HOOVER, Ala.– It has been a roller coaster ride over the past few season in Gainesville, with the Florida Gators experiencing the high’s and low’s of an SEC football season. There have been plenty of things to be concerned about, whether it has been losses, injuries, and most recently coaching changes.
In is new head coach Jim McElwain and out is Will Muschamp. With that, brings new coaches into the building at Florida.
Standout cornerback Vernon Hargraves has seen what can happen in the coaches’ life, through his dad Vernon Hargraves Jr. It is the life that the third has seen his entire life.
Hargraves veteran leadership was relied upon at the end of the 2014 season.
“My dad’s been a coach my whole life and I understand how coaching works,” Hargraves said. “Coaches get fired and coaches get hired. My job was to sit down with guys who were having a hard time with that and break it down to them that’s just how coaching works.”
Now the McElwain regime begins in ‘The Swamp’ and with that a new culture. The team goes from a defensive minded coach in Muschamp, to their new head coach with an offensive background.
It is no secret that offensive struggles have been en vogue for the Gators over the past few seasons. In fact, they were 104th in the nation for passing yardage last season with an average of 179.9 a game.
The year prior, the Gators were tied for 112th nationally in scoring with 18.8 points per game.
Even with all this being the case and the offensive minded head coach taking over the program. McElwain says they’re not going to re-invent the wheel on that side of the ball.
“It’s going to be something of a building in progress a little bit,” McElwain said. “At the same time, it’s up to us to be able to get the ball into those explosive playmakers to give them a chance to make some plays for us to put some points on the board.”
That will be up to the eventual starting quarterback for the Gators this season. That who, is still a mystery between redshirt freshman Will Grier and sophomore Treon Harris.
Sophomore slot receiver Brandon Powell is one of those players who will be trying to make plays this season for the Gator offense. He also gives an insight to how those quarterbacks are leading this summer.
“If we drop a ball or run a bad route they both get on us,” Powell said, “They’ve both taken leadership and they know that this job is up in the air. They’re both competing with each other, but they’re both not talking bad about each other. They’re both still pushing everybody to do their job and get their extra work in. They’re both doing a good job.”
The defensive side of the ball is the more experienced of the groups on this Gator team. They return seven starters from last year’s unit that finished 15th nationally in total defense.
One of those returners is defensive end Jonathan Bullard. The senior defensive lineman finished last season with eight and a half tackles for a loss with 12 quarterback hurries.
The NFL was a real possibility for him. However, Bullard still saw improvements that needed to be made on this level.
“Pass rush,” Bullard said. “I would label myself as a good run defender. As far as pass rush, I’ve never been a high number sack guy. That’s kind of what the league (NFL) is becoming, so that’s something that I wrote down on my list of improvements.”
He and the rest of the defense could be helped by the arrival of former Mississippi State defensive coordinator Geoff Collins.
According to players like Vernon Hargraves III, his coaching has been well received.
“They let you play,” Hargraves said. “They trust us and they trust our athleticism. They put us in the position and trust us to make plays.”
Now comes the question of whether or not Florida can get back to the position of competiting for the SEC East, even as early as this season. If you ask Jonathan Bullard, he believes they can.
“No question,” Bullard said. “No question. I don’t see why not.”
Florida has only four returners on offense from the 2014 season and will likely have to rely on many underclassmen players to fill spots on the offensive line and in the wide receiver group.
McElwain believes that they will need to find an ‘NFL-style’ seven to eight man group of offensive lineman to play this season. When it comes to outside expectations, Brandon Powell believes it’s as simple as just “doing your job.”
Florida Predicted finish in the SEC EAST: 4th
HOOVER, Ala.– It has been a roller coaster ride over the past few season in Gainesville, with the Florida Gators experiencing the high’s and low’s of an SEC football season. There have been plenty of things to be concerned about, whether it has been losses, injuries, and most recently coaching changes.
In is new head coach Jim McElwain and out is Will Muschamp. With that, brings new coaches into the building at Florida.
Standout cornerback Vernon Hargraves has seen what can happen in the coaches’ life, through his dad Vernon Hargraves Jr. It is the life that the third has seen his entire life.
Hargraves veteran leadership was relied upon at the end of the 2014 season.
“My dad’s been a coach my whole life and I understand how coaching works,” Hargraves said. “Coaches get fired and coaches get hired. My job was to sit down with guys who were having a hard time with that and break it down to them that’s just how coaching works.”
Now the McElwain regime begins in ‘The Swamp’ and with that a new culture. The team goes from a defensive minded coach in Muschamp, to their new head coach with an offensive background.
It is no secret that offensive struggles have been en vogue for the Gators over the past few seasons. In fact, they were 104th in the nation for passing yardage last season with an average of 179.9 a game.
The year prior, the Gators were tied for 112th nationally in scoring with 18.8 points per game.
Even with all this being the case and the offensive minded head coach taking over the program. McElwain says they’re not going to re-invent the wheel on that side of the ball.
“It’s going to be something of a building in progress a little bit,” McElwain said. “At the same time, it’s up to us to be able to get the ball into those explosive playmakers to give them a chance to make some plays for us to put some points on the board.”
That will be up to the eventual starting quarterback for the Gators this season. That who, is still a mystery between redshirt freshman Will Grier and sophomore Treon Harris.
Sophomore slot receiver Brandon Powell is one of those players who will be trying to make plays this season for the Gator offense. He also gives an insight to how those quarterbacks are leading this summer.
“If we drop a ball or run a bad route they both get on us,” Powell said, “They’ve both taken leadership and they know that this job is up in the air. They’re both competing with each other, but they’re both not talking bad about each other. They’re both still pushing everybody to do their job and get their extra work in. They’re both doing a good job.”
The defensive side of the ball is the more experienced of the groups on this Gator team. They return seven starters from last year’s unit that finished 15th nationally in total defense.
One of those returners is defensive end Jonathan Bullard. The senior defensive lineman finished last season with eight and a half tackles for a loss with 12 quarterback hurries.
The NFL was a real possibility for him. However, Bullard still saw improvements that needed to be made on this level.
“Pass rush,” Bullard said. “I would label myself as a good run defender. As far as pass rush, I’ve never been a high number sack guy. That’s kind of what the league (NFL) is becoming, so that’s something that I wrote down on my list of improvements.”
He and the rest of the defense could be helped by the arrival of former Mississippi State defensive coordinator Geoff Collins.
According to players like Vernon Hargraves III, his coaching has been well received.
“They let you play,” Hargraves said. “They trust us and they trust our athleticism. They put us in the position and trust us to make plays.”
Now comes the question of whether or not Florida can get back to the position of competiting for the SEC East, even as early as this season. If you ask Jonathan Bullard, he believes they can.
“No question,” Bullard said. “No question. I don’t see why not.”
Florida has only four returners on offense from the 2014 season and will likely have to rely on many underclassmen players to fill spots on the offensive line and in the wide receiver group.
McElwain believes that they will need to find an ‘NFL-style’ seven to eight man group of offensive lineman to play this season. When it comes to outside expectations, Brandon Powell believes it’s as simple as just “doing your job.”
Florida Predicted finish in the SEC EAST: 4th
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