GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- It's quite remarkable the difference one year can truly make to a program, to a player.

There is no question Feleipe Franks is a different player today then when he stepped into Gainesville four years ago.

His first spring?

Three interceptions.

Last spring?

An abysmal 5-of-11 passing for 58 yards.

This year?

A nice 13-of-18 for 327 yards and four touchdowns (sorry Lito Sheppard no interceptions).

"He is growing," said wide receiver Freddie Swain after the spring game on Saturday. "Coach Mullen does a good job of developing all the guys. I think he is just fitting into the role that he should be."

"I thought Feleipe had a really solid spring," said Gators head coach Dan Mullen. "It was really good to see him come out there today. There’s definitely more pressure on him today than there is a regular practice.

"You put fans in there, people critiquing. When you’re playing quarterback at Florida, you’re under a lot of critique. To see him really – that’s what you’ve seen out of him this spring."

"It was fun, just going out there, playing with confidence," said Franks. "At the same time, executing, I think the offense did a good job, players were stepping up, offensive line, receivers, and just getting the job done."

To be fair the Florida defense was missing a few of its veteran playmakers like CJ Henderson and Marco Wilson in the secondary and the pass rush was pretty simple.

"I think when you keep it really simple schematically and I'm telling him yesterday, here's the four defenses they're going to play, 'Well I'm going to look you off and go here,'" said Mullen. "It's not complicated for him, and you've got mismatches. You've got CJ Henderson(out), neither CJ or Marco (Wilson) playing corner. They're not even in the game, so you can pick some mismatches."

In the same vein, Franks was not picking out those mismatches earlier in his career. He is now. He is not only identifying them early but he also can signal his receiver a change.

"He's very good at that," wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland said. "I can't tell you the key word, but he can pick out the defense. He wasn't doing that last spring. His confidence is sky-high right now, and he's playing very good.

"He's calm out there," added. "He's just calm and playing football. He's been doing it all his life, but now it's just clicking. Different swag, different energy. He's playing loose. He's playing loose. He's playing very confident. We need that at quarterback."

That calm command was something missing from Frank's game just a few months ago. Now he not only has the skills developing, but the mental ability to execute it.

"I tell him every day that I believe at his potential, his height, he can be one of the best quarterbacks ever," said wide receiver Trevon Grimes. "Like you see, when he makes the right reads, when he's on point, he's unstoppable. He has the physical ability. He has the mental ability. He can be one of the best. I tell him every day. It's up to him to go out there and prove everybody and show everybody what he can do. But his receivers -- me, Van, Tyrie -- we all know what he can do; we see every day in practice."

"Making good decisions, more comfortable in the offense, getting the different reads, knowing where to go with the ball and using the offense to make plays," said Mullen about where Franks has changed. "Instead of just trying to execute it, knowing when to make plays, and he’s able to do that. It’s good to see him do that in a game setting, if not just what he’s done through spring.”

"He comes, he has a great attitude," said Grimes. "Even when he has a bad day, he still holds his head high. Just seeing a person like that, you feed off of that because even when you have a bad day, you look at somebody and know they have your back and you go out there and do it for your brothers. so knowing I can lean on him, he can lean on me, that connection with everybody on the team is a good thing to have."

The defense may have looked a bit more vanilla, but the offense was making the expected plays; Franks was throwing accurate passes. He was leading the offense with a confidence that allows the playmakers around him to do their jobs.

"I think we're just way more comfortable," receiver Van Jefferson said. "Feleipe today, he was just on target. I think he's been like that all spring, throwing balls left and right. I think he's really matured and he took a more serious tack this spring and he's been going crazy this whole spring."

"We go out there as an offense and it’s just, it feels good to be a part of a clean offensive set," said Franks. "You know, you drive the ball 80 yards and you have a clean series and stuff like that, it’s always just a confidence booster going into the summer and then eventually going into the fall."