travisduncan
Gator Fan
The Gators began Spring Practice on Wednesday and it's clear coach Will Muschamp is looking at attitude over of talent-at least at this point.
The coaching staff also released their first depth chart, which Muschamp said does not include guys who did not fully complete the offseason training program to this point, even if it was because of injury.
Incumbent John Brantley is slated in the first spot at QB, but offensive coordinator Charlie Weis says he not guaranteed as the starting quarterback.
Weis admits that Brantley is a good fit for his "pro-style" offense, but added, "Now, that doesn't guarantee him a spot, but it gives him an upper hand with the experience that he has now fitting into an offense that fits what he does. I think that gives him a pretty good chance."
Muschamp announced that Brantley, Tyler Murphy and true freshman Jeff Driskel will split reps this spring, but "all guys will have reps with all groups."
It sounds like it's Brantley's job to lose, unless Driskel or Murphy blow the coaching staff away.
-In the media session which followed spring's first practice, Muschamp emphasized, regardless of the question posed, that he's looking for football players who play hard and adapt quickly to the new schemes which are being implemented.
Muschamp said, "We do believe in the theory of throwing a lot at them and finding who can learn who can adjust, how long does that takes, who can make adjustments on the run...We able to throw a lot at them and see who is able to retain and handle the information."
The new Gator coach says he's doing a lot of teaching, and implementing the new offense, defense and special teams schemes.
"I like spring because you able to really develop and teach, you don't have the pressure to get ready for a game," he said.
-In terms of the depth chart, Muschamp said that players who did not fully participate up to this point in the offseason point, even because of injury "don't deserve to be on the 2-deep".
"Injuries are a part of the game, but it's also about our evaluation," he said.
Depth Chart: (F-represents a slot receiver or tight end, and the number indicates how many backs and tight end/slot receivers are on the field, 11 means one back and one tight end/slot receiver and 3 wideouts for example)
QB – 1: John Brantley, 2: Jeff Driskel/Tyler Murphy
HB – 1: Chris Rainey, 2: Mack Brown/Mike Gillislee
X – 1: Frankie Hammond, 2: Stephen Alli/Quinton Dunbar
Z – 1: Omarius Hines, 2: Andre Debose
F-11 – 1: Deonte Thompson, 2: Robert Clark/Solomon Patton
F-12 – 1: Michael McFarland, 2: Josh Postell
F-21 – 1: Trey Burton
TE – 1: Jordan Reed, 2: A.C. Leonard
LT – 1: Chaz Green, 2: Kyle Koehne
LG – 1: Jonotthan Harrison, 2: Cole Gilliam
C – 1: Sam Robey, 2: Nick Alajajian
RG – 1: Jon Halapio, 2: William Steinmann
RT – 1: Xavier Nixon, 2: Ian Silberman
Defense
DT – 1: Dominique Easley, 2: Leon Orr
DT – 1: Sharrif Floyd, 2: Earl Okine
DE – 1: William Green, 2: Clay Burton/Chris Martin
DE/LB – 1: Ronald Powell, 2: Lerentee McCray/Lynden Trail
WLB – 1: Jelani Jenkins, 2: Dee Finley/Darrin Kitchens
MLB – 1: Jon Bostic, 2: Michael Taylor
SLB – 1: Gerald Christian, 2: Gideon Ajagbe
CB – 1: Jeremy Brown, 2: Cody Riggs
CB – 1: Moses Jenkins, 2: De’Ante Saunders
SS – 1: Matt Elam, 2: Josh Shaw
FS – 1: Josh Evans, 2: Tim Clark
Special Teams
KR – 1: Andre Debose, 2: Solomon Patton
PR – 1: Chris Rainey, 2: Frankie Hammond
K – 1: Caleb Sturgis, 2: Brad Phillips
P – 1: Kyle Christy, 2: Dave Lerner
LS – 1: Christopher Guido, 2: Drew Ferris
-Spring Practice runs from now until Sat., April 9 concluding wit the the spring game that day.
-Statues of the three Heisman winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996) and Tim Tebow (2007) will be unveiled at halftime of the spring game.
-Regarding Tuesday's Pro Day, The National Football Post reports, "As impressive as Florida center-guard Mike Pouncey was at the Gators' Pro Day workout, eyebrows were raised again by the pedestrian speed of safety Ahmad Black."
Rob Rang of CBS Sports reports, "Pouncey was the unquestioned center attraction at the event, as numerous offensive line coaches attended the event, as well as general managers (Jacksonville's Gene Smith) and head coaches (New England's Bill Belichick). The Jaguars' Andy Heck, Bears' Mike Tice, and Steelers' Sean Kugler were among the offensive line coaches in attendance.
The NCAA Tournament begins
-It's hard not to look ahead to either UCLA/Michigan State on Saturday once the Gators, and they should, defeat UC-Santa Barbara Thursday night in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Donovan is a classic "do not look ahead" coach in theory but all season he reiterated that the team's ultimate goal was to get good by March.
He obviously doesn't believe this team will now look ahead to UCLA or Michigan State.
"I really don't think that's going to be a problem for us. We have a group of players right now that have never, ever won an NCAA Tournament game on our team in a Florida Gator uniform. So we understand what a challenge Santa Barbara is going to be tomorrow. I don't think those guys are even thinking about anything else but Santa Barbara right now," he said Wednesday.
-Against UCSB, look for the Gators to pound the post and drive, and general beat the Gauchos off the dribble. If they execute they should have this game in hand early in the second half.
The Gauchos likely will use a match-up zone in this game, which if it works to any degree at all could be a template for either MSU or UCLA on Saturday.
UCSB's style is the half-court which Florida should have no problem matching up against. One player to watch is Orlando Johnson, a 6-foot-7 junior forward who can create his own offense. He set the school's single-season scoring record in 2010.
I still think the Gators have a doable path to Houston. It's funny that as we get closer to the tournament beginning the less we care about post season records and more about what a team is able to do under pressure. That could make either a UCLA or a Michigan State team look all the more daunting. In reality the Gators have enough talent in the starting five where not every player needs to have a stellar performance to win even against some of the teams they will see early on, like MSU or UCLA.
A lot of people will say that this team's future rests with the play of both Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker. I think guard play is always important, but those two don't need to "go off" so to speak to win, there's help.
The Gators play hard defensively but sometimes wing players that can drive and shoot present problems ( a la Kentucky).
UCLA has three wings who could pose a threat, Malcom Lee, Lazeric Jones and Tyler Honeycutt.
Michigan State features senior Durrell Summers who can attack from the perimeter and on the drive, as well as junior Draymond Green.
The Gators will always play hard defensively, offensively is where some teams can find a rut, that shouldn't be the case for Florida. With Walker, Boynton, Chandler Parsons, Alex Tyus and Vernon Macklin there should be plenty of scoring.
The coaching staff also released their first depth chart, which Muschamp said does not include guys who did not fully complete the offseason training program to this point, even if it was because of injury.
Incumbent John Brantley is slated in the first spot at QB, but offensive coordinator Charlie Weis says he not guaranteed as the starting quarterback.
Weis admits that Brantley is a good fit for his "pro-style" offense, but added, "Now, that doesn't guarantee him a spot, but it gives him an upper hand with the experience that he has now fitting into an offense that fits what he does. I think that gives him a pretty good chance."
Muschamp announced that Brantley, Tyler Murphy and true freshman Jeff Driskel will split reps this spring, but "all guys will have reps with all groups."
It sounds like it's Brantley's job to lose, unless Driskel or Murphy blow the coaching staff away.
-In the media session which followed spring's first practice, Muschamp emphasized, regardless of the question posed, that he's looking for football players who play hard and adapt quickly to the new schemes which are being implemented.
Muschamp said, "We do believe in the theory of throwing a lot at them and finding who can learn who can adjust, how long does that takes, who can make adjustments on the run...We able to throw a lot at them and see who is able to retain and handle the information."
The new Gator coach says he's doing a lot of teaching, and implementing the new offense, defense and special teams schemes.
"I like spring because you able to really develop and teach, you don't have the pressure to get ready for a game," he said.
-In terms of the depth chart, Muschamp said that players who did not fully participate up to this point in the offseason point, even because of injury "don't deserve to be on the 2-deep".
"Injuries are a part of the game, but it's also about our evaluation," he said.
Depth Chart: (F-represents a slot receiver or tight end, and the number indicates how many backs and tight end/slot receivers are on the field, 11 means one back and one tight end/slot receiver and 3 wideouts for example)
QB – 1: John Brantley, 2: Jeff Driskel/Tyler Murphy
HB – 1: Chris Rainey, 2: Mack Brown/Mike Gillislee
X – 1: Frankie Hammond, 2: Stephen Alli/Quinton Dunbar
Z – 1: Omarius Hines, 2: Andre Debose
F-11 – 1: Deonte Thompson, 2: Robert Clark/Solomon Patton
F-12 – 1: Michael McFarland, 2: Josh Postell
F-21 – 1: Trey Burton
TE – 1: Jordan Reed, 2: A.C. Leonard
LT – 1: Chaz Green, 2: Kyle Koehne
LG – 1: Jonotthan Harrison, 2: Cole Gilliam
C – 1: Sam Robey, 2: Nick Alajajian
RG – 1: Jon Halapio, 2: William Steinmann
RT – 1: Xavier Nixon, 2: Ian Silberman
Defense
DT – 1: Dominique Easley, 2: Leon Orr
DT – 1: Sharrif Floyd, 2: Earl Okine
DE – 1: William Green, 2: Clay Burton/Chris Martin
DE/LB – 1: Ronald Powell, 2: Lerentee McCray/Lynden Trail
WLB – 1: Jelani Jenkins, 2: Dee Finley/Darrin Kitchens
MLB – 1: Jon Bostic, 2: Michael Taylor
SLB – 1: Gerald Christian, 2: Gideon Ajagbe
CB – 1: Jeremy Brown, 2: Cody Riggs
CB – 1: Moses Jenkins, 2: De’Ante Saunders
SS – 1: Matt Elam, 2: Josh Shaw
FS – 1: Josh Evans, 2: Tim Clark
Special Teams
KR – 1: Andre Debose, 2: Solomon Patton
PR – 1: Chris Rainey, 2: Frankie Hammond
K – 1: Caleb Sturgis, 2: Brad Phillips
P – 1: Kyle Christy, 2: Dave Lerner
LS – 1: Christopher Guido, 2: Drew Ferris
-Spring Practice runs from now until Sat., April 9 concluding wit the the spring game that day.
-Statues of the three Heisman winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996) and Tim Tebow (2007) will be unveiled at halftime of the spring game.
-Regarding Tuesday's Pro Day, The National Football Post reports, "As impressive as Florida center-guard Mike Pouncey was at the Gators' Pro Day workout, eyebrows were raised again by the pedestrian speed of safety Ahmad Black."
Rob Rang of CBS Sports reports, "Pouncey was the unquestioned center attraction at the event, as numerous offensive line coaches attended the event, as well as general managers (Jacksonville's Gene Smith) and head coaches (New England's Bill Belichick). The Jaguars' Andy Heck, Bears' Mike Tice, and Steelers' Sean Kugler were among the offensive line coaches in attendance.
The NCAA Tournament begins
-It's hard not to look ahead to either UCLA/Michigan State on Saturday once the Gators, and they should, defeat UC-Santa Barbara Thursday night in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Donovan is a classic "do not look ahead" coach in theory but all season he reiterated that the team's ultimate goal was to get good by March.
He obviously doesn't believe this team will now look ahead to UCLA or Michigan State.
"I really don't think that's going to be a problem for us. We have a group of players right now that have never, ever won an NCAA Tournament game on our team in a Florida Gator uniform. So we understand what a challenge Santa Barbara is going to be tomorrow. I don't think those guys are even thinking about anything else but Santa Barbara right now," he said Wednesday.
-Against UCSB, look for the Gators to pound the post and drive, and general beat the Gauchos off the dribble. If they execute they should have this game in hand early in the second half.
The Gauchos likely will use a match-up zone in this game, which if it works to any degree at all could be a template for either MSU or UCLA on Saturday.
UCSB's style is the half-court which Florida should have no problem matching up against. One player to watch is Orlando Johnson, a 6-foot-7 junior forward who can create his own offense. He set the school's single-season scoring record in 2010.
I still think the Gators have a doable path to Houston. It's funny that as we get closer to the tournament beginning the less we care about post season records and more about what a team is able to do under pressure. That could make either a UCLA or a Michigan State team look all the more daunting. In reality the Gators have enough talent in the starting five where not every player needs to have a stellar performance to win even against some of the teams they will see early on, like MSU or UCLA.
A lot of people will say that this team's future rests with the play of both Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker. I think guard play is always important, but those two don't need to "go off" so to speak to win, there's help.
The Gators play hard defensively but sometimes wing players that can drive and shoot present problems ( a la Kentucky).
UCLA has three wings who could pose a threat, Malcom Lee, Lazeric Jones and Tyler Honeycutt.
Michigan State features senior Durrell Summers who can attack from the perimeter and on the drive, as well as junior Draymond Green.
The Gators will always play hard defensively, offensively is where some teams can find a rut, that shouldn't be the case for Florida. With Walker, Boynton, Chandler Parsons, Alex Tyus and Vernon Macklin there should be plenty of scoring.
