In a few weeks Trey Burton will be making the biggest move of his life. He’s leaving behind the easy, celebrity life of being quarterback at Venice High and moving up to Gainesville to be a part of Florida’s quarterback family.
“High school was an awesome time — the best four years of my life,” Burton said. “I wouldn’t go back and change anything. I had an awesome experience.
“I’m glad I met the people that I met and now, I’m ready to go to college and do the best I can in college.”
He’ll be getting a head start on Florida’s offense by enrolling early and getting to play some spring ball. That’s huge for players these days, especially quarterbacks. Burton has been the subject of criticism from some this year because of his ability to play quarterback. Sure, he can run with the best of them (he ran the 4x100m in high school), but his arm was suspect at times. He’s been one of Florida’s biggest recruiters, but there was concern if he would ever make it as a player at UF.
Well, Florida’s coaches offered him a scholarship for a reason, and he’ll be on campus soon. He has never wavered on his commitment and never visited other schools after committing to Florida last summer. His mechanics need some work, but he’s the first to admit that. He knows where he needs to improve, but he also knows the game very well. He’s smart enough to quickly learn what’s thrown at him.
While on his official visit last weekend, Burton got to spend a lot of time with quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler. The two talked offense and his future. Burton said Loeffler considers him his “new project” and that they have a lot of work to do this spring, but Burton is excited about what he’ll learn in the coming months.
Burton said Loeffler doesn’t want him to come in with any tweaks to his game. He wants to start from scratch with him and help him through his new development. Loeffler knows what he can do with his feet, but Burton didn’t hesitate when I asked him what the two will be spending the most time on this spring.
“Throwing, of course,” he said. “That’s my biggest weakness — throwing — so that’s what we’re going to work on.”
As a junior, Burton threw for 1,699 yards and 19 touchdowns and ran for 1,173 yards and 28 touchdowns.
That last line of the story with the stats TD’s run vs pass reminds me of some one else……..tons of rushing TD’s by a QB…???
Welcome to Gator Nation Trey.
Hay Vols.
Welcome to the post Tebow era that you’ve been looking forward to.
Having watched the kid play, I can tell you guys that he will be a terrific quarterback for Urban Meyer and the Gators. I watched a lot of football games at the high school level this season and he was, by far, the most impressive.
(Oh yeah, I watched Aquinas, Manatee, Plant, Southeast and a couple of others – my sampling was more than adequate.)
Plus, by all reports, he is a really guy kid.
Welcome to Gator Nation! Now go work hard and make your family proud!
enormous shoes to fill in every way.
Goodbye, Tim, hello, Trey (and all the rest)
Let’s not look past the rocket armed young man named John Brantley.
It scares me we keep bringing in guys who can’t throw – Newton, Reed and now Burton. Why can’t we find more like Brantley! We need QB’s that can throw the ball!
Dick Vitale saw him play and he thinks the kid is the next Tebow. I could live with that.
Trey will have a couple of years to get ready as Brantley is in my opinion, going to have a couple of GREAT years guiding the Gators. Brantley deosn’t have that “run first” mentality and will check off on receivers before tucking the ball and running. However, when he does run, he can get you some yards.
just thought of somethin’. Doesn’t Sexy Rexy still have a year of eligibility?