Standing in Florida’s Indoor Practice Facility, Feleipe Franks a few feet to his left, Kyle Trask realized something.
“I’m always in a competition,” he said, laughing.
That was true even in high school. Trask — a 6-foot-4, 238-pound quarterback from Texas — served mostly as a backup at Manvel High.
When he enrolled at Florida before the start of last season, he was a backup again — this time to Luke Del Rio and former UF quarterback Austin Appleby.
But this year, he’s aiming for something different.
“I feel 100 percent more confident at the line of scrimmage,” Trask said on Wednesday.
“I think I can bring the offense to a higher level.”
Trask is one of four quarterbacks on UF’s roster along with Franks, Del Rio and incoming freshman Kadarius Toney
Del Rio will miss all of Spring practice as he recovers from his shoulder surgery in early March. And while coaches have been impressed with Toney’s athleticism, UF hasn’t started a true freshman quarterback in its season opener in at least eight years.
That leaves Franks and Trask as the two frontrunners in UF’s quarterback competition this Spring, and leaves Florida with another offseason full of questions at the position.
“Me and Kyle are both here to make each other better,” Franks said. “Iron sharpens iron.”
UF’s quarterback problem is not a new one. Since 2010, the Gators have started nine different quarterbacks, mostly producing mediocre results.
UF’s most efficient passer of the last six seasons came in 2012, when former quarterback Jeff Driskel threw for 12 touchdowns, five interceptions, 1,646 yards and had a 63.7-percent completion percentage. That year, Driskel was the SEC’s 12th best quarterback (out of 14 starters) in passing yards per game.
Even last year, in McElwain’s second season as head coach, Florida and its staff believed it had found an answer to its quarterback struggles.
In the end, though, its quarterback situation still remained one of the team’s biggest question marks. Del Rio was named the starter for UF’s season opener but started just five more games due to injuries. He finished with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Austin Appleby, now graduated and preparing for the upcoming NFL Draft, started seven games, throwing for 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
And as Del Rio and Appleby played, Trask and Franks redshirted, learning from both.
“You could tell they were experienced,” Trask said. “As they approached the line of scrimmage, they were telling people where to go. I was trying to pick away at their brain and just trying to get that into my game.”
According to teammates and coaches, Trask and Franks have both made significant improvements since last season.
But they have improved in different areas.
Trask is more consistent, offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said, makes less mistakes and understands the offense better. But he tends to overthink.
“He’s deadly accurate,” Nussmeier said. “The biggest thing with Kyle is just getting repetition, getting in the game and playing ... (because) he may overanalyze a little bit.”
Franks has a stronger arm, is more mobile and is a superior athlete. But he struggles with consistency.
“We’ve got to teach him that you can’t make every throw, and sometimes you can’t throw it through three guys,” Nussmeier said.
But off the field, the two share many of the same interests.
They play ping pong and basketball on the weekends, and even play the occasional round of golf.
“It’s not what people make it out to be — hatred,” Franks said. “It’s a friendship that could possibly last for a lifetime.”
But with Florida’s annual Spring scrimmage on April 7, Trask and Franks have just two more weeks to show coaches they deserve to be considered for the starting job.
“It’s the best competition I’ve ever been a part of,” Franks said. “We’re going to grind it out every day to see (who wins).”
Contact Ian Cohen at icohen@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @icohenb.
UF quarterback Kyle Trask drops back to pass during a spring practice at the Sanders Practice Field on March 22, 2017.
