GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The routine is one
Marco Wilson started when he played at American Heritage High in South Florida. As his teammates retreated to the locker room following practice, Wilson usually stayed behind on the field, an isolated figure squeezing a few more reps from his budding desire to be elite.
Chad Wilson, the father of Marco and ex-Gators cornerback
Quincy Wilson, coached both of his sons in high school. He was not surprised at all to hear that on Monday night, five days before the No. 8-ranked Gators face Miami in the season opener, that Marco and teammates
CJ Henderson and
Kaiir Elam were the last players to leave practice.
"Always,'' said Chad Wilson, a Hurricanes defensive back from 1992-94. "They take pride in that."
Considering the past year, there is nowhere
Marco Wilson would rather be than out between the lines working up a sweat. He revealed his anticipation level for Saturday's opener when he spoke with reporters Monday afternoon.
"I'm super excited to get back on the field, especially playing Miami for my first game back,'' Wilson said. "I'm super-hyped the game is coming up."
An All-Southeastern Conference Freshman Team selection in 2017, Wilson's sophomore season ended a few plays into the second game when he fell to the ground and grabbed his left knee against Kentucky on Sept. 8. On the Wildcats' first possession, Wilson suffered a torn ACL.
Wilson said in January during the rehab process that he knew
he was done for the season as soon as he landed on the turf. Wilson also knew what was ahead since he had already suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee as a junior in high school.
Following a period of despair, Wilson regrouped and attacked rehab when he was cleared to do so.
"The first time was tough, this time was tougher,'' Chad Wilson said. "I don't mean the rehab, just the mental part of having to go through this again, coming at a crucial point in your college career, something you have always dreamt about and it gets upended in the way that it did.
"For him to come back and come back in the fashion he did – I knew what a hill it was for him to climb the first time – and just to greet the challenge of having to do it again and then do it even better this time than he did last time, it was inspirational for me."
By spring camp, Marco was back on the field running close to 100 percent, just six months after the injury. He was held out of certain contact drills, but by the time preseason camp opened late last month, Wilson flashed signs he had returned to his old form and drew rave reviews from his teammates.
"I know he's ready,'' defensive tackle
Adam Shuler said.
The next step in his journey back will come against the Hurricanes when he runs onto the field with the Gators at Camping World Stadium on Saturday night.
During all those hours rehabbing, he imagined the moment.
"It's just going to be a sigh of relief for me,'' Wilson said. "Because I wasn't doing that last year. I would come out the tunnel with them but knowing that I'm not going to be playing. So running out that tunnel knowing I have a job to go do and an assignment to go play, I'll be really excited and really focused."
Wilson's return provides an important boost to Florida's secondary, a unit that has lost four players since spring camp: Chris Steele (transfer),
C.J. McWilliams (injury),
Brian Edwards (transfer) and
John Huggins (dismissed). Wilson and Henderson form one of the most talented cornerback tandems in the country when healthy. To provide depth, head coach
Dan Mullen said true freshmen Elam,
Chester Kimbrough and
Jaydon Hill will play this season.
Henderson, one of Wilson's closest friends on the team, said Wilson's eagerness to get back in action has kept him sharp since he usually works out and studies film with Wilson. He has followed Wilson's lead.
As for what Wilson's return means to the team, Henderson said it instantly makes the defense better.
"You know, we can run a lot more things now that we have experience,'' Henderson said.
No one has to wonder where Chad Wilson will be Saturday. He'll be in Orlando for the first meeting between the schools in six years.
"There's no other place I can be,'' Chad said.
It's going to be an emotional night for the whole family.
The last time the Gators and Miami played, Quincy, who is entering his third season in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts, was a senior in high school committed to the Gators. Marco was a freshman.
The Wilsons watched the game on TV.
"All I know is last time that we played Miami we lost,'' Marco said. "I just thought it was pretty disappointing because I think Florida was ranked kind of high back then, so we don't need that happening again."
Chad Wilson returned home this week after visiting Quincy in Indianapolis on his birthday. He was in Gainesville the previous week checking in with Marco. And he'll be somewhere in the stands Saturday watching the Gators and Hurricanes closely.
For all their ties to the two programs, this is the first time father or sons have played in a UF-UM game.
"Very excited for him,'' Chad Wilson said. "People have asked me about him playing my alma mater and so on and so forth. I just politely tell them all that blood is thicker. I'm rooting for Marco in every way possible, especially given what he has gone through. I'm ready to see the fruits of all that hard work come Saturday and beyond."
