Say hello to the unsung hero of the 2010 recruiting class. He might not have been a five-star himself, but without Trey Burton’s first-responder instinct to keep all the freshman together when their coach’s future was in question, the Florida Gators might not have the No. 1 recruiting class in America.
On top of that, Burton is the surprise of spring football, playing himself into contention as somebody who will factor in the two-quarterback offense next fall as the backup and maybe as the Wildcat runner .
Burton met the press on Wednesday and if he commands a football team as well as he did the ring of reporters and videographers around him, Florida Gator fans are in for four years of excellent play at quarterback.
With a deep, resonant voice and a beard thick enough for most seniors, the 18-year-old freshman fielded questions with composure and responded with ease. He talked about where he was on Dec. 26 when he heard the news about Urban Meyer’s “retirement.” Burton said he was sleeping.
“I turned my phone off because I was going to hang out with some friends later on,” he explained. “And I woke up and there were a whole lot of messages and everything like that. I was confused and I walked out and talked to my mom about it and she told me what happened. I called Coach.”
Once he got the word, Burton spread it around. After all, he’s the “veteran” of the freshman class.
It’s not like this is Trey’s first trip to Gainesville.
Almost every time they opened up Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for the past three seasons, Burton was there with his pom-poms. As an early commit, he became the foundation of what is considered possibly the best University of Florida recruiting class ever – although it won’t be determined unless the deeds of the 1992 and 2006 class have been surpassed.
He said he was there “pretty much every time they asked me to come up” for a home game, sitting in the South end zone, hanging with the recruits. He was also there watching Tim Tebow for three seasons, feeling the rumble of the fans in “The Swamp,” drinking in the cheers and bonding with future teammates. Later he and his teammates-to-be would team up to get the word out to the 2010 recruiting class that rumors of their coach’s departure were premature.
It gets a little confusing from here about who did what because of all the cell-phone chatter, but generally Burton is given credit for starting up the phone tree, along with offensive lineman Ian Silberman of Orange Park/Fleming Island and defensive lineman Lynden Trail of Miami Booker T. Washington. They encouraged each other to stay the course.
“I think we all had an equal part in it and not just one person (made the calls),” said Burton. “And I think we all did a good job of staying together. I had to make sure I knew what was going on first – I didn’t want to lose the class. So I called (Ron) Powell, I called (Joshua) Shaw. I called as many people as I could. And I told them to spread the word, too, that coach (Meyer) was fine. That nothing was wrong with him and he would be back.
“At first they were confused, but once we started talking and everybody started spreading the word, we stayed together and were a pretty tight group.”
Veteran move for a high school senior.
He could have been the first Urban Meyer recruit ever to have his freshman stripe removed before he ever put on a uniform, although that’s long gone anyway.
You can go ahead and scratch that red-shirt label from Burton’s name, however, because Meyer has seen enough to know that he’ll be the backup to John Brantley. And contrary to what some of the bloggers reported out of camp early, the early-bird freshman from Venice has the game. Just ask his coaches.
Scot Loeffler is pleasantly surprised about his young freshman and thinks he has made a statement this spring with his improved play. Leaving Venice for early enrollment has paid big dividends.
“Him being here has been a huge benefit both for him and our offense and overall for us to get ready for that SEC championship run,” said Loeffler, who has seen Burton change right before his eyes.
Loeffler knew seeing the defensive ends come off the edge could be intimidating for a high school senior but kept putting Burton out there to take the snaps. By week three, the youngster started developing a presence. Although his passing motion and release are not there yet, Burton’s lower body and hips are fluid.
“It’s nice when you have a young one you can start that process with,” Loeffler said. “But we’ve got a ways to go.”
Burton doesn’t take the vote of confidence as gospel and says he thinks he has done “okay,” but still feels like he has “so much to do – I’m not fooling anybody out here.” He says he can’t wait for summer to start so he can begin working on fundamentals. He’ll be doing that without the watchful eye of quarterback coach Loeffler, of course, and his “coach” will be Johnny Brantley.
Mostly Burton has been working on his footwork lately. Surprisingly, he looks stable and confident standing in the pocket. His field awareness in the passing game is wise beyond his age and experience, and although his ball doesn’t spin like Brantley’s, it seems to get to the right place at the right time. Even if he hasn’t yet really had his mechanics broken down, he’s an effective passer already. Learning all the formations and the plays, however, is like a crash course in calculus for an incoming freshman, and even for an intelligent student like Burton, the playbook is a formidable challenge.
In Wednesday’s scrimmage, working with some of the first-string receivers, Burton went 6-for-6 on a drive that led to a touchdown pass to Deonte Thompson. With Andre Debose and Jordan Reed in that lineup and catching a couple, one couldn’t help but think it was a glimpse into the future.
So, really, he’s already earned his scholarship at Florida. And although he’s not as highly rated as Powell or Trail or some of the other super blue-chippers, Trey Burton may turn out to have been one of the best picks Urban Meyer ever made.