Luke Del Rio has seen a lot from the sidelines.
He spent 2013 as a redshirt walk-on at Alabama, watching his team contend for a national championship until a “kick six” sent Auburn to the title game instead.
He spent 2014 as backup at Oregon State, playing in just three games for a team that finished 5-7.
He spent 2015 at Florida with another redshirt, watching freshman quarterback Will Grier remind Gators fans what an offense in The Swamp looks like.
Then he got his chance in 2016, and in his third game as UF’s starter, he sustained a knee injury that kept him on the sidelines for two more games. After coming back and playing against Missouri and Georgia, he took a hit to his non throwing shoulder in a loss at Arkansas that ended his season.
“There was a time where it was a question if he was going to play again,” UF coach Jim McElwain said.
Now, after watching redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks start in Florida’s first three games, Del Rio gets his old job back this weekend as the No. 21 Gators (2-1, 2-0 SEC) take on Vanderbilt (3-1, 0-1 SEC) Saturday at noon.
Del Rio brings with him a 5-1 record as a starter, a depth of knowledge at the line of scrimmage and momentum from leading the Gators to a second-half, come-from-behind victory at Kentucky last weekend. It’s an unlikely journey considering both Franks and Notre Dame transfer Malik Zaire came into the year ahead of Del Rio on the depth chart.
“I never really looked at him as third-string,” McElwain said. “He’s a guy that obviously had some injuries. Had some shoulders worked on, had the knee.”
“(We) just felt that we needed a little bit of a kick start,” McElwain said of Del Rio after he replaced Franks in the third quarter against the Wildcats. “Luke gave us that.”
Despite losing his starting job to a redshirt freshman to start the year, McElwain said Del Rio never had a bad attitude in practice, and more importantly, he continued to prepare himself to be the starter should his opportunity come.
“I had a feeling that I would have to play sometime this year. Whether it was, we were killing a team, or hopefully not an injury,” Del Rio said. “I practice as if I’m going to play.”
As for how long Del Rio’s time starting under center will last, it’s hard to say. McElwain told reporters that having Del Rio start on Saturday doesn’t mean Franks won’t start again. But in the meantime, McElwain’s rolling with Del Rio. A player who’s been on the Florida sidelines since McElwain’s first day in orange and blue. A veteran who can get the offense organized before the snap and recognize what the defense is about to throw at him. A guy who acts like a coach out on the field, taking up after his father, Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio.
But even with all that, McElwain said what sets Luke Del Rio apart is his competitive spirit and the fact that he never gave up on getting his job back — something not lost on the redshirt junior.
“It’s been a tough road coming back being healthy, competing my butt off in camp. Feleipe won the job. He earned it,” Del Rio said. “Sometimes you just need to shake things up and get a spark.”
You can follow Matt Brannon on Twitter @MattB_727, and contact him at mbrannon@alligator.org.
Luke Del Rio throws a pass during Florida's 28-27 win over Kentucky on Saturday night at Kroger Field.
