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Highly touted freshman quarterback Ricky Town made headlines this week when he announced that he would be transferring from the USC Trojans just a week into fall camp. The Trojans depth under center led the talented signal caller to consider a change of scenery after enrolling early at USC. If Town is looking for a spot where he can flourish and quickly rise to the top of the depth chart, the perfect landing spot might just be with the Florida Gators and first year head coach Jim McElwain.
Since Tim Tebow left Florida back in 2009, the Gators have struggled to find a consistent passing attack on offense. In each of the last six seasons, Florida has finished ranked No. 88 or lower in passing offense, including No. 114, No. 107, and No. 104 over the last three years. Their ineptitude through the air has been a major reason for the program’s struggles in recent years and was one of the main reasons that McElwain was hired to be the new head coach.
At his previous stops with the Fresno State Bulldogs, Alabama Crimson Tide, and Colorado State Rams, McElwain has developed a deadly passing attack using formations, shifts, route trees and tempo to gain an advantage. Last season, his CSU team ranked No. 8 in the nation in passing offense, averaging 321.6 yards per game through the air with 34 passing touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Florida’s passing attack, by comparison, threw twice as many interceptions (14) while gaining just over half as many yards (179.9 yards per game).
The transformation of the Gator passing attack is going to take some time to implement as the Florida offense has been mired in a run-heavy attack for several years, leaving the roster without the talent at quarterback that McElwain usually relies on. Sophomore Treon Harris and redshirt freshman Will Grier have been battling it out for the starting job this fall with Grier likely holding the advantage. Both were highly rated dual-threat quarterbacks in the 2014 recruiting class with Harris starting the final six games of the season last year, completing 49.5 percent of his passes for 1,019 yards, nine touchdowns, and four interceptions. He also ran for 338 yards and three rushing touchdowns.
While both Harris and Grier bring unique athletic ability to the quarterback position, they don’t fit the mold of a pro-style signal caller that has been successful for McElwain and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier in their previous stops. As of now, Florida doesn’t really have a quarterback that fits that mold on the way, either, after the Gators failed to sign a quarterback to their 2015 recruiting class and currently have just one verbally committed for 2016 in three-star prospect Kyle Trask, the No. 31 ranked pocket passer in the class according to ESPN.
Town would be able to fill that void quickly and with a tremendous amount of potential. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound signal callers was the No. 10 ranked pocket passer in the 2015 class out of Ventura, California, and was briefly committed to play for Alabama when Nussmeier was still the offensive coordinator there (so there’s some familiarity with the coaching staff). As an early enrollee at USC, Town got the benefit of going through spring practice with one of the premier college football programs in the nation, giving him a crash course in what it takes to be a major college quarterback. By leaving USC now, Town will be able to enroll at his new school for fall classes and redshirt this season with four years of eligibility remaining starting in 2016.
It’s a long way from Ventura, California, to Gainesville, Florida, but the move could be worth it to pair up Ricky Town with a perfect situation for success at Florida with Jim McElwain.
You can follow Tyler Brett on Twitter @ATylerBrett, on Facebook and on Google.
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