Quarterback Emory Jones receives direction from head coach Dan Mullen during Saturday's win over Samford. (Photo: Courtney Culbreath/UAA Communications)
Wednesday, November 17, 2021 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In a season of inconsistency for the Gators, the constant chatter about quarterbacks Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson has been as steady as the flow of the Mighty Mississippi.
Ditto this week as Florida (5-5, 2-5) prepares to travel to Missouri (5-5, 2-4) for its final Southeastern Conference game of the season. While the future of head coach Dan Mullen has bumped the UF quarterbacks to second string on the media's depth chart, Jones and Richardson remain headliners.
That's part of the job description during good times and bad times.
"I think they're progressing,'' quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee said. "They're still in the process of learning how to be great quarterbacks, what it takes to be a great quarterback. I think they're getting to the point where they're learning how hard it is mentally and emotionally to be a quarterback on this level."
Mullen said Jones will start on Saturday and likely the rest of the season – Jones has started nine of 10 games and is coming off a record-setting performance in last week's win over Samford. Meanwhile, whether he is playing or not, Richardson is a constant topic of conversation.
In his role managing the position, McGee has developed close connections to Trina Jones and LaShawnda Lane – the quarterbacks' moms. Their sons have handled the situation as well as could be expected, supporting one another both publicly and privately.
They have shown more maturity than some fans according to McGee.
"People were saying things to her about her son that probably weren't fair,'' McGee said of Trina Jones. "And he had to deal with that while he was out on the field trying to execute and worried about his mom, who was in the stands.
"Those types of things are something no one talks about. We would have these deep conversations – me and him, him and his mother – about how we're going to withstand this and keep battling through this. So, me and his mom ended up developing a really good relationship, and then the kid just kept grinding."
Jones completed 28 of 34 passes for a career-high 464 yards and six touchdowns in Florida's 70-52 victory over Samford last weekend. He added 86 yards and a touchdown rushing, establishing a program record for most yards of total offense (550) in a single game, a record previously held by Gators legend Tim Tebow (533).
Following his performance, Jones discussed the ups and downs of his first season as a starter. Jones spent three seasons mostly on the sideline behind starters Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask before taking over this season.
In his first season as Florida's quarterbacks coach, Garrick McGee has spent a lot of time teaching what comes with the position on and off the field. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
McGee said the experience of being a popular backup has helped Jones handle the calls for popular backup Richardson to start. He said Jones told him about hearing fans yelling for him to play when he was a backup, and with Franks standing next to him and able to hear the same fans.
"Emory is a very strong kid,'' McGee said. ""Emory had been through the situation on both sides. I like the fact he has just showed his grit."
A dynamic redshirt freshman from Gainesville Eastside High a few miles from "The Swamp," Richardson has battled an assortment of injuries. He suffered an injured hamstring early in the season, then a concussion against Georgia, followed by a knee injury from dancing at the team hotel prior to the loss to South Carolina.
Richardson has a bright future according to McGee, but in conversations with Lane, who knows her son better than anyone, McGee said he is reminded of where Richardson is in life.
"She just said he needs to grow up. 'Coach, I know this kid looks like a man. And I know the Lord has blessed him with a lot of talent, but this is a baby,' " McGee said. "He's just a kid trying to grow up while he's in college — just so happens he's a tremendous football player."
McGee's dialogue with Trina Jones is of a different tone.
As the veteran and one of the team's leaders, Jones has dealt with more criticism than at any point since he started playing the sport as a kid.
Turnovers have been the main culprit. He used an example of a game earlier this season when Jones took 60 snaps and 54 of them were excellent. However, six bad ones, including turnovers, cost him and the Gators dearly.
Otherwise, McGee is pleased at the way Jones has performed and taken over the position following Trask's record-setting season in 2020.
"He had to learn that those six bad plays are all that anyone cares about, including us,'' McGee said. "Those six plays are what are going to cost us games."
Still, McGee is disappointed at fans who take out their frustration on Trina in the stands. However, as part of his teaching in the classroom, McGee stresses that the fickle nature of fans is part of playing the position at a place like Florida.
Trina Jones is gritty like her son.
"Trina is a very good lady, and she's a very strong lady,'' McGee said. "She really has a lot of confidence and faith in her kid. They spend a lot of time talking and texting.
"Fans are fans. They want everything to go right. We can't expect them to come to the stadium and really scream for us and yell for us, and then not get on us when things are going well. It's a part of it. It's a part of playing this position at this level. We spend a lot of time talking about this situation."
