Florida’s list of starting quarterbacks the past four seasons has been a who’s who of wasted talent and missed opportunity.
With John Brantley, Jacoby Brissett, Jeff Driskel, Tyler Murphy and Skyler Mornhinweg all getting a chance to take the helm, the Gators have not finished better than 88th in the nation in passing offense — falling to as low as 118th in 2012.
A second year under offensive coordinator Brent Pease did not alleviate the passing woes — Florida finished 109th in passing offense in 2013 — so Pease was fired, to the delight of many Gators fans.
Now, coach Will Muschamp is looking to Kurt Roper, who was hired as offensive coordinator on Dec. 26, 2013, to reverse that trend. Muschamp’s job depends on it.
“You are what your record is,” Muschamp said. “I’m a 4-8 coach, and we’ve got a 4-8 ball club. We need to work hard to get better and improve in every facet.”
Luckily for Muschamp, Roper has a history of coaching up quarterbacks.
As the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Ole Miss, the 41-year-old helped Eli Manning become the Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Year and the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NFL Draft.
At Duke, where he was the offensive coordinator under David Cutcliffe, he coached Thaddeus Lewis and Sean Renfree. Both went on to make NFL rosters.
“Kurt Roper’s name kept coming up,” Muschamp said. “I did a lot of research, talked to a lot of people, found out a lot of things looking into his background … He did a fantastic job there developing Eli Manning as his quarterback.”
But the proverbial cupboard at Florida may be bordering on empty.
Driskel entered 2013 as the starter but struggled early before suffering a season-ending fractured fibula in the first quarter against Tennessee on Sept. 21, 2013.
Murphy, his replacement, left the program after the season and announced on Tuesday that he was enrolling at Boston College, joining former Florida offensive coordinator Steve Addazio with the Eagles.
Mornhinweg struggled in three late-season starts, and he will likely be jumped on the depth chart by early-enrolling quarterback Will Grier.
Grier, a Davidson, N.C., native, may be the most talented signal-caller Roper has to work with in the spread-based, up-tempo offense he is bringing to UF. He put up video-game numbers at Davidson Day High and looks to translate those skills to college.
“You knew Will was real talented and was going to be heavily recruited,” Roper said of seeing Grier at camps while he coached at Duke. “He has a great mindset. I think he has a great quarterback demeanor, and then, I tell you what, he was accurate. He can throw it. He has a fast arm. I look for a guy that when he turns it loose, his arm speed is really consistently fast.”
Although Grier may have the talent, Driskel has the experience. Muschamp said on Monday that the junior is expected to be ready for spring practice. Roper said he tried to recruit Driskel out of high school, and he is excited to work with the quarterback now.
“He’s a guy that I tried to get in on early as a junior,” Roper said.
“I thought he was an outstanding talent.”
Muschamp said every position is open after last year’s poor results, and Roper is waiting until the team gets back on the field to make a final decision.
“I don’t want to develop opinions sitting and getting somebody else’s thought on a guy or watching tape,” Roper said. “I want to develop those opinions on the grass.”
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Tyler Murphy looks to pass during UF’s loss to LSU in Baton Rouge, La., on Oct. 12, 2013. Murphy, who started six games for Florida in 2013, enrolled at Boston College after transferring in December 2013.
