Cam Carroll wasn't afraid to compete, challenge himself at Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators went into the offseason in a precarious situation. Their running back room was talented — the best position group on the team — but they were low on numbers. It would be a tough sell for them to recruit one, especially a graduate transfer like Cam Carroll, who just had one year of eligibility left.

The Gators enjoyed more than 1,500 yards and 16 touchdowns from Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne. The duo returns to Gainesville as one of the best tandems in the SEC, if not the entire country. Florida’s running backs room was crowded in 2022 but Johnson and Etienne’s emergence led Nay’Quan Wright and Lorenzo Lingard to transfer. With only one running back signed in the 2023 recruiting class, that left the Gators with just three scholarship running backs. As good as the trio of Jonson, Etienne, and Treyaun Webb can be, a twisted ankle or broken foot would leave the room in dire straights.

How do you recruit someone to join a room that has, seemingly, a preset rotation with two established backs?

“Most guys would not want to come here,” UF running backs coach Jabbar Juluke admitted on Thursday.

It was a challenge that Juluke was ready for.

Recruiting Cam Carroll

Carroll will be a sixth-year senior in 2023. He literally doesn’t have time to waste with only one year of eligibility left. From the outside, that wouldn’t make Florida a desirable situation. A native of Brandon, Mississippi, Carroll spent the last five years at Tulane in the heart of New Orleans. That played a huge role in helping to recruit Carroll to Florida.

“I know the whole city,” Juluke said. “So anybody could have called. It could have been someone living on the street that might have known Cam and he said, ‘Hey, Coach, I got a guy for you.’ It was more guys being a reference for me than guys calling me about Cam. Like, ‘Hey, Cam, go call such and such,’ or, ‘Hey Cam, who you training with? Go call such and such and he’ll tell you about how I am and how I treat my guys and how I care about them and how I’m going to push you to the max to be the best you can be.’”

Juluke was honest and open to Carroll. There was no point in lying or selling something that wasn’t reality. It wouldn’t take a film junkie to realize that Florida’s running back room would be a challenge to get reps in. So Juluke sold the truth. He sold himself as a coach, the offense, and what the University of Florida has to offer.

“People that he trained with, they trust me that I wouldn’t tell him or give him a bill of sale, I tell him the truth. He’s coming in, he’s gonna compete, you know, start from the bottom and work his way up,” Juluke said of his conversations with Carroll. “(Cam has) accepted the challenge, and he’s looking forward to it. He’s been out right now, but you know, he’s gonna be a good player and he’s going to help us. (Carroll is) going to help us on special teams, gonna help us in the backfield. He’s going to push those other guys to be better than what they are.”

Scouting Report

Carroll is a 6-0, 228-pound running back with legitimate speed. He was one of six players on the team to clean 335 pounds. At Tulane, he rushed for 1,638 yards and 19 touchdowns while averaging 5.25 yards per carry. Carroll is a veteran. He knows how to run, how to block, and what’s expected of him. The challenge now is getting up to speed with new language and a new offensive system.

“He understands the game, he’s just got to try to get the two terminologies across in his head right now,” Juluke said. “So, he’s got to get that out of the way, just focus on what we’re doing and he should be able to help us somewhere down the line.”

It’s a challenge that Carroll is up for.