As he stood in front of a contingent of reporters during Florida’s Media Day, John Brantley let his main goal for 2011 be known: put Florida in the best position to be successful.
During his first year as Florida’s quarterback, Brantley threw more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (nine), and the Gators labored through an 8-5 season. Brantley’s free fall hit rock bottom in Florida’s 31-7 loss at Florida State, when the senior was limited to mostly third-down plays as Trey Burton got the start, sharing time with Jordan Reed.
It was a season to forget for Brantley, but still, there was something to be remembered from the trying experience.
“I definitely learned last year when things aren’t going right or things start going wrong just to forget about it and move on,” Brantley said.
“Keep my head up and just keep looking forward. If your head is down, other people’s heads are going to go down.
You just have to keep moving, things that are bad are going to happen even if you’re the No. 1 team in the country. A play or two is going to go bad but you just have to forget about it and move on.”
Since Will Muschamp took the reins of Florida’s program, he has thrown his support behind the embattled quarterback — even after a rocky outing in the spring game — and has expressed the utmost confidence in Brantley’s ability to fulfill his goal of putting the Gators in a position to succeed.
“John needs to continue to play well, and we need to create some separation after John (on the depth chart),” Muschamp said. “John is the starter.”
Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis also believes in Brantley’s ability to lead the new-look Gators.
“Charlie’s track record speaks for itself as far as his development of quarterbacks,” Muschamp said.
“The laundry list of names go on and on as far as the success he’s had with those people.
Also, offensively what he’s been able to do. He’s got great confidence in John and that should give John great confidence.”
And Brantley hopes Weis, with his knowledge of the game and the position, can help turn him into another one of those success stories.
“He’s had some of the best quarterbacks to ever play, and I’m just excited, I’m honored to play for him and I think he’s a great coach,” Brantley said of Weis. “He can turn a good team into a better team.”
With a vote of confidence from the new coaching staff, Brantley is also looking forward to a fresh start, and putting last season behind him.
“[My confidence] is much more up there,” Brantley said.
“When [Muschamp] first got here with the new coaching staff and everything, it was all new to me. But now that I have a spring of football underneath my belt, and I had all summer to be studying the playbook I think, as a team, we’re ready to go and we’re excited about this camp and this upcoming season.”
Behind Brantley?
Will Muschamp has asserted that senior John Brantley is the team’s starting quarterback heading into the season. What he wasn’t so sure about was who is behind Brantley.
“We need to find who is our backup quarterback going into the season,” Muschamp said.
“How are we going to tailor our offense for the backup quarterback? That’s a decision we need to make as quickly as we can in camp because you’re talking about reps for a backup, so that guy has got to be ready.”
The three options behind Brantley have no experience at the college level but all bring something to the table for the Gators.
Muschamp referred to redshirt freshman Tyler Murphy as the backup during Media Day. The quarterback was impressive during the spring game, leading all passers in yards while tossing a touchdown. Murphy worked on establishing a higher release point, as well as his footwork during the summer.
The other two options behind Brantley — Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett — are both true freshmen. Driskel enrolled in January and saw time during the spring game, while Brissett has impressed Muschamp since arriving on campus.
Brantley
