Quarterback is arguably — and it only takes a feeble argument at that — the most important position on a football field. The NFL is made up of two types of team; those who have a franchise quarterback and those who are looking for a franchise quarterback.
The Florida Gators haven’t had a “franchise” type of quarterback since Tim Tebow but they hope they have one on their current roster in returning starter Treon Harris or redshirt freshman Will Grier.
Naming a starting quarterback will happen, but don’t expect it to be this spring and maybe not even in the summer.
You may wonder, if quarterback is the most important position, why wouldn’t you name a starter right away and get that player working exclusively with the first team to start building chemistry and timing?
“The thing I know from playing the position and having coached it a long time, sometimes guys become crutch heavy if they’re just practicing with the same group of guys,” Florida head coach Jim McElwain said. “You never know who’s gonna be in the game. You got to develop a trust with everybody: all of the receivers, all of the running backs, all of the tight ends.”
That means Grier and Harris will likely split first team reps down the middle. Harris took over for a struggling Jeff Driskel last season, playing in nine games, including six starts to end the season. Harris was effective, completing 55% of his pass attempts for 1,019 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions. He added an additional threat as a rusher, totaling 338 yards and three scores on the ground. The numbers are good for a freshman, especially one who had a lot of off the field distractions weighing him down while trying to adjust to the speed of the college game and playing in the toughest conference in college football but it didn’t help the Gators win many games.
Grier spent his first year in Gainesville watching from the sidelines while taking a redshirt. Speaking with the Grier family at the Elite 11 prior to Grier’s senior season in high school, they knew that was the likely the plan heading in to Florida. Grier was prepared to take a year to get in the weight room and grow, as well as taking a year of adjusting to a new playbook, getting himself ready to take the reigns in 2015. That was before, however, Harris flipped his commitment to Florida and gave the new coaching staff a tough decision to make.
The Gators also didn’t sign a quarterback in the last recruiting cycle. This takes away any safety net in case of injury or transfer and is precisely why McElwain is right to not name a starting quarterback this spring.
The risk of naming somebody the backup in spring, only to have them transfer before the season would leave the Gators with their pants down, ill prepared to handle an injury at quarterback.
McElwain does concede that there are advantages to naming a starting quarterback early but the risk, at least for this season, far outweighs the reward that naming a starter soon would bring.
“I think going into the summer you have an opportunity, maybe, to develop some things from there but we’re not putting a time line on the starting quarterback, said McElwain. “We’ve done it a lot of different ways a lot of places we’ve been and been successful doing
it. When it’s time we’ll name that. I’m looking forward to seeing what those guys can do and seeing the competition as we move forward. They’ll get an opportunity will all groups.”
The fact that a starting quarterback will not be named this spring does not take away from the significance of every single rep for the two contenders. Each snap, each repetition and every film breakdown the quarterbacks go through will be scrutinized as the staff tries to find the best option to lead the team in 2015. McElwain knows what he’s looking for, “I think a guy who learns how to throw it to our jersey, our colored jersey is probably the most important thing,” he joked. “Understands the importance of taking care of the football and affecting the people around him in a positive way is really what we’re looking for.”
Florida has been looking for a quarterback to lead them since January 2, 2010 — the day after Florida beat Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl — and there’s no need to rush to a decision now.
Time will tell who will be the right man for the job and McElwain knows his most important decision as head coach at Florida doesn’t need to be his first one.