Weis talks Brantley, Wenger at Gator Gathering

Just a day after head coach Will Muschamp entertained the media at the 2011 SEC Media Days, Florida Gators offensive coordinator Charlie Weis filled in for him by participating in a Gator Gathering at the Marion County Gator Club.

During the event, Weis spoke about a number of topics but was most notably asked about the potential of redshirt senior quarterback John Brantley and the recent transfer of redshirt senior center Dan Wenger from Notre Dame.

After struggling one year ago, Brantley will be given the best chance possible to succeed, Weis said, because the goal is to develop the entire offense and not put all of the onus for success directly on his shoulders.

“When you put in a new offense, too much responsibility on any one player is not a very good philosophical idea,” Weis said, according to The Gainesville Sun. “The most important thing for me and the offensive staff is to figure out what we can do the best, and then just do a lot of that. Too many times in football people try to reinvent the wheel. What we have to do is develop a personality and find out what [Brantley] can do the best, and do that.”

The Super Bowl-winning offensive mind also reiterated that film of Brantley from last year has not done much to help his evaluation, even though he is confident in his ability to handle the offense and succeed long-term.

“It doesn’t help me very much because it’s so different from what I do,” Weis said. “[Brantley wasn’t] really in a true drop-back setting, so therefore I need to be able to compare apples to apples, not apples to oranges. […] In a pro-style offense, it’s more about whether you have all the physical tools to be able to run the offense – which he does. Then it’s mentally how do you handle it.”

Weis also spoke for the first time about Wenger, who joined the team in the summer and hopes to earn significant playing time considering his experience in Weis’s offense and as an player taught directly by new offensive line coach Frank Verducci at Notre Dame.

“He started a whole bunch of games for us at center and guard,” Weis said, according to GatorZone.com. “You want to talk about a bonus, a throw-in guy who has started about 30 games at center and guard? You can’t buy things like that. He’s really helped with those guys when we haven’t been able to be with them.”

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