There was one a time when many thought sophomore cornerback Quincy Wilson wouldn’t make it at Florida playing cornerback. He was “too big” for the position, “didn’t have the footwork or quickness” needed to matchup against SEC wide receivers, but his size and physicality would make him a good safety.
Wilson, like most talented youngsters, actually started playing football as a quarterback.
“He was a quarterback in little league, I think his first year he was a running back but he was the best athlete on the team so we moved him to quarterback,” Quincy’s father Chad Wilson told Gator Country. “When he got to high school there were four quarterbacks at his high school so rather than him sitting we moved him to safety.”
Ah, the dreaded “S” word that Quincy heard all throughout his recruitment, despite being promised that he would be a cornerback at Florida.
Wilson arrived at Florida ready to go. His father, Chad Wilson, was a cornerback himself, starting 13 games in two seasons at the University of Miami, and had taught his son everything he knew and everything he experienced from playing the game.
“Now he’s playing my position so I can share every experience I had with him whether he likes it or not,” Chad said of Quincy. “I told him when he left my house that I’m still dad, but I’m moving from dictator to advisor. I’ll tell you things maybe you want to work on, things you should do, but you’re certainly a grown man now.”
Quincy saw action in every game during his freshman season, including two starts, at cornerback. At 6-1 and over 200-pounds, Wilson is bigger than most cornerbacks in the college game but his size is something NFL teams are starting to look for at the position with bigger cornerbacks like Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks emerging.
Wilson’s size and physicality is his biggest asset, which makes you scratch your head when the Florida Gators’ new coaching staff decided to move him inside to play nickelback.
The move is hardly a demotion, Florida spent most of 2014 in a nickel defense and with the talent they have at defensive back, the same should hold true in 2015. The confusing part is a cornerback of Wilson’s size normally doesn’t play inside where he will be matched up against smaller, quicker receivers who have more of the field to work with. That matchup makes it imperative that Wilson’s technique and footwork is on point.
“[My] Technique can always be better, it can always be more on point. Sometimes I can be inconsistent with it, so I’m always working on that,” he said. “I’ve got a little checklist of things that I need to be working on, back pedal, eye control, everything like that.”
He may be big, but that doesn’t make him slow. Wilson’s foot and hip work are of a much smaller player who doesn’t have to run around carrying more than 200 pounds. He’s able to mirror receivers, turn and run with them. Wilson, however, doesn’t credit his God-given physical ability for this trait, he credits his father for installing a certain technique in him.
“[He tells me to] trust my eyes,” Quincy said. “To trust what I see. Don’t hesitate.”
New defensive backs coach Kirk Callahan won’t hesitate to get the most out of Wilson this season. Being able to play both outside, nickel and even the dime positions will ensure that Wilson is on the field at all times.
“I’m not going to play no safety,” he said.
Wilson may be Callahan’s Swiss Army knife, his safety net, just don’t call Quincy Wilson a safety.
Sophomore cornerback Quincy Wilson will look to earn a starting job in 2015. / Gator Country photo by David Bowie