to be my best at it and embrace it,” Wenger admitted during fall training camp. “If I'm second string, I'm not going to be holding back information from the guys. If I'm a starter or on the scout team, that's my role and I'm going to be the same guy I've always been.”
With that positive attitude, Wenger has started each game of the season for the Gators at right guard and has established himself as a cornerstone of the offensive line, both on and off the field.
His knowledge of Weis' renowned offense and extensive football resume, with a BCS bowl game appearance as a true freshman; the experience of living through a disheartening season for the Irish; a full-time starting gig as a third-year sophomore; a position switch and then demotion as a junior; a coaching change; and a series of injuries while at Notre Dame – Wenger has lived through it all and persevered with his final year of collegiate football underway as a Florida Gator.
“With our guys alone, it's a lot different than the guys we had at Notre Dame,” Wenger said. “As a student of the game, watching the games, you can tell the caliber of athletes the SEC has. It's really eye-opening when you are a part of it.”
Although they are not all the fondest of memories, they are ones that can bring insight and guidance for one of Florida's youngest teams in program history. Following a rigorous stretch of the schedule where Florida faced four consecutive ranked opponents for the first time since 1971, Muschamp explained, “When you have adversity, you find out a lot about your leadership and where your football team is as a whole.”
No stranger to adversity, Wenger has fulfilled that leadership role and helped mentor his team through a mid-season lull.
“I tell the guys, it's all about having a short memory, you can't dwell on the past – it's over,” Wenger said about guiding his teammates through the tough stretch in October. “Regardless of the outcome of the game the previous week, you have to go out there and perform.”
Apart from what has happened over the last week, month or year, one thing is certain: Wenger is not only close to home, but has made both the University of Florida and the Gators part of that equation.
