Wide receiver Quinton Dunbar was helpless last season.
As the Gators’ stagnant, 88th-ranked passing attack mustered just 184 yards per game and lacked a home run threat at receiver, all Dunbar could do was watch from the sidelines.
“I feel like I could have helped the team last year,” said Dunbar, now a redshirt freshman.
“I had to figure out fast that I had to mature. Being by myself forced me to mature.”
A year later, Dunbar is in line to be one of the team’s three starting receivers when the season opens against Florida Atlantic on Sept. 3, along with redshirt senior Deonte Thompson and redshirt junior Frankie Hammond.
But Dunbar’s transformation from sideline spectator to Florida’s expected vertical threat was not an easy one.
Dunbar arrived at Florida out of Miami Booker T. Washington High as the No. 24 wide receiver in the nation and a four-star prospect, according to Rivals.com.
The 6-foot-1 receiver impressed during fall camp as a true freshman, but that didn’t materialize into playing time, as he made just two appearances before receiving a redshirt.
Between his length and his speed — he reportedly runs a 4.3 40-yard dash — Dunbar had all the physical tools to contribute out of high school. What the receiver lacked, however, were the mental ones.
“Mentally I wasn’t probably ready,” Dunbar said. “I was immature. Some days I’d come out and want to practice, and some days I didn’t. Some days I’d show up, and some days I wouldn’t.”
Dunbar was used to being just naturally better than others on the field. Ever since he was young he never had to sit out during games because he was so talented, and he thought things would come just as easy in college.
But he was wrong, and teammates made him realize he needed to change his mindset and his work ethic. It wasn’t until midway through UF’s 8-5 season that something clicked.
The gifted wideout had a coming-of-age moment when he was confronted, not by a teammate, but by then-Gators coach Urban Meyer, who called Dunbar up to his office in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Meyer saw Dunbar wasn’t acting like his usual self. The normally joyful receiver was quiet and down. Meyer told him that “the sky’s the limit” if he changes his work ethic — something the former coach made sure to preach to the young receiver every day.
Since that conversation, Dunbar has turned things around. He was singled out as the most outstanding player in spring practice and has parlayed that into, by all reports, a stellar fall camp.
In short, he has found the drive he lacked when he first arrived in Gainesville.
Coach Will Muschamp, who said that consistency is the hardest adjustment for a young player, even challenged Dunbar to take it one step further and contribute on special teams — which the receiver has fully embraced.
“That shows the strides he’s made from a maturity standpoint,” Muschamp said. “He’s always thought he worked hard, but until you start doing it every day it’s a tough deal.”
Now, with a new, mature approach, Dunbar hopes to do what he couldn’t as a freshman: contribute and be the deep threat at wide receiver the Gators need.
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org
