UF football coach Will Muschamp publicly endorsed the Students Party vice presidential candidate last week for the upcoming Student Government elections.
Gators fullback Jesse Schmitt is the Students Party vice presidential candidate for Tuesday's and Wednesday's elections.
Schmitt walked onto the football team last year.
"I wanted to join his teammates in endorsing Jesse as VP for Student Government," Muschamp wrote in a letter to UF students. "I know that his leadership and drive for excellence will make him successful and in turn make campus a better place for every student."
As far as Schmitt knows, this is the first time a coach has endorsed a student. He said he would assume that when an athlete runs, the coach would endorse the candidate.
Schmitt said the last student athlete to be elected as an executive officer was Terry Jackson, who was elected in 1998 as Student Body vice president.
Two of Schmitt's teammates, linebacker Graham Stewart and running back Trey Burton, appeared in a Students Party video campaign ad on Thursday. The video showed Stewart tackling Schmitt and Burton staring at a cat. It had about 4,400 views as of press time.
The football team will also campaign on campus with the Students Party, Schmitt said.
He said he is glad to have the team behind him.
"They're all incredible compliments that Muschamp gave," he said. "I hope I can do the football team proud."
