Next Man Up: Kyle Engel Looking To Push For The 'Most Popular Seat In The New Heavener Facility
A native of Fort Lauderdale, Engel was also a standout lacrosse player at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. The son of former Gator volleyball standout Heidi Anderson, Engel has a story tailor-made for The Swamp should he be pressed into service.
By LOREN MEADOWS
GatorBaitMedia.com Football Analyst
This year the Gators enter the season as grounded at the quarterback position since John Brantley IV last suited up for the Gators in 2011. Anthony Richardson will be the team’s starting quarterback and it looks to stay that way for the foreseeable future. However, the job of “next man up” is a little more concerning as the Gators move from training camp to their opening
game prep for Utah.
There’s a saying that has been around for years that “the most popular guy in town is the backup quarterback”. While no one can pinpoint exactly where the phrase originated but there is no shortage of examples throughout the history of pro football that stamps the validity of such a phrase.
Recently the 49ers' Trey Lance was the darling of Bay Area sports writers and fans who could not wait for him to unseat much maligned Jimmy Garoppolo, who despite winning over 70 percent of his games could not make that “one big throw"?
Backup quarterback Patrick Mahomes who would expedite the exit of Alex Smith from the Chiefs, spent a year as the most popular guy in the “Heart of America," as fans and media alike thought Smith didn’t push the envelope of the Chiefs passing game.
Gators fans and the City of Gainesville embraced two quarterbacks who spent time as backups who gained popularity while taking fewer snaps. Kyle Trask spent the 2018 and the first part of the 2019 seasons as the “most popular guy in town” as the back up to Feleipe Franks. It wasn’t until an injury to Franks that Trask popularity matched his opportunity, and he led the Gators for the remainder of the 2019 season and all of 2020.
Last year, local standout Anthony Richardson spent most of the season “as the most popular guy in town” as Emory Jones would struggle at times, causing whispers that Gainesville’s native son may be a better option.
This year the Gators enter the season as grounded at the quarterback position since John Brantley IV last suited up for the Gators in 2011. Richardson will be the team’s starting quarterback and it looks to stay that way for the foreseeable future. However, the job of “next man up” is a little more disconcerting as the Gators move from training camp to their opening game prep for Utah.
Perceived backup Jack Miller suffered a thumb injury in the middle of camp that will sideline him for three to four weeks. Thought to be a more than capable backup, Miller may have gained “popularity” if Richardson did not fulfill his potential for the Gators.
With that said, it was assumed that Jalen Kitna would move up the depth chart and assume the back-up duties for the Gators. Kitna however suffered a lower body injury early in camp which allowed another signal-caller with Gator pedigree to enter the mix for the “most popular guy in town.”
Fourth year quarterback Kyle Engel has used the opportunities presented by the absence of Miller and Kitna to steadily improve his craft and impress the Gator coaches. A native of Fort Lauderdale, Engel was also a standout lacrosse player at St. Thomas Aquinas High School where he led the 2018 Raider Men to the Florida State Championship Game. The son of former Gator volleyball standout Heidi Anderson, Engel has a story tailor made for the swamp should he be pressed into service.
The Gator legacy has consistently garnered praise from his head coach who also coaches his position. “Engel has done some good things,” Napier said. “He’s provided some depth there and really has a good understanding. A smart intelligent player that’s got a lot of character and that brings a lot to our team and locker room.” Engel so impressed the Gator coaching staff that the walk-on was awarded a scholarship for the spring and summer semesters and could possibly garner the same for the fall.
As Kitna returned to practice late last week, it is yet to be seen who will hold the clipboard as the substitute for Richardson. Whomever assumes the role they will now have some new digs to prepare, dine, and recuperate in.
The new Heavener Football Training Center is now operational for the football team. The state-of-the-art facility is the crown jewel of the football operation. With lockers valued at $15,000 complete with wireless charging stations, zero gravity chairs, and Normatec dynamic air compression leggings it puts player comfort in a new stratosphere.
When you walk into the Heavener Training Facility you are immediately met with the grandeur of what is “the everything school.” On display is Florida’s commitment not only to football but to all its varsity sports.
The “Jeremy Foley Hall of Champions” banners of Florida’s many championship teams from men’s basketball, men’s tennis, gymnastics and softball. This hall is not just to celebrate athletes and teams from the past but to provide a functional space that all of Florida’s athletes can utilize.
There is a two-story dining hall that will feed athletes from every varsity sport three meals a day, five days a week. There is also a lounge area with flat screen televisions, massage chairs, pool and ping-pong tables, a virtual reality room, and a barber shop. The barber shop which is complete with black “Gator” leather chairs is just one of the many details that make this facility expressly for Gators only. All athletes will also have access to an outdoor lounge area with a Las Vegas style pool area complete with a large hot tub for in and off-season relaxation. Imagine World Gold Medalist Talitha Diggs sharing a meal with women’s basketball transfer Leilani Correa while sitting in a massage chair. Athletic enlightenment at its finest.
Returning to the football side, the Heavener Training Center is less about faces than function.
While each player has an individual placard above their locker noting their position and hometown, the ability to access the weight room and training room from both the indoor and outdoor practice fields provides the ultimate in efficiency for training and recovery. Players can immediately leave the practice field, discard their equipment and go immediately into the cold plunge pool to immediately begin rehab and/or recovery.
A state-of-the-art training room also allows for access to both the weight room and practice fields. There are also therapeutic pools, saunas and cryotherapy chamber that allow for both enhanced rehab as well as mental recovery. Just don’t forget your hat, mittens and socks (see Antonio Brown).
In proximity on the second floor are the state-of-the-art team and position meeting rooms with comfortable seating, as well as the coaches’ offices and a visitors’ lounge.
While the Heavener Football Training Center is not complete, like the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi, it is operational.
With this, it is estimated that it will give the Florida Gators football team an extra 36 minutes per day to prepare, train and recuperate during the season. For analytics that is at least 28 hours of extra time to be the best team that they can be. When totally complete with the “bells and whistles” that will follow in the next few weeks it will be a wonder for all who tour the facility, and certainly help in leveling the playing field in recruiting and what Napier calls “The Player Experience.”
Comments