GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Kemore Gamble is out to make a point. The Florida tight end is often lost in the shuffle among the Gators' tight end room but that stops now, according to Gamble.
Although Gamble was highly touted recruit in his class, Gamble has not received much attention once he arrived on campus.
To be fair, the South Florida native was injured his first year, did have to contend with a veteran tight end room, and then saw Lucas Krull, Kyle Pitts and now Keon Zipperer enter the fold.
However, Gamble is out to prove people wrong. He is out to prove why he should be talked about.
“I see all the media, all the tweets, everything," Gamble told reporters after practice. 'I just feel like I’m slept on.”
Gamble, who had just one or two less catches than both Moral Stephens and C'Yontai Lewis last fall, is often forgotten or moved down projected depth charts in favor of both Pitts and Krull. The South Florida native is now looking to prove people wrong.
He started his quest by following every advice dished out by Florida's Director of Strength and Conditioning, Nick Savage.
“Coach Savage, he’s the best," explained Gamble. "He treat us like his sons and stuff like that. Savage, he changed my body. Last year I was 250, a bad 250. Now I’m 250 but I’m more toned up.
"He raised my bar for me so I could do the stuff I’m doing right now, stuff I couldn’t do back then.”
Losing the bad weight has allowed Gamble to play faster and more physical. With his body right, he is now able to put his focus on learning the game and straining every rep
“I’m very comfortable now," said the redshirt sophomore. "Right now I’m going over learning about football more, learning about the defense.. I’m just working on like learning about more defensive coverages, and stuff like that, because I already knew the offense already.”
With veterans like Lewis and Stephens gone, Gamble will have more responsibilities on his shoulder.
“It’s a lot," Gamble said. "They count on tight ends.. We’ll be leaders, because they left. It will help that we step up.”
As expected in every position group, there will be competition. However, the good news for Florida is each tight end brings a unique set of skills.
"I think it's great, especially with me and Kemore," said Krull. "I look at it as we reflect each other really well. I complement him, he complements me. I play as a bigger, more traditional tight end and he can run really well. And vice versa. He can go play traditional and I can go and run. So I think we complement each other really well. We're joking around the other day. He was like, 'You're killing me. I'm here running all these reps.' And I take it to heart. I wish I could be out there, but we're working as hard as we can."
Gamble will need to step up if Florida wants to improve on last season and play for the National Championship.
“We still talk about it," said Gamble about returning to Atlanta. "We know what we got to do to get there.”
