The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. The way to five three hundred pound men’s hearts? Well, Luke Del Rio isn’t straying far from that strategy.
The Gators’ redshirt sophomore quarterback has a Thursday ritual. Del Rio rounds up his offensive linemen and takes them out to dinner, picking up the tab for the men that will protect him that week on the field.
“It started Week 1. I wanted to do something with them to kind of just show them that I care about them,” Del Rio said of his standing date with the offensive line. “I wanted to bring the group closer together and just hang out outside of football. It’s just something to kind of get to know them because contrary to a lot of fans’ beliefs, we do have lives outside of football.”
The team does bonding events throughout the offseason but Del Rio’s effort to go the extra mile has brought the offensive linemen together. Even though they are on scholarship they still are, after all, college kids trying to make ends meet.
“The first time we had it I felt like he had our back and that made me want to fight for him a little bit more, you know, taking us out to eat,” sophomore guard Martez Ivey said. “It don’t get no better than free food, right?”
What does the tab look like when more than 1,500 pounds of offensive linemen walks into a restaurant knowing the bill will be taken care of? Del Rio isn’t telling, but the offensive linemen aren’t shy about making sure they leave with full bellies.
“Whatever I want, I’m going to get it,” Ivey said with a laugh.
Cam Dillard said the appetite’s of some of the guys would surprise you. At 340 pounds, Jawaan Taylor is the biggest of the group, but doesn’t come close to having the biggest appetite. That distinction went to sophomore Tyler Jordan, who according to Dillard, makes his living when the desserts come to the table.
“Sometimes it’s not just the starting five. If there’s a rotational guy who will get to play in some packages, then I’ll bring him along, too,” Del Rio said. “But it’s a really good thing and they look forward to it. Every Wednesday night, they’re like ‘Where are we going to go tomorrow night?’ I’m glad that I do it. I’m definitely going to continue to do it.”
Del Rio has been the consummate professional when discussing his offensive line publically. After the season opener Del Rio made sure to bring up multiple times in his press conference that, other than one instance, he wasn’t touched by a UMASS defender. Even when his offensive line hasn’t been able to provide a clean pocket, or when they haven’t had their best game, the quarterback refrains from ever pointing a finger at the line.
Even after the line struggled against Georgia Del Rio made sure to point them out.
“The biggest thing we wanted to do was establish the line of scrimmage, be able to run the ball when we wanted to, and usually when you can do that you end up winning,” he said. “So I thought the offensive line did a tremendous job today. They’re growing up quick.”
The line allowed a season-high three sacks, granted one came on an intentional grounding call, but Del Rio was running for his life trying to avoid a sack on the play, and the Gators rushed for just 2.1 yards-per-carry.
Del Rio is smart. He knows that the only thing standing in the way of him and the glass eaters and fire breathers playing on the opposing team’s defensive lines are his linemen. He’s used a weekly dinner to build chemistry and trust and he’s going to keep feeding his protectors in hopes they keep him upright.
That’s great that LDR is a leader. But you can actually see the improvement in the Line as well as the regression in his play. He does everything right except play well on game day.