Grimes previews bright future in Florida Gators spring game

Think back to 2018, and it might be surprising to know Trevon Grimes finished the season as Florida’s third-leading receiver.

He and Van Jefferson transferred in at the same time and were equally hyped, but it was Jefferson who got on the field as it seemed Grimes got left in the dust. While he had all the tangibles of speed, size and athleticism to be a matchup nightmare, the Gators didn’t take advantage of it much until a 118-yard breakout performance against FSU.

It might have taken a little time, but it looks like the end of last season was just a sneak peek of what’s to come for the junior pass catcher.

Grimes put on a show Saturday as he set a spring game record with 195 receiving yards. And the crazy thing is, he made just four catches all day. That equates to an average of 48.8 yards per reception. Oh, and two of those were touchdowns.

“He went crazy,” said senior wide receiver Freddie Swain. “You can tell that during spring practice he finally understands what he is doing and why he is doing it. It shows that he has tremendous ability to be a great athlete.”

It’s worth noting that the Gators weren’t playing a very complex defense in the game, but Grimes had his way with the secondary.

At 6-5, 210, he can either go over or past the defender to make plays. On this particular day, he chose to blow past them. Three catches for more than 60 yards isn’t a shabby day at the office.

That might have opened some eyes in the stands on Saturday, but no one on the sideline looked surprised.

“I knew he was always gonna make plays,” said senior wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland. “That wasn’t a question. He’s just had to adjust to a new offense. Once he got that down pat, the sky’s the limit. The guy is fast. The guy is athletic. He’s got nice, versatile ability to do all types of stuff. That’s what y’all saw today with those catches. He’s very fast. I’m just proud of him.”

Grimes spent many extra hours in the offseason working to get to this point, but it’s his coaches and teammates he really credits for the jump.

He never got down on himself through the early season woes in 2018. He knew all the physical attributes were there—it was the mental part of the game he really needed to improve on. That’s where his support system came in.

“I give all the glory to the coaches,” Grimes said. “Coach [Nick] Savage, Coach [Billy] Gonzales, Coach [Dan] Mullen, all of them, they’ve helped me. They stay on me every day, even when I have bad practices. They hold me to a high standard. It shows on the field when we come out here. If I have a bad practice, Feleipe [Franks] will pull me aside and talk to me. Having teammates and coaches like that helps me when it comes to game time. It makes it easy.”

Bailiegh Carlton
A lifelong sports fan, Bailiegh Carlton knew from a young age that she wanted to work in sports in some capacity. Before transferring to the University of Florida to study journalism, she played softball at Gulf Coast State College. She then interned for Gator Country for three years as she worked toward her degree. After graduation, Bailiegh decided to explore other opportunities in the world of sports, but all roads led her right back here. In her time away, she and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. When she isn't working, she can almost always be found snuggled up with sweet baby Ridley, Cody and her four fur babies.