GAINESVILLE, Fla.— For the first time since 2020, the Florida Gators’ starting quarterback returns for the upcoming season, and there is a buzz in the locker room.
Graham Mertz, one of college football’s most experienced and, recently, most effective quarterbacks, returns to Gainesville for his sixth and final year of eligibility.
“It’s a big deal for the Florida Gators that Graham Mertz is returning to play quarterback,” said UF head coach Billy Napier after the team’s first spring practice on Wednesday.
However, Mertz’s return, and the excitement that accompanied it, were not always certain.
A great year in 2023, with 2,903 passing yards and 20 touchdowns to only three interceptions, all while completing over 73% of his passes, put Mertz in line to be selected in the 2024 NFL Draft.
However, Florida’s five consecutive losses at the close of the season, four of which Mertz started, combined with a season-ending collarbone injury left unfinished business in Mertz’s eyes, and he revealed his plans to return to Gainesville days after the Gators lost to Florida State.
“You’ve been playing this game your entire life, and your dream is to make it to the NFL. For me, when you have that decision in front of you, you really weigh all sides,” Mertz said on Wednesday. “Obviously, I was coming off a collarbone injury. My main concern was that I thought we left a lot on the table this year, and I want to finish my career properly.”
As he returns from his season-ending injury for a final season, and with a year in Napier’s offensive system under his belt, Mertz’s main goal is to help the team improve on its 5-7 finish last season and avoid its fourth consecutive losing season, which hasn’t happened since the late 1930s.
“As a quarterback, I rely on timing and anticipation. When you look at our practices, we have these compete periods, and it’s about winning every compete period, even if it means saying a little crap to the defense,” he explained. “And really just raising that level of competition, and accountability, consistency, all that stuff within the offense.”
Florida will rely on its starting quarterback to guide the team to its first winning season since the same year the Gators last saw Kyle Trask, their signal-caller. The first step in taking on such a job is to acquire the respect of those around him, something Napier has complimented Mertz for.
“I believe that over time, his example – not only with his work ethic, but also as a competitor – has the toughness, the way he prepares, and the way he handles others. Not only his teammates, but I’d say the entire building. Napier described Mertz as a consummate professional. “I believe the quarterback sets the bar for the entire team and organization. And he has done that.”
However, Mertz will have another responsibility this season. While serving as the team’s leader, he is also personally responsible for teaching the future of the Gators’ football program, true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway.
“Graham is on a mission. “[He] returned with a purpose,” Napier explained.
“Not only will this raise his personal value, but it will also help our team achieve more. And, of course, DJ, as a young athlete and rookie, has a lot to learn. The advantage of DJ being able to study Graham, and Graham has clearly embraced that mentorship and done an excellent job thus far.”
Mertz said he can connect to Lagway’s experience as a highly rated quarterback recruit, though his credentials aren’t nearly as impressive as his protégé’s.
“I was a young kid, heavily recruited, and all of that can be overwhelming. Obviously, I’m not the Gatorade National Player of the Year or anything like that, so it’s a different scale,” Mertz said. “So I can bring things that I went through, and recently when I was learning the offense here, and how to teach him, how to grow at a faster rate, but I mean he’s doing a great job.”
Last year, the enthusiasm in the Gators’ quarterback room was not quite as evident as it is now, with a senior starter and a promising freshman. There was outside suspicion.
Florida having lost standout quarterback Anthony Richardson to the NFL draft, and 2023 four-star signee Jaden Rashada to transfer,
However, Mertz’s career year transformed his pessimism about the past into optimism about the future. He threw for a touchdown in every start, set program marks for completion percentage (72.9) and pass attempts without an interception (239), and completed at least 62% of his passes in all 11 games.
Having said that, the six losses he suffered as a starter, as well as one he witnessed from the sidelines, continue to haunt him.
“Honestly, I was dissatisfied with last year. I base my happiness on, ‘Did we win every game?’ And I believe it is the only way to approach this game and the quarterback position,” Mertz added.
“I believe that’s what should motivate you.” I never try to put weight on external factors, good or bad, because I don’t believe they have any bearing on how I perform my job. It says, ‘Are you here, and are you executing your job to the best of your ability?’ We won five games. Clearly, that is not it. That is why I am back. And that is why we are repairing it.”
Despite proving the critics wrong a year ago, Mertz stated that his satisfaction does not stem from that. It stems from his dedication and service to everyone around him, from teammates and coaches to support staff and university employees at the football site.
“It’s about providing for everyone in this building… Are you giving them the best service you can every day?” He pondered. “For me, I knew I was doing it, and that’s what brought me satisfaction: knowing I was giving everyone here my all. I’ll keep doing it because it’s what I try to do.
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