New kid on the block: Trevor Etienne earning carries

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The youngest of Donetta Etienne’s five children, Trevor Etienne is used to competing and having to earn his way. Just because of the name on his back, the bar will be set high and the expectations for his game will be unreasonable.

Trevor and his brother, Jaguars running back Travis Etienne, play the same position. Travis is five years older, so Trevor has always been chasing someone. When Travis was dominating at Jennings, Trevor was carving up defenses on local Pee Wee fields in Jennings, Louisiana.

Travis went on to be one of the most prolific running backs in Clemson history, breaking the school rushing record. Then he broke his own record the following season. He won ACC Player of the Year twice and a National Championship. He was a first-round pick and will now watch little brother from just 67 miles away in Jacksonville.

Trevor grew up having to chase his older brother. The two are competitive but each other’s biggest fans. Part of the reason Etienne (pronounced “ETN”) chose Florida over Clemson and LSU was to create his own path, something he’s already doing.

“I’ve been very pleased with Trevor. There’s no question we made a good decision there,” UF coach Billy Napier said of Etienne. “(We were) familiar with him having evaluated him at Louisiana. The guy’s 5-8 and three-quarters and he weighs 207 pounds.

“He’s loose, got a low center of gravity, catches the ball. I think he’s got some returner value. So, the big thing with him is his character, his consistency. The guy shows up and works. He’s gotten a little bit ahead of the game there because of his brother’s experience there.”

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Etienne earns his reps

Florida’s running back room is deep. When Trevor Etienne committed to the Gators, they had former five stars in Demarkcus Bowman and Lorenzo Lingard on the roster. Nay’Quan Wright would be returning from an injury and Montrell Johnson was on his way from Louisiana.

If he’d learned anything from chasing Travis around for 17 years, it was never to shy away from competition. He hasn’t at Florida, turning heads in the few short months he’s been in Gainesville. That has been readily apparent in the way his coaches and teammates talk about him.

“He’s done really great in fall camp,” Montrell Johnson said last week. “(Trevor) has surprised me a lot. He’s made a lot of plays. I think you’ll be seeing him out there in the fall.”

Nay’Quan Wright added, “He’s willing to learn and take advice. I’m pretty sure he was highly recruited, but he’s got open ears, and don’t toot his own horn or nothing like that. If one of us goes down, God forbid, I don’t think there’ll be a falloff.”

Carving his own path

Jennings, Louisiana is a small town about a quarter of the size of the undergraduate enrollment at the University of Florida. You work hard for what you get.

“The guy shows up here and it’s like he’s in New York City,” Napier said with a chuckle. “He is a worker. He’s got a great attitude. He’s got a little sense of humor. I like him and I think he’s got a chance to be a good player for the Gators.”

The running back room is crowded. Wright will likely take the first snap as the starter and Johnson isn’t far behind, if at all. Lingard was one of the staff’s favorite players in the spring, but Etienne might be the best back in the room. At just 18 years old, he isn’t quite there yet. Etienne has time, but you won’t have to wait much longer to see him in action.