Florida Gators Seniors Set To Leave Behind Legacy of Turning Program Around
The 2017 Florida Gators season was not for the faint of heart. The program at the time was not well run by then-head coach Jim McElwain and the football team ended its season with the worst record since 2013 under Will Muschamp, it wasn't pretty and the incoming freshmen, now seniors with the program went through the wringer.
"It was really tough, but looking back I feel like we're all blessed. We went from being 4-7 to winning the Peach Bowl, going to the Orange Bowl, now we're in the SEC Championship," Gators senior safety Donovan Stiner said on Tuesday.
"We went from 4-7, now we have like a Heisman-runner quarterback. So, I think we been through a lot of ups and downs, but being where we are now I think it was all worth it."
For some, Saturday will be the last chance for them to put on a show in front of a home crowd, although it's not the same as it typically would be due to COVID-19, it will still be special. Stiner says he doesn't know yet what his emotions will be like walking out onto the field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday but both his parents and brothers will be in attendance.
Regardless, the senior safety hasn't had a chance to reflect on his career in Gainesville with too much on the line in the coming weeks.
"Kinda hasn't hit me that it's almost over here," Stiner says. "But, nah, I feel we've just been so busy going week-to-week that I haven't really had the time to reflect that much."
Zachary Carter, while only a redshirt junioror, signed in the same class as Stiner, knows how important Senior Night, and the rest of this season, will be for those departing following the season. A lot is at stake, he said on Tuesday.
“We know coming into this game, you know, it’s senior night. A lot’s at stake and I know guys, especially in my class and the class before us, you know, it’s important," Carter said. "We talk about it all the time within the team, what kind of legacy do you want to make? I know what kind of legacy the guys want to go out with. So it’s very important.”
What kind of legacy will the Florida seniors leave behind?
For the first time since 2016, the program will make it to the SEC Championship Game, and while some redshirt seniors that remain on the team such as quarterback Kyle Trask have technically been involved in the contest during their freshman season, this year presents a different opportunity.
"[I] just think the seniors will really be remembered first just being like a just a tough you know, hard-working class," Trask said on Monday. "We've been through some ups and downs, obviously, we had that 4-7 year then we had a lot of leaders, and we bounced back to, you know, finish off the back end of our career here in college, very successfully."
The same can be said for redshirt senior offensive tackle Stone Forsythe, who was also involved in the 2016 SEC Championship game as a redshirt, only to go 4-7 the following year and see the program completely rebuilt by then-incoming head coach Dan Mullen.
Forsythe believes that this year can be a sort of launching board for the younger players, leaving an imprint that will last to know what it's like to win.
"I mean I just, I hope we can leave our footprint," Forsythe said on Monday. "Definitely, I mean this year would be a footprint of just being ten SEC games and a COVID year like that. But I feel like we can just leave an imprint on the younger guys, and just kind of have them know what it is to win and stuff like that."
On Saturday against LSU and on Dec. 19 against the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Florida seniors, and the rest of its program will be able to do just that: leave an imprint that'll last a lifetime.
