This past Sunday, the silver and blue partnered with the orange and blue as St. Francis Catholic Academy hosted the “Graham Mertz Youth Football Camp.”
The University of Florida quarterback chose the Wolves to conduct his four-hour event, which included camp activities such as lectures, fundamental skills and competitive stations.
“We were honored that he thought about us first, which was insane for us but a great deal,” said St. Francis Catholic football coach James Langham. “It was a great experience. Graham had a great time out there.”
Mertz, who was at SEC Media Days this past Wednesday, had a great turnout for his camp.
“We had about 200-plus kids out there, ages 6-16, so it was a great opportunity for people who had never seen St. Francis to be on campus and see what we have to offer,” Langham said.
Each camp participant received a camp team photo with Mertz, a limited-edition Graham Mertz FlexWork Football Camp T-shirt, and they took home items from event sponsors.
St. Francis Catholic even got its own keepsake.
“Kudos to Graham,” Langham said. “What I really appreciated about Graham was he actually went in and signed our weight room. We have a brand new weight room, his signature is on there, a little quote from him, and that’s a tradition we’re going to have now.”
The sixth-year quarterback, who played his first four years at Wisconsin, gets all the credit.
“I think that’s something that he started, which is great, but now every time we get a college coach or player to come out, we’ll have them do that and we’ll keep a nice little track of it over the years,” Langham said. “It was a great experience though. Meeting Graham was awesome, a really laid-back guy.”
Mertz also didn’t go home empty-handed.
“Graham actually loved our logo, our little Wolf head logo, and I had him sign a shirt because he was kind enough to do that and he wanted one too,” Langham said. “So, I ended up finding one, gave it to him before he left, and he was over the moon with it. It was awesome to see.”
Mertz’s laid-back, professional appearance was on display when he addressed the media at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, Texas, a few days later.
On Wednesday, Florida head coach Billy Napier had a lot of great things to say about his starting QB.
“Well, I think Graham — first of all, Graham has got character,” he said. “He cares. He’s a worker. He’s probably one of the more fun players to coach I’ve had in my career. He matches your level of preparedness. You show up to the meeting and you’re coaching Graham Mertz, you’d better be ready to go.”
Mertz’s impact could be significant for Napier, who will be leaning on Mertz in a pivotal year three with the Gators.
Napier said, “It’s a product of the work.”
“Graham, he earned every bit of it, and he earned the respect of his teammates with the way that he competed last year,” Napier said. “He’s primed to have a breakout year here. It’s a big deal for Graham to be back to play quarterback for our team.”
In 2023, Graham finished with career-highs in completions (261), passing yards (2,903), touchdown passes (20), completion percentage (72.9), passing yards per game (263.9) and efficiency (157.8) while only throwing three interceptions, marking a career-low and tied his career-best with four rushing scores.
He also set program records for consecutive passes without an interception (239), consecutive passes completed (19) and a season-best completion percentage of 72.9% (261 of 358).
Graham and the Gators open up the 2024 season at home at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31, against in-state rival Miami.
Meanwhile, St. Francis Catholic, which enters its inaugural season in the Sunshine State Athletic Association (SSAA) this fall, will host Cedar Creek Christian (Jacksonville) in the regular season opener at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16.