Florida football: Better Know a Gator: BUCK LB Jonathan Greenard

Florida football signed Louisville graduate transfer linebacker, No. 58 Jonathan Greenard in January. The 6-foot-4, 263-pound linebacker, a former three-star prospect from Hiram, Georgia, will reunite with Gators defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who ran the Cardinals’ defense in Greenard’s first two years at Louisville (2015-16).

A minor piece of business to get out of the way first – Greenard’s last name is pronounced “Gri-nard,” not “Green-nard.”

No. 58 will fill the BUCK LB role this season for the Gators, meaning Grantham will expect him to put pressure on the opposing QBs much like last year’s BUCK, Jachai Polite, who turned 19.5 tackles-for-loss and 11.0 sacks into a third-round draft selection by the New York Jets in this past spring’s NFL Draft.

Louisville: Successful start, painful finish

Greenard redshirted in his first year on campus, but saw action in 12 games in 2016, posting 22 tackles and 2.5 sacks. His only start came against LSU in the Citrus Bowl, where the redshirt freshman registered five tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.

In his redshirt sophomore season in 2017, Greenard led the team with 15.5 tackles-for-loss and tied for the team lead with seven sacks. The defender had several outstanding games in 2017: at North Carolina, he had a career-high three tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble, a personal best of two sacks at home against Kent State, and nine tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss against Boston College. He finished a strong season with five tackles against a Mullen-less Mississippi State in the TaxSlayer Bowl.

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Lamar Jackson exited Louisville after 2017, so the Cards faced lower expectations heading into 2018, but expectations for Greenard were high as the redshirt junior was selected to be one of four team captains before the season.

However, much like the Cardinals, Greenard’s 2018 ended in disappointment. On the ninth play of the season, Greenard went head-to-head with the future 24th pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, Alabama RB Josh Jacobs, who had attempted to cut-back and bounce to the outside but was stopped by the Cards captain for a short gain.

Greenard (No. 7 last season) suffered a ligament injury to his wrist on the play, however, he remained in the game for one more play before calling to the sideline.

The injury dealt a huge blow a young Louisville squad which selected Greenard to be one of its representatives at the 2018 ACC Media Days.

"“He’s been a young man that’s really tried to be the leader in a number of ways – by example, playing hard, taking more pride in running full speed to the ball, which really showed up in practice. That was a huge step for him and then vocally. He’s been a kid that’s been around here for a long time, but he really was taking a lot of pride in doing that, and then he went down. It’s a tough loss.”Bobby Petrino, (Jody Demling, Sep. 3, 2018, Inside The Ville, 24/7 Sports)"

The Grantham Connection

In his interview at Florida football media days, Greenard shared a bit about his relationship with Grantham going back to his recruitment to Louisville:

“Coach Grantham recruited me … UK [Kentucky] came in the day before them [Louisiville]. He was at Louisville, he had just got there. He came in the next day and I met with him. I already knew who was because I grew up in Georgia [Grantham coached at UGA from 2010-13] and I knew what he was about,” Greenard continued, “He saw something in me that I didn’t even see. I was 200-210 pounds so I was a lot smaller…and doubted myself, but he gave me a shot.”

Greenard capped the story by demonstrating Grantham’s commitment on the recruiting trail, “I was coming out of practice from high school. I remember him driving through the parking lot. He sped and stopped right in front of my car and gave me the offer. I understood from then and there was he was about.

"“It’s still a no-brainer to this day why I’m here,” Greenard said, “I can’t thank him [Grantham] enough for taking a chance on a guy with this injury and coming to this level of play from where I was last year. It’s still good that he even thought of me.”"

Now, Florida football fans will be able to see just what all the hype is about with Greenard.

Like we said, Better Know a Gator.