2016 Naples (Fla.) High receiver Tyler Byrd gets lost in the shuffle as a Florida commit since he’s still just a sophomore in high school.
But on Saturday, the 5’11”, 160-pound Byrd was back in The Swamp for Florida’s first SEC game of the year.
“The atmosphere was real hostile for Tennessee fans,” Byrd said. “Florida is a real hard place to play, knowing that the crowd is on my side, the hostility is a good thing. It was loud in there. I think Florida is one of the toughest place to play at.”
For Byrd, being in Gainesville and watching the game was nice and something that he can’t wait to experience as a player himself.
“It was great to think that I’m going to be out there as a Gator soon,” Byrd said. “To think that the crowd is going to be cheering for me is cool.”
Before the game, Byrd went into the Gators locker room where he had a chance to speak to one of Florida’s coaches
“I talked to my recruiting coach Coach (D.J.) Durkin because Coach Joker was out on the field,” Byrd said. “Coach Durkin was telling me that he was glad that I was a Gator and that he hopes to see me again soon and that he will be down to see me soon.”
For Byrd, he kept a close eye on how the Florida offense did and he was impressed by backup quarterback Tyler Murphy.
“The offense did well with the second string quarterback,” Byrd said. “He did pretty good stepping in and I think the offense had some life with him in the game. It was just a great game overall, including the defense.
During his sophomore season, Byrd says he only has two touchdowns because he’s playing defense more than offense.