GAINESVILLE, Fla. – For Ralph Webb, playing football for the Florida Gators seemed inevitable.
He’s a Gainesville native who grew up there during the Tim Tebow glory days. He starred at Gainesville High, rushing for 2,020 yards and 28 touchdowns as a senior for a team that reached the state Class 6A final in 2012. He wanted to stay at home and go to college.
Yet then-coach Will Muschamp and his staff never extended a scholarship. Florida’s 2013 recruiting class had two running backs, Kelvin Taylor and Adam Lane, but Florida passed on Webb, in large part because of his perceived lack of size (he was 5 feet 9 and 185 pounds as a high school senior) and top-level speed.