UWF Media Day: Can the Argos expect the same explosive offense from last year?

University of West Florida football redshirt senior Jacob Bruce is one of a handful of players that was part of the 2019 National Championship squad who is still dressing for the Argos.

The offensive lineman has seen a lot of names and faces come and go since joining the program in 2018 as a freshman. During the National Championship title season, Bruce started all 15 of UWF’s games at right tackle, helping the Argos average 412.3 yards of offense per game.

As fall camp continues on for the Argos, Bruce said at the team’s media day last week that he doesn’t like to compare the 2019 roster to the 2023 roster.

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“I just focus on what we have to do this week and focus on the first game,” Bruce said. “Every year, we’ve had a good bond between the players, this year included. It’s been great. … We had a great summer.”

But that doesn’t mean Bruce isn’t afraid to lend a leading voice, helping younger players and transfers to the organization.

“We just need to look at it week by week,” Bruce said. “We can’t look too far ahead.”

With the annual Fan Day Scrimmage on Wednesday for UWF, here are three takeaways from the offensive player portion of the Argos’ media day, which featured Bruce, quarterback Peewee Jarrett and wide receiver Caden Leggett.

Replacing David Durden

The glaring missing piece from the 2022 roster is David Durden, who is now gearing up for his rookie season in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys after signing as an undrafted free agent. Durden was the top target for Jarrett with 54 receptions for 1,128 total yards – an average of 20.89 yards per reception. He also scored 13 touchdowns during the season.

Given Durden’s prominence across Division II football – sitting 12th in the nation at the end of the year, but with limited receptions compared to those above him – there were numerous occasions where Durden was double-teamed. That forced the Argos’ No. 2 receiver, Leggett, to step up.

In his first season at UWF after transferring from Texas Tech, Leggett recorded 602 receiving yards with nine touchdowns across 38 receptions in 14 games.

“Me and Durden kind of batted heads, not gonna lie, at the beginning. (We’re) just the same type of person: very competitive and want to be the best,” Leggett said. “He ended up becoming one of my best friends, talking and learning from each other on and off the field, how to make each other better, and what we see here. (He’s) truly a student of the game, just making each other better.”

With Durden gone, Leggett now knows his role as the No. 1 receiver for Jarrett. Of the top seven receivers last year, just three return to the Argos in 2023, including Leggett. Jakobe Quillen (139 yards, 4 touchdowns) and Jared Smith (133 yards, 2 touchdowns) are also back for UWF.

“Obviously Caden Leggett being back is a great addition, moving forward with the progress he’s made. He’s had a great camp so far,” UWF head coach Kaleb Nobles said. “He’s really taking a huge step from where he finished last season. I think he learned a lot of things from last year, just being able to be on the opposite side of David.”

Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Ron Dickerson Jr. did bring in a transfer from Nicholls State, K.J. Franklin, who hails from Prairieville, Louisiana. Now a graduate student, Franklin ranks ninth all-time in program history for receiving yards (1,462 yards).

The receivers’ room also contains a pair of local talent, including senior Mystikal McGhee (Booker T. Washington) and freshman Patrick Delcour (West Florida High School).

Leggett said he has “full faith” in the other wide receivers to “make a play” at any time Leggett may be double-teamed, knowing he’s going to “be high-targeted this year” by Jarrett. “Coach (Dickerson) brought in some talent,” Leggett added.

“Everybody knew who David Durden was. Wherever he was, no matter who was covering him, he was going to do something. The No. 2 receiver always had to be there to make plays,” Leggett said. “Last year, between me and seniors David Durden and Larry Rembert, we took over the room a little bit. These guys saw that last year, and what this offense is capable of. … They’re just excited to play at UWF, to go out and make plays for each other. They’re excited to run 80 yards and catch a deep ball from Peewee. They’re amped up, and you can see it in practice.”

Peewee Jarrett returns

With a bunch of viable options at receiver, UWF returns some powerful firepower at quarterback, with Jarrett coming back for his second season. Jarrett stole the show during his first year with the program after transferring in from Iowa Central Community College.

Jarrett threw for 2,719 yards across 14 games with 33 touchdowns in 2022. He completed 165 passes.

Now that Jarrett has Nobles – UWF’s first quarterback who threw for 3,058 yards and 28 touchdowns during the 2016 season – at his fingertips, it’s been a building relationship between the now-head coach and senior quarterback. Jarrett noted that Nobles is “very hands-on” with the quarterbacks.

When Nobles was introduced as the head coach back in December, Jarrett said he was at the press conference. Despite being on crutches with a “huge” ace bandage, Nobles “meant business” during their first meeting.

“I just knew he could take my game to the next level. I really put my last year of my career here at UWF in his hands,” Jarrett said. “He’s going to guide me to where I want to be, and help me become the best player I can be. … He listens to me. He’s really a player’s coach.”

While Nobles joked that Jarrett can “throw it almost as far as (Nobles) can” during media day, he did make the serious note of the quarterback’s “growth” off the field.

“Last year, it sounded like (Jarrett) wanted to earn his voice. Playing as well as he did, playing all the way to the semifinals, he did a great job of earning that,” Nobles said. “Quarterback rooms are always a little bit tougher to coach because you might have some guys who may not buy into that. All of them bought into getting better, learning from each other.”

Nobles said that the Argos are “going to throw the football” and “push the ball downfield,” potentially utilizing “high-risk … high-reward” deep passes.

“(Jarrett’s) getting better every single day. He’s got a great arm,” Nobles said. “A lot of people want to come play with a quarterback like Peewee Jarrett because he can throw it a long ways and be pretty accurate with the ball. It helps with recruiting when you’re doing that.”

‘Excellence is the standard’

Similar to what Nobles brought up during his portion of the media day, the preseason rankings – which has UWF slotted at No. 7 in Division II – don’t matter to the players. With the recent success of the Argos, they “always (have) that target” on their back, Bruce said.

Jarrett said players just have to take it week by week.

“Each week, every team we play, it doesn’t matter who we play, they want to beat us,” Jarrett said. “If they beat us, that’s their Super Bowl for the year. It doesn’t matter what they do the rest of the season."

“I’ve been telling all the freshmen that, after we get past this camp, it’s hopefully 15 weeks straight of just winning and bonding with the guys," Jarrett continued.

As Nobles begins his tenure at the helm of UWF, Jarrett said there’s been no changes to the culture. That’s expected, given Nobles is an alumnus of the program. But one of UWF’s slogans is “build champions for life.”

“Excellence is the standard. No matter who the head coach is here, that is just something throughout every single sports program on this campus: excellence is the standard, and championships are what we’re chasing,” Jarrett said. “No matter where you are – in Pensacola or outside Pensacola – if you wear UWF stuff, people know who you are, this logo and this university.”

Players are using the Argos’ final game of the 2022 season – a loss in the national semifinals against eventual champions Ferris State – as motivation. Still, the focus remains on Sept. 1 when UWF opens the season against Kentucky Wesleyan.

“One thing that I’ve been very pleased with is our guys have kind of said, ‘All right, that happened. I remember it. I use it as motivation.’ But we’re not guaranteed to play them. We’re not guaranteed to play the team that beat us. You’ve got to win a lot of games to get there and play somebody like that. You’re not playing them until the semifinals, at minimum,” Nobles said. “You’re never going to forget those memories. Those guys are never going to forget what it felt like to walk off the field in December, and the pain that you feel. … We’ve just got to remember what it feels like, and use that as motivation.”

Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on Twitter (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: UWF football's Peewee Jarrett, Caden Leggett highlight offensive returners