For as high as he jumped for UF track and field as a former second-team All-American, Frankie Hammond Jr. fell flat for the football team.
The redshirt senior arrived at Florida as the fourth-ranked receiver in the Gators’ 2008 recruiting class and backed up former stars Louis Murphy and Percy Harvin.
Hammond, a Hollywood, Fla., native, redshirted his first season.
He finished 2009 with four catches for 57 yards. Over the next two years, he scored just two touchdowns and never eclipsed the 300-yard mark for a season.
Hammond had his scholarship revoked due to a DUI arrest before his sophomore season, and he may not have had it returned were it not for the hiring of coach Will Muschamp.
“It’s been different things why he hasn’t gotten the ball, but now you see it in practice,” senior linebacker Jon Bostic said.
“He’s going out and making plays. He’s doing everything [the coaches] ask him.”
And everything the coaches have left unsaid. Hammond helped bring along younger receivers in the offseason and built a rapport with sophomore quarterbacks Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett during player-run practices.
“Throughout the summer both Jeff and Jacoby felt very comfortable with Frankie,” Muschamp said. “He’s a guy that is an experienced player. He’s a guy that brings that to the table.”
Hammond and sophomore Quinton Dunbar were listed as the two starting receivers on the depth chart UF released Monday.
Florida has just two other senior offensive skill players — Mike Gillislee and Omarius Hines.
Although Hammond has caught just 41 passes in his career, that total is still only nine behind the combined count of the other 10 receivers on the roster.
When the wideouts went over the new playbook from offensive coordinator Brent Pease during the summer, they depended on Hammond for guidance, and he wasn’t afraid to chime in.
“I can give them a lot of insight,” Hammond said. “They (may) have ran a route bad, and are like, ‘What can I do to get better?’ Well you can try this or you can try that. Sometimes they can run a bad route and I come back before they even say anything.”
His knowledge came from working with four different offensive coordinators and four quarterbacks.
“It comes from previous playbooks,” Hammond said. “I try to learn every position, so that way if somebody goes down, I can just plug in anywhere and fit in.”
Hammond has been the most consistent receiver on the roster with his blocking, hands and route running, Muschamp said.
Each of those skills has been critical, as coaches have said there’s more to playing receiver than simply running fly routes.
“They better catch balls and block,” Pease said. “If you came here thinking, ‘I was labeled this, labeled that,’ you might not see some people. You go out there and you make plays. That’s the bottom line at that position. We don’t want any of these Terrell Owens guys.”
He may not be the flashy game-changing playmaker UF needs, but Hammond has matured on and off the field.
Although he doesn’t have the speed of Andre Debose or the size of tight end Jordan Reed, Hammond has climbed to the top of the depth chart and helped some of his younger teammates along the way.
“He’s been a really good friend,” Muschamp said. “He’s always been a pretty consistent guy. He’s tried to affect people in a positive way off the field.”
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
