GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - It's a refrain as familiar in Gainesville as the sound of a summertime thunderstorm: The Florida Gators head into their first practice of the season unsure who their starting quarterback will be.
It's true again in 2003, although this time it's second-year coach Ron Zook, not Steve Spurrier, who will make the big decision.
``I don't think you have to be in a hurry to name a quarterback,'' Zook said. ``It's been done around here, where more than one quarterback has played and we've been successful.''
Never, however, has the pool had this little experience.
Sophomore Ingle Martin, who saw more time at punter than quarterback last season, enters Wednesday's first day of practice as the starter, but with no guarantees.
The other candidates are redshirt freshman Gavin Dickey, freshman Justin Midgett and another freshman, Chris Leak, who threw a record 185 TD passes in high school and thought so highly of himself, he announced his decision to play for Florida on ESPN.
In a way, Zook caught a break last year because he was able to persuade Rex Grossman to stay even though Spurrier left. It was the first time since 1996, when Danny Wuerffel won the Heisman Trophy, that the Gators had absolutely no questions about who would start the season at quarterback, and who was the clear No. 1.
With that clarity, however, came problems.
First, Grossman's pocket-passing, down-the-field throwing style didn't fit in too well with the new offense Zook and coordinator Ed Zaunbrecher were trying to install. The Gators spent some time in practice working on some plays for Grossman and others for the backups.
Then, there was Grossman's penchant for calling audibles to plays from Spurrier's old offense. It became a key issue when Florida started struggling at midseason, and it fueled the perception that Grossman was running roughshod over his coaches. Zook wanted Grossman back for his senior season, but told him it would have to be ``on my terms and not your terms.''
Grossman, of course, chose to go pro and is competing for the Chicago Bears' starting job.
Zook now has the choice between four quarterbacks with remarkably similar styles as the team prepares for its Aug. 30 opener against San Jose State. All like to move the pocket around and can get the ball out quickly, which is more suited toward the offense Zaunbrecher wants to run.
``We're going to be practicing the same plays for all of them,'' Zook said. ``To me, that's a plus.''
The three freshmen are considered serious candidates for the job, which leads to an interesting trivia tidbit - no freshman has played considerable time at quarterback for the Gators since Wayne Peace in 1980.
``Some people say you can't play a freshman or a freshman can't play at quarterback,'' Zook said. ``There's no rule in the rulebook like that.''
The coach believes that even without Grossman, the Gators are ``a much improved football team right now. We're going to be a much better team.''
Monday
April 14th, 2025
4:41PM
