On a 27-degree night in Cartersville, Ga., where December turned the stadium grass beige and the concessions stand parents dealt hot chocolate and hand warmers, the bleachers were packed for the Class 5A state semifinal.
Huddled beneath a sideline canopy, quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson — two days after signing with Florida — sat close to the flat-screen monitor, watching to determine how the defense from visiting Coffee High kept bottling things up.
Advertisement
Ultimately, the kid with a big arm made a 5-yard flick that mattered most. His fourth-quarter screen pass became a 40-yard touchdown that propelled Cartersville to a 24-17 win.
“With his arm strength, Carlos can take the top off for sure,” Cartersville coach Conor Foster said. “But Coffee did a good job of keeping guys deep and making us work in front. Carlos is a physical runner and a willing runner and he does a good job in the RPO game. There were times where he made the right read and made some handoffs instead of getting greedy.”
Amid a postgame celebration consisting of prayers, hugs and hoots, the quarterback lingered on the periphery. Cartersville boasts a decades-long history of winning football games, but Del Rio-Wilson had been a part of it for only a two-month stretch.
Denied eligibility in his initial transfer from McEachern to Class 7A power Grayson, he enrolled at Cartersville during a bye week in October. The last-ditch chance to salvage his senior season worked out: The semifinal win improved Del Rio-Wilson to 7-0 as a starter for the Purple Hurricanes.
“I think I’m a pretty likable person, so I learned everybody’s language, learned how they carry themselves, and I carried myself the same way,” Del Rio-Wilson said. “Now I’ve got a bunch of purple-and-gold brothers.”
Inserting a high-profile quarterback midseason could’ve proved bumpy for a proud program built on local kids. The new guy’s enthusiasm, which spilled over to special teams drills in practice, made it easier for his teammates to embrace him.
“I appreciate his humility,” Foster said. “He came in from Day 1 with a humble heart and wanted to help the team be successful. He never assumed he was going to be handed anything. He just asked to be a part of it.”
Today, Brian Johnson is the new quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. On Jan. 8, he was still the Gators offensive coordinator, leading a Zoom call for the families of early enrollees, including Del Rio-Wilson, the nation’s No. 143rd-rated prospect in the class of 2021.
“It’s about just getting him acclimated to the college lifestyle, and understanding the scheduling and time management that goes into it,” Johnson said at the time. “Understanding where they’re supposed to be.”
The offseason plan enacted by Johnson and head coach Dan Mullen won’t change much with analyst Garrick McGee being promoted to quarterbacks coach. It’s all aimed at preparing freshmen to cope with their first spring practice.
“We go through sort of Football 101 and start teaching the game from the ground up,” Johnson said. “We get some meeting time with those guys and start to build a general baseline of knowledge about landmarks and field spacing. We’ll be going over details and nuances to know that we’re speaking the same language so when it’s time to make adjustments and corrections they understand what I’m saying.”
Advertisement
Johnson and Mullen were new to Florida in the summer of 2018 when they offered Del Rio-Wilson — then a rising high school sophomore who had yet to become the starter at McEachern. Though Power 5 programs including Michigan, Miami, Florida State, Tennessee and Arkansas offered over the ensuing year, he committed to the Gators in July 2019 after performing at the Friday Night Lights camp.
“He threw for us twice that summer,” Johnson said, “and you could see his growth potential and personality. He had really good arm talent. He could make throws from different angles and put different paces on the ball. He had really good eyes in terms of not letting defenders distract him. He was looking at the right stuff and he played with a calmness.”
In that Class 5A semifinal in Cartersville, on the same field where Trevor Lawrence became legend, Del Rio-Wilson ran for an early 2-yard touchdown and finished 17-of-26 passing for 225 yards.
Robby Pruitt, the opposing coach at Coffee High, made his defense commit to limiting the damage Del Rio-Wilson inflicted on deep routes.
“I don’t think he’s that athletic quarterback who’s going to run around a great deal, but we knew he could make the hard throws that a lot of kids couldn’t make,” Pruitt said. “Our corners had to adjust their coverage if their receivers were lined up to the wide side.
“My impression is that he’s a good-sized kid with a big, strong arm. He reminds you of the guy Florida just had, Kyle Trask.”
That’s a glowing comparison after the senior season Trask produced, leading the FBS in touchdown passes (43) and ranking second in passing yards per game (356.9). There’s no expectation of Del Rio-Wilson replacing Trask next season. The quarterback duel likely will boil down to Emory Jones, who has appeared in 24 games, and Anthony Richardson, who saw spot action as a true freshman. Three-star early enrollee Jalen Kitna joined the 2021 class as the Gators sought to rebuild depth at quarterback.
Advertisement
Before leaving for the Eagles, Johnson reminded all four quarterbacks about the patience Trask showed in becoming a Heisman finalist.
“I tell guys all the time, that at this position people play into their 40s and still find a way to get better. It is a developmental position,” Johnson said. “We got guys that want to be coached hard and have great intangibles. And obviously, if they have great talent, you’ll have something special if you build it the right way.”
(Photo: Allan Taylor / The Athletic)