Brantley to meet with Weis before deciding

By Adam Silverstein
January 5, 2011

Before he makes a final decision on whether or not he will remain with the Florida Gators for his redshirt senior season, quarterback John Brantley will meet with new offensive coordinator/QB coach Charlie Weis and then consult with his family, according to two reports released Wednesday.

“We hadn’t talked and probably won’t talk until Charlie Weis is here. I hadn’t even talked to him,” his father John Brantley III said in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel. “We want to meet Coach Weis before John does anything. That may not be for a while,” Brantley III related to The Gainesville Sun.

Brantley struggled in his first season Florida’s starter, throwing for only 2,061 yards and nine touchdowns. He also gave up 10 interceptions and appeared to lack the confidence to toss the ball down the field. In a chance to redeem himself in the post-season, Brantley threw a pick on UF’s first offensive play of the 2011 Outback Bowl.

Even though the Gators held a team meeting on Wednesday, Weis was not in attendance as he is still fulfilling his current duties as offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs. Kansas City will face Baltimore on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the first round of the NFL Playoffs.

Known for his proficient offenses and ability to develop quarterbacks, Weis may be just what Brantley needs to turn his career around at Florida.

The Sun reports that Brantley is enrolled in spring classes and attended the meeting. Juniors cornerback Janoris Jenkins and safety Will Hill, both of whom have decided to but have not officially declared for the 2011 NFL Draft, were not in attendance.

Photo Credit: Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images
 

24 Comments

  1. Mr2Bits says:

    Brantley knows he’s not going anywhere as he doesn’t really have many options. He has only one year left of eligibility so he can’t sit out a year and UF holds the key to his release which they could say no if they want. Outside of that, not to sure many schools would want to bring him in for a year and try to teach him a new system. Don’t know why he keeps dragging this I may stay I may go crap on. Everyone knows he’s staying and everyone knows he might not be the starter next year.

  2. Mr2Bits says:

    @ Adam : Or Reed. Saw that some of the players(Elam in
    particular) are voicing their discontent with Brantley publicly and
    are telling him to leave. They want Reed to take over as QB is what
    he said via Twitter a few days ago.

    • Elam re-tweeted someone and showed support for Reed. The
      only reason Reed was effective was because he can do *something* on
      the ground. As a passer he was just as inefficient. In a pro-style
      offense, Brantley would be the better option. We’ll see what
      happens.

      Don’t forget there was a disconnect between the younger and older players on the team. Reed is a RSfr, Brantley a RSjr.

  3. John S says:

    I hope he stays, as one of his supporters/defenders he certainly let me down this year. Our offensive line seemed incapable of blocking for a pocket passer and our overall scheme was terribly conceived, but he seemed to lack the toughness you need to compete in the SEC. You have to fight your way out of a season like this.

    I certainly would not want Driskel to have to start immediately.

  4. g8trpls says:

    John Brantley III seems to be out of touch with reality….Watch the game film, I know it’s hard to admit, your son is not a good QB.

  5. Bob Beatty says:

    I so wanted Brantley to succeed not only as our best option at QB but also because he’s such a great Gator from such a great Gator family. But he just looked lost this year. Even if he does stay, do you think he’s going to turn it around? Unfortunately, I’m just not convinced.

    He played well during the Vandy game and when he came out for the entire 2nd Half, I questioned the move. I felt like it’d have been good to leave him in there for another quarter and develop some rhythm. But Reed played tremendously in the 2nd half and we went & beat UGA with that bizarre 3-headed monster at QB. Brantley never got back to the level he’d reached against Vandy (and I’m not saying it was that high a level either).

    Watching bowl games this year reminded me what an offense looked like when the line blocked, receivers were open, and the QB delivered the ball where it was supposed to be, typically to an open receiver. That was not the UF offense this year.

    I don’t totally blame Brantley, who knows how he’d have done had Pouncey been able to snap the ball effectively in the first game of the year, how in a groove he’d have gotten. And his supposed go-to receiver, Deonte Thompson, was a drop machine and that hurt (including the very first pass of the season if I remember correctly….)

    I’m not going to panic. If Brantley comes back, I’ll root hard for him like I did all year. I want the kid to succeed, I really, really do. Here’s hoping he will

    GO GATORS.

  6. JW says:

    Adam, can you comment on what Tyler Murphy’s future with the program looks like? Obviously, the thought is that Driskel is the quarterback of the future, if not next year. But with the poor quarterback play this year, was there ever any thought of putting Murphy in? (I’m assuming he was red shirted)

    • I highly doubt Murphy decided to come to Florida with the expectation of being the starting QB. However, I’m sure he hopes and wants to be the back-up.

      I also continue to believe that Jordan Reed will play a different position next season or at least not be the starter. Then there is Trey Burton who will probably switch to defense.

      If Brantley returns and Reed and Burton switch positions, Murphy would be the 3rd QB and Driskel’s back-up in a year. The worst-case scenario for Murphy would be Brantley returning, UF keeping Reed at QB and Driskel coming in. If that was to happen, I could see him transferring because he wants to be a QB and doesn’t want to switch positions.

  7. npgator says:

    Brantley would be wise to stay at UF and work in a pro style offense.

  8. JW says:

    Thanks. That’s interesting about Burton switching to defense. I was not aware of that.

  9. g8trpls says:

    Burton to Defense?..wasn’t he our best option most of the season to get the ball in the endzone.

  10. g8ter27 says:

    I think Brantley wants to meet with Weis to see if Charlie is willing to give him a chance at qb or has laready seen enough and decided he is not a qb in his system. Like everyone else, i agree that he would be better suited in the pro-style offense but this guy has zero confidence and i am not sure he can ead a defense. Anybody who has ever played football knows it is pretty easy to make your throws when you are in shorts and a helmet and there is no down lineman coming after you. Brantley just seems like he is shell shocked and i don’t know if that can be corrected. He also cannot look off anyone or make more than one read. He seems like a great kid and a Gator thru and thru…..but he isn’t our qb that will lead us anywhere but the Car Quest Bowl to play Fresno State or something.

  11. ncgator says:

    Lets not get all mushy about Brantley. I’m sure he’s a
    wonderful human being but coming to Florida as a slow-of-foot
    pro-style QB to play in a spread offense was a bad decision from
    the start. If Cam Newton hadn’t screwed the pooch and stayed,
    Brantley would have never started anyway. Unfortunately, Brantley
    will be here next year and probably get significant playing time
    with Driskel being worked in to get a feel for game day speed.
    Personally, I think Driskel is the future and should get baptized
    by fire and start. At least he can run, which is paramount with
    this offensive line.

  12. Scooterp says:

    I’m not sure if this past season screwed this guy’s head up enough that he can’t come back from it. I think this nonsense I’m reading from some stating he is not a good QB is mis-guided frustration. All this past season proved is that he is not Tebow and someone forgot to tell Addazio.

    And the calls for Reed need to stop. He has said on more than a few occassions his preference would be to play another position other than QB. Our new coaching staff has said they will run a pro-style offense making Brantley the best option if he decides to stay.

  13. Mr2Bits says:

    @Scooterp: Nobody I know has compared him to Tebow nor expected him to be a Tebow but when the dude can’t throw anything more than a 3 yard curl or drag and misses wide open receivers people are going to get frustrated and complain. 41 yards passing and an INT to end the season says enough about his abilities.

  14. Scooterp says:

    Mr2Bits – All I’m saying is come spring it needs to be a clean slate. If JB gets out performed by Driskel, Reed, Burton etc. then so be it. But, I can’t join the chorus of boos or label the guy a bum and write him off after watching him being grossly mis-used this past season. I was as frustrated and cursed at the television as much as anyone watching this offense fall apart. He very well may be a head case now, and can’t recover, but come March we’ll see what happens.

  15. Swampbabe says:

    I really think this kid is shaken and he just wants to “reach out and touch” his new position coach to make sure the investment will be there. If Weis can’t convince him that he’s going to make Brantley a project why wouldn’t he go? Riding the pine at UF isn’t better than at least getting into some games against weaker opponents and working on your career stats and building your confidence. And after what we threw him into this year I would be VERY disappointed with UF if we blocked his transfer request. Nothing served there at all. If he wans to go, wish him well. We haven’t exactly nurtured him while he was here.

  16. Mr2Bits says:

    @Swampbabe : Brants has been nurtured more than my 8 month old. Had he been on any other team he would have not seen the field after week 4 with the way he performed. Whether it was him or the play calling or all of it I have no idea. I’m convinced he had nudes of Daz and Urbes together or something because it just baffled me every time we ran him out there.

  17. ncgator says:

    ‘Reach out and touch his new position coach ‘…… God what drivel! If you think Charlie Weiss is going to blow sunshine up Brantley’s ass, you don’t know anything about Weiss. If Brantley was a sophmore he might be considered a project, as a senior that ship has sailed. UF will not block his transfer, he’s not worth the trouble.
    Brantley should find a 2-A school, aka; Marshall and try and salvage what;s left of his college career. Unforunately he will probably stay at Flroda, take snaps as a starter while the coaching staff subs in Driskel to get him some game day experince. 2011 is going to be long year.

  18. Tim says:

    Mr2Bits NAILED IT!!! He’s been given every opportunity. If
    he was anybody else he wouldn’t have seen the field the second half
    of the season. I’ve said this before. Let me summarize some of the
    comments I’ve read before correctly. Brantley needs a special
    running back, a full back, a different O-line, shotgun snaps that
    hit him chest high in the hands every time, a new offensive
    coordinator (oh by the way a new head coach because this is Meyer’s
    offense), and then we’ll really see what this kid is made of. Yeah
    scooter…he’s just awesome. What he REALLY needs is to study his
    BUTT off, be the hardest working player this offseason and play the
    best HE can with the talent the team has, and shut everyone up. If
    I saw him standing tall trying to make plays down-field this year
    with the rush coming, or saw him get in Thompson’s face after some
    critical misses, or saw him accurately deliver the ball on a
    SCREEEN PASS to Rainey, I’d have a differnt feel. This guy didn’t
    play the best HE could. Forget about what everyone else around him
    didn’t do for him. Does anyone else remember how Rex Grossman
    loaded the team on his shoulders in 2002 and willed it to victory
    time and time again? That was a quality quarterback. We went what?
    8-5? But Grossman played the best he could as an individual. Can’t
    argue with that.

  19. Swampbabe says:

    Not saying we didn’t coddle him, Mr. 2 Bits. I’m saying we set him up to fail with a spread offense he couldn’t begin to run. This is a COACHING shortfall IMO. Sitting him would have been better for him than crushing his confidence and his stats trying to win games with DIVE, DIVE DIVE as the gameplan. It was the perfect storm for the kid… recievers that couldn’t 1) CATCH 2) LEARN PLAYS and coaches who NEVER tried to tailer any kind of a game plan the kid could operate in. I seriously don’t know why Urban signed the kid knowing the kind of O were were going to run and the kind of passer he was. No favors done for either side. Very sad and prolly tuined the kid’s career unless Charlie can come in and turn him around in one season. And if he does, what will everyone be saying then? I too have been a detractor, not of his talent, since I honestly dont think he was EVER put in a position where we got to see it, but of his continued appearances in a gameplan not meant for him. Again, that’s a coaching shortfall.

  20. Swampbabe says:

    It’s soooo easy to jump on this kid but honestly:

    1) A center who took five games to learn to snap the ball without it going over his head. (oh wait…)
    2) An O line that folded like a card table and gave him NO time in the pocket
    3) No power back of any kind to hand off too
    4) Injuries glaore at skill positions
    5) Recievers with rocks for hands… or brains
    6) A play caller with the offensive imagination of Yogi Bear

    There is a TON of talent on this team on the O side of the ball and IMO EVERY ONE of them underperformed. It’s easy to drop it all on JB’s shoulders but he did not have anything like the PERFORMING talent other QB’s have had. He’s not an option QB, he is not terribly mobile in the pocket (when there IS a pocket), and his accuracy was questionable too much of the time. But given his supporting cast and self confidence that HAD to be down around his ankles, I’m not so sure we EVER got to see his A game. Maybe we will this season, and if it’s not good enough, at least we know it’s him and not the system that failed us.

  21. Tim says:

    Poor poor kid. If only everyone else would have stepped up to his level he would have been the best quarterback ever to play at Florida.

    Ask yourself this. If he’s so good, and practices so hard, and studies so hard, and woks out as hard as any guy on the team…why aren’t the other players and coaches rushing to his defense? Why isn’t the new coach publically stating, “We need John Brantley to come back next year.” I mean he’s recruiting right now….if JB is so good, and he’s thinking about leaving….shouldn’t he be saying that kind of stuff to get him to stay? Or does Muschamp not understand talent either.

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