Feleipe Franks now realizes what he should have done differently when he arrived at Florida in 2016.

“When I first got here, I’ll be the first one to admit it, everything was more like, first I didn’t know how to adjust from high school to college. Just joking around,” Franks told reporters at the Gators’ fall camp on Saturday. “It’s fine to joke, but at the same time, you have to know when to be serious, when to not be serious.”

That’s something that Franks feels he has improved on over his three years with the Gators, particularly this past offseason.

Franks bested Malik Zaire and Luke Del Rio to win the starting quarterback job prior to the 2017 season, but it led to a tough year for the Gators. Florida went 4-7 and coach Jim McElwain was fired during the season, while Franks threw for 1,438 yards and nine touchdowns with eight interceptions.

Franks and the Gators will be looking for better results under new coach Dan Mullen in 2018. And while the redshirt sophomore quarterback admits he had trouble adjusting to college early in his career, he feels he has reached a turning point.

“I think just this past offseason was one of the biggest light-bulb clicks in my head that I really needed to dial in,” Franks said. “Being a college quarterback is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, especially at this level, being able to play with guys who are really good around you.”