How Graham Mertz won the Florida Gators quarterback job

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — On his official visit to the University of Florida, Graham Mertz walked past three bronze statues signifying the greatest quarterbacks to ever play at the University of Florida. It was in that moment the expectations of the job he was coming in to do were set. The mornings were early and the days were long but Graham Mertz was determined to get himself ready.

Nothing was promised to Mertz. At the time the Florida Gators had two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster and Jaden Rashada was still officially signed to the school. Mertz has just two years of eligibility left. He isn’t a freshman with time on his side. Florida is providing him a refresh and he wanted to hit the ground running.

“Basically here all day. Starting in January, getting up pretty early, worked out around 9. So I’d get in this room, doing meetings, watching the sky cast and stuff like that. So started around 7 a.m. watching film, go work out, come up and meet for a little while,” Mertz said on Tuesday. “Offseason, especially the winter, and summer, you have a lot of free time. I’d try to get my stuff done in the morning. Whatever I need to do as far as recovery for the body, I’d come up and do that.”

The process of Mertz getting more comfortable with the offense

Billy Napier was attracted to Mertz’s experience. The head coach has often spit out Mertz’s 32 starts and more than 2,500 snaps at Wisconsin. That will help on the field but Mertz had to put in the work to feel comfortable within the offense. If he couldn’t accomplish that he wouldn’t have won the starting job and his experience might have ended in Madison.

Those early mornings in the Heavener training complex were necessary. It allowed Mertz to get a cursory knowledge of the playbook before spring camp began.

“(I) came in in the winter and just kind of got the kitchen sink thrown at me. Really wanted to learn fast. But in this game, the only way to truly learn is to take reps,” Mertz said. “So for me, I’d say winter was really understanding what this offense is about. Spring was OK, let’s transfer that knowledge.”

Most expected Mertz to come out of spring camp as the starting quarterback. When that wasn’t accomplished a sense of anxiety and dread permeated through the fanbase. How could this experienced quarterback not win out the job after 15 spring practices? It was part of the process that Mertz was just at the beginning of. As he accumulated reps and stacked days, his confidence grew.

“I think for me this summer was a big stride, just being able to kind of run these player-led OTAs with the guys, take that ownership of knowing what every single guy on the field is doing it that time,” Mertz said. “I’d say this summer was a big stride for not only myself but the entire offense.” 

Mertz’s knowledge of the playbook is as good as any quarterback that Napier has had at Florida. He’ll look to transfer that to the field this fall. In the background the statues sit there and serve as a reminder of the standard that all quarterbacks are held to at the University of Florida.

“You see the history everywhere you go. Whether it’s the indoor. All these banners in (the Heavener Complex). You gotta honor that every day,” he said. “You gotta know we’re working for this team, the guys in the locker room. But there’s a lot of weight that previous Gators have gone through to make this place what it is.”