Zach Carter's Return To Florida Gators Provides Leadership, Production...and A Secret Punt Returner
Since Dan Mullen first arrived in Gainesville, he’s preached the same message to draft eligible Florida Gators. Do your research, make the smart choice, not just the most tantalizing one. As such, over the past few years less and less players have elected to leave school early for the NFL.
Still, it was somewhat of a surprise when defensive lineman Zach Carter announced he’d return to the Gators for his final season. The big bodied end has all of the intangibles that make scouts salivate and tape to make him a possible Day 2 selection.
Instead, he decided to make one more go round in the orange and blue, a decision Mullen believes sets the example for others.
“He made a really good decision for his future to come back,” Mullen said of Carter on Monday.
“The key is for guys to educate and when they go to make the decision, I think they’re just like ‘this guy came back or that guy came back’. Really more guys should come back if they educate themselves properly and make proper decisions on what they’re doing and how to put themselves in the best position for their future.
“With all the information I had, he made a smart decision. Now it’s not for me to decide. It’s a very personal decision for guys to do what they want to do for their family, but I think it was a really smart decision for his part.”
A smart decision for Carter is also an advantageous decision for a defense that is heavily laden with young talent. After the 2020 spring was lost to the global pandemic COVID-19, there are a bevy of Gator starters who have never even been through spring practice.
“He’s tried to do a really good job of leadership and that’s a big deal. When you become an older veteran guy, more of the leadership falls on your shoulders too so that’s kind of one of the big things we’re looking for out of him this spring,” stated Mullen.
Added Carter, “I've been in the same position as them before. I've been here, this is going into my fifth year. I've sat and watched a lot of older guys in front of me and learned a lot from those guys. Just taking a lot from them, so I want to do the same for a lot of these younger guys.”
More importantly, for a defense that was anemic at times last season, Carter’s presence can be a game changer. During the first quarter of the 2020 season, Carter played inside while Kyree Campbell recovered from injury. Once Campbell returned and Carter was able to move back outside, the Gators front seven saw a palpable difference.
In 2020, Carter finished with 36 tackles, 9.5 for loss, five sacks, 12 quarterback hurries, two pass break-ups and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown. His time spent both inside and on the edge now means his impact in 2021 can be versatile, wherever needed most.
“We’re going to move him around, try to create matchups like we always do with all of our personnel, especially when you become a veteran player,” explained Mullen. “The more experience you have, the more knowledge you have within the system, the easier it is to kind of move you around to try and create matchup advantages. You know he can play inside and he can play outside.”
And maybe even on offense? Seen recently in a video released by the Gators football team returning a punt, there’s also a possibility to improve his standing on special teams and offense. Carter was the only one of four linemen who was able to haul in the punt and make at least somewhat of a return.
“He was telling me he had the skill set,” joked Mullen. He was telling me what a skilled athlete he is so maybe we will have to put him at tight end or get him the ball in his hands sometime.”
Wherever he plays, Carter feels the onus of improving what were clear problems with the Gators defense in the all-SEC 10 game season of 2020, that ended on a three game losing streak.
“When I think back on last year, I’d say a couple of issues were communication issues and I also say just we had a lack of depth at some positions. But I think overall this spring we’re looking to improve those things,” explains Carter.
Improving on them as a veteran is different than improving on things as an underclassmen, according to Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham.
"If everybody’s moving up and working to improve themselves as a player individually and we take a team approach, then our team is better. So that’s a part of spring where you might give Zach a third of the reps say a young guy gets, like Justus Boone or Princely (Umanmielen). But yet in those reps he can work on things that maybe we’ve discussed to make him a more complete player, which makes your team better.”
But that’s why Carter came back…among other reasons. His biggest reason for returning was not so much what can be improved upon on the field. While there are always strides to make, Carter’s game is already at a level that will get him drafted when he does head to the NFL. No, instead, he returned for a two-fold reason: his degree in journalism and his legacy.
“I just know that this football stuff, it doesn't last forever. I'm excited that I could possibly have a future in the NFL, but everybody says it stands for 'not for long.' So it's just good to have that degree. I think more guys should have that attitude towards football and school, but everybody's in a different situation and positions, but that was a big thing for me.
“So I really wanted to get my degree. I also just wanted, I really wanted to leave my mark and leave my legacy at this program.”
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