Why Graham Mertz ended up with the Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE — Graham Mertz did not ask to wear the Florida Gators’ iconic No. 15 jersey when he transferred from Wisconsin. Tim Tebow’s number simply showed up in his locker one day, perhaps as a message from coach Billy Napier.

“You could say that,” Mertz said Saturday in his first meeting with Florida reporters.

UF, of course, would love for the blue-chip talent to rejuvenate the Gators the way Tebow did under Urban Meyer. Mertz would, too. He is appreciative of the history and understands how No. 15 “was bigger than me.”

But if you want to believe Mertz can actually come close to rescuing a program veering toward irrelevancy, the most important thing he said came next.

“There wasn’t really any expectations (about a number),” Mertz said, “because I’m here to just do my job.”

Though the cliché sounds simple, it’s also a mature declaration from a quarterback who already entered one program as its presumptive savior. It didn’t end well.

Mertz was the No. 65 overall prospect in the 247Sports composite and the highest ranked quarterback recruit in Badgers history when he signed in 2019. The buzz built in 2020 when he became the first Wisconsin freshman to start at quarterback in more than four decades. His debut: a 20-of-21, five-touchdown masterpiece against Illinois.

The addition of an accurate, high-end passer to Wisconsin’s traditionally strong run game and defense could have pushed the Badgers from a consistently good program into a playoff contender.

It didn’t happen, in part because Mertz never got close to replicating that performance. Granted, it’s unrealistic to expect anyone to complete 90% of his passes. But Napier’s target number for quarterbacks is a passer rating of 145. Mertz only hit that mark in seven of his final 27 games against teams from major conferences.

Mertz’s Wisconsin 32-start tenure was mixed. The day after his dazzling debut, he tested positive for coronavirus.

“You go from that — your first start, living out your childhood dreams, to getting hit with COVID right in the face,” Mertz said. “You get that smack of reality.”

Reality kept hitting. The Badgers fell into disarray and fired Paul Chryst five games into last season. Mertz said nothing went wrong, necessarily, but nothing seemed to go right, either. Though he still speaks highly of the program and his time there, he needed a fresh start.

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Napier was eager to give him one.

With Anthony Richardson headed to the NFL and backup Jalen Kitna dismissed, the Gators needed immediate help at quarterback. Napier and his staff evaluated two dozen transfer candidates and decided on Mertz.

Mertz didn’t take much convincing.

“I love the direction that Coach Napier’s taking this…” Mertz said. “Really just from the start fell in love with this. I knew this is the place I wanted to be.”

After seven spring practices, Mertz still seems in love with the place. He’s savoring spring practices staged outside rather than in an indoor facility — something he didn’t get to experience much at Wisconsin. He jokes about his tan lines and golf game.

Mostly, he seems at ease. The external expectations are high (they always are at Florida) but he’s mature enough to ignore them. He credits his parents for that.

The pressure of playing the game’s glamor position at a school that has three Heisman-winning statues doesn’t seem to bother him, either. Napier’s system helps with that. The Gators don’t need Mertz to be a gunslinger or another Tebow; they need him to be a game manager that makes accurate passes, avoids mistakes and leans on a strong run game.

It’s a role that Mertz seems ready, and able, to take on.

“I’m just refreshed, man,” Mertz said. “I wake up every day with just joy to have a fresh start. It makes me live in the moment and just, like I said, do my job every day.”

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