After injury, Franks is odd man out at QB
Gators wish him well as he looks to continue his career elsewhere
GAINESVILLE – Former UF quarterback Feleipe Franks did not want to leave the Gators, coach Dan Mullen said.
Franks, however, felt a change of scenery was ultimately the best option for his playing future.
Following Franks’ seasonending ankle injury Sept. 14 at Kentucky, fellow redshirt junior Kyle Trask seized control of UF’s starting job while redshirt freshman Emory Jones firmly established himself as the team’s backup and offered a change of pace coming off the bench.
The two are expected to compete for the starting job, beginning this spring, while four-star freshman Anthony Richardson enrolled early last week and joined the Gators for bowl practices this past weekend.
Despite 24 career starts for the Gators, Franks — who turns 22 Sunday — appeared to be the odd man out heading into 2020. After graduating last Saturday, Franks can either enroll as a graduate transfer or enter the NFL draft by the Jan. 20 deadline for early entries.
“He’s said, ‘Hey, Coach, I’m
not leaving because I don’t love Florida. I love to be at Florida,’ ” Mullen recalled. “’I want to look and explore every one of the options I have because I have potentially one year of college football left or I’d leave to go to the NFL. … Especially as a guy that’s graduating where instead of coming into a quarterback room, we have a bunch of depth and guys are competing to go play, where I may have the opportunity to play college football next year, I’m the guy.’”
This past weekend, Franks reportedly visited Kansas and coach Les Miles. Miles was at LSU when Franks, a native of Crawfordville on the Florida Panhandle, committed to the Tigers before deciding to remain in state and head to Gainesville.
Mullen said he will help in any way he can as Franks seeks a landing spot.
“Everybody that’s called, we couldn’t recommend him higher than anybody,” Mullen said. “He’s a guy that’s going to come in and not be worried. He’s played on the biggest stage; he’s got a lot of talent. He’s a tremendous leader. He’s a great team guy.
“So everybody that’s called, it’s all, ‘Hey, this is a guy you want in your program.’ ”
The 6-foot-6, 227-pound Franks accounted for 31 touchdowns in 2018 to help the Gators to a 10-3 record and top-10 final ranking during Mullen’s first season. On Aug. 24 against Miami, Franks started his third season opener for UF, but his season ended after just three games due to a dislocated and broken right ankle that required major surgery and six months of rehabilitation.
Mullen said Franks’ absence has been noticeable.
“I love Feleipe,” Mullen said. “His smile, his personality. He’s pretty funny in the meetings. He’s just a great guy to be around. You have the relationship with these guys. We want the best for all of our guys, especially a guy like Feleipe, who’s battled adversity, has come back and had a lot of success, had to deal with obviously a tragic injury like that. “We want the best for him.” Trask, a fellow member of UF’s 2016 signing class, said he also will miss Franks.
“He’s still one of the best friends I’ve had here at the University of Florida, and he always will be,” Trask said. “So I think he’s going to do great things. I wish him the best of luck.”