The transfer portal era has seen several quarterbacks leave the school they started at for greener pastures, and former Wisconsin signal-caller Graham Mertz is among the latest of those, heading to Florida earlier this offseason.

Mertz recently opened up on his decision to join the Gators in an interview with reporters. He had high praise for several aspects of the Florida program, including head coach Billy Napier.

“I love the direction that Coach Napier’s taking this…” Mertz told reporters Saturday, per Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times. “Really just from the start fell in love with this. I knew this is the place I wanted to be.”

Mertz enters the program with a put your head down and work mentality and is looking forward to having a new beginning after ups and downs with the Badgers.

“I’m just refreshed, man,” Mertz said. “I wake up every day with just joy to have a fresh start. It makes me live in the moment and just, like I said, do my job every day.”

It’s clear Napier has high expectations for him as he gave him Tim Tebow’s jersey number of 15, something he took heed of as a bit of a compliment.

“You could say that,” Mertz said Saturday in his first meeting with Florida reporters.

Mertz finished out the 2022 season with a 57.3% completion rate, passing for 2,136 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, numbers he’ll look to improve off of with a change of scenery.