The new athletic year begins with Episode 34 of the Gator Tales Podcast with Sean Kelley.

In this episode, Kelley sits down with Gators quarterback Graham Mertz and Gators linebacker Shemar James for a combo interview. The three discuss the upcoming season and go into detail about the Gators offense and defense from each of the team leaders' perspective.

Both players are fresh off standout 2023 campaigns as the Gators look to take a step forward in year three under head coach Billy Napier. Returning to UF for a second campaign and to CFB for a sixth season, Mertz set a new program record with an SEC-leading 72.9% completion percentage one year ago (third nationally). He also ranked sixth in the FBS and second in the SEC behind Jayden Daniels in TD-INT ratio (6.7), owning 20 touchdowns and three interceptions. He enters the 2024 campaign on the watch list for the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award and Davie O,Brien Award.

In just eight games played, James ranked second on the Gators with 55 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss last season. With 21 career games and 12 starts under his belt, putting him on the preseason watch list for the Bronko Nagruski Award, Bednarik Award and Butkus Award.

Kyle Crooks then joins the show and visits with Gators Soccer star Daviana Vaka. The All-SEC Vaka shares her vision for herself and her team as the new season begins.

Earning All-SEC First Team and All-Southeast Region status in 2023, Vaka and the Gators are off to a 1-0 start to the 2024 season following a 2-0 defeat of Western Carolina in the season opener on Aug. 16. After transferring to Florida from BYU last season, Vaka started every match at centerback, playing the entirety of 16 matches and pacing Florida with average of 86.8 minutes per match.

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