Spring Practice info: another spring in the books for UF football

How would you rate Gatorchatter?

  • A

  • B

  • C

  • D

  • F


Results are only viewable after voting.

BMF

Bad Mother....
Lifetime Member
Sep 8, 2014
25,399
59,220
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/f...unces-start-spring-practice-will-open-public/

http://floridagators.com/news/2018/...pring-practices-on-march-16-17-to-public.aspx


Florida announces start of spring practice will be open to the public

Gators fans eager to see the start of the Dan Mullen era in Gainesville won’t have to wait very long.

Florida announced Monday that the first two practices of spring football would be open to the public. Spring football is scheduled to start in Gainesville on Friday, March 16. The team will also hold a practice on Saturday, March 17. Both practices will be open to fans at Sanders Practice Fields.

No start time has been announced for either practice.

In mid-March, fans can watch the first two practices as Mullen continues to implement the "Gator Standard" with his team.

Complete Spring Practice Schedule:
  • March 16
    • Open to Public
  • March 17
    • Open to Public
  • March 20
  • March 21
  • March 22
  • March 24
  • March 26
  • March 28
    • Pro Day
  • March 30
  • April 3
  • April 6
  • April 7
  • April 9
  • April 10
  • April 12
  • April 13
  • April 14
 

BMF

Bad Mother....
Lifetime Member
Sep 8, 2014
25,399
59,220
UF coaches must identify what QBs can do to build offense
Florida's coaches have watched film of the players they're inheriting, but they won't really know what they can do offensively until they see the quarterbacks play live.

https://florida.247sports.com/Bolt/...fy-what-QBs-can-do-to-build-offense-115309071

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- A month out from spring practice, new Florida coach Dan Mullen and his staff likely have some idea how things will shake out on the field. They've studied film of the players they're inheriting and have seen some of what they can do.

The truth, though, is that they won't really know until the footballs start flying when spring practice begins.

Florida's offensive staff has gone through some serious changes before in the past. Mullen and his cohorts have worked together extensively, and they know their current vision for the offense may shift as they see in practice what players can actually do.

"We changed drastically from Utah to here after about Week 5," offensive line coach John Hevesy said. "It starts and is premised off the quarterback. That’s what the offense is always based on, what can they do? When we had Chris (Leak) here, and we came from what Alex (Smith) can do.

"OK, at Utah to here, OK, this is our offense. We felt high and mighty leaving Utah, ‘Hey, we’re scoring the most points, most yards, all these other statistics.’ There's not the same kid running the offense. So, how do we have to tweak it?"

Quarterback has obviously been a major issue for Florida in the past nine years.

The Gators haven't had good, consistent play at that position and it has crippled the offense. There are some options on the roster, but nobody has proven themselves at this level.

The good news is Mullen's system has proven adaptable to several different styles of quarterback. And the Gators definitely have several with different skill sets.

"We’ve been through different quarterbacks," Hevesy said. "Some can run, some couldn’t run. Some didn’t like to run. Some couldn’t throw. The offense is going to adapt and change for our success. We are hard-headed in a lot of ways, but not hard-headed to let’s stick that square peg in a round hole and keep doing it because this is what we’ve done for years. We always have to evolve in this game. What can we do?"

Feleipe Franks is the only quarterback who has taken a college snap on the roster, going 125-229 passing for 1,438 yards and nine touchdowns with eight interceptions.

He's got a cannon of an arm, but he struggled with decision-making at times in 2017. He'll have a battle on his hands with freshman Emory Jones come spring.

But the coaches are ready to give everyone a fresh start as they find out what they're working with.

"Now, we’ve got Feleipe and you have the quarterbacks," Hevesy said. "What can Feleipe do? We have to tweak the offense so we’re successful on the field offensively, but what he can do? That’s what we have to find out."
 

BMF

Bad Mother....
Lifetime Member
Sep 8, 2014
25,399
59,220
Multiple Florida players could change positions in 2018

https://www.seccountry.com/florida/florida-player-position-changes

The most notable name is CeCe Jefferson, who decided to return for his senior season after considering an early jump to the NFL.

The former 5-star recruit played defensive end and tackle under the previous Florida staff, but this year he will play some outside linebacker for new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham in his 3-4 scheme. Returning defensive ends Antonneous Clayton and Jabari Zuniga also could get some reps in that role.

Elijah Conliffe saw action last season as a reserve defensive tackle, but his playing time could increase in Grantham’s defense. The 6-foot-4, 317-pound pass rusher has the perfect frame to be a 3-4 end, but needs to shed some weight this spring.

Shawn Davis, Brian Edwards, Chauncey Gardner and Brad Stewart played safety last season, but all four of them were recruited to Florida as cornerbacks. With numbers being low at that position, one or two returning safeties may move to corner this year.

Like Jefferson, Martez Ivey also came back for his final year and hopes to improve his draft stock in 2018. Ivey started the first nine games last year at left tackle and the final two contests of the season at left guard. Where Ivey plays this fall remains to be seen, but he will anchor Florida’s offensive line as a senior.

Kadarius Toney made an immediate impact as a freshman and has a chance to thrive as a slot receiver in Dan Mullen’s spread offense. However, the former high school quarterback also could see some action behind center in a wildcat package.
 

Swamp Donkey

Founding Member
7-14 vs P5 Fire Stricklin First
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
78,161
109,975
Founding Member
Multiple Florida players could change positions in 2018

https://www.seccountry.com/florida/florida-player-position-changes

The most notable name is CeCe Jefferson, who decided to return for his senior season after considering an early jump to the NFL.

The former 5-star recruit played defensive end and tackle under the previous Florida staff, but this year he will play some outside linebacker for new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham in his 3-4 scheme. Returning defensive ends Antonneous Clayton and Jabari Zuniga also could get some reps in that role.

Elijah Conliffe saw action last season as a reserve defensive tackle, but his playing time could increase in Grantham’s defense. The 6-foot-4, 317-pound pass rusher has the perfect frame to be a 3-4 end, but needs to shed some weight this spring.

Shawn Davis, Brian Edwards, Chauncey Gardner and Brad Stewart played safety last season, but all four of them were recruited to Florida as cornerbacks. With numbers being low at that position, one or two returning safeties may move to corner this year.

Like Jefferson, Martez Ivey also came back for his final year and hopes to improve his draft stock in 2018. Ivey started the first nine games last year at left tackle and the final two contests of the season at left guard. Where Ivey plays this fall remains to be seen, but he will anchor Florida’s offensive line as a senior.

Kadarius Toney made an immediate impact as a freshman and has a chance to thrive as a slot receiver in Dan Mullen’s spread offense. However, the former high school quarterback also could see some action behind center in a wildcat package.
Yeah... I think most people with a slight amount of sense were calling for most of these things last year.
 

BMF

Bad Mother....
Lifetime Member
Sep 8, 2014
25,399
59,220
Yeah... I think most people with a slight amount of sense were calling for most of these things last year.

Yes, pretty Captain Obvious....but I really wish they'd contact you about "failed WR's" so we can add a few more DBs!! :D
 

lizardbreath

Well-Known Member
Nov 5, 2016
3,341
6,323
It will be interesting, to say the least, to see what some of these guys can do now that they're no longer being put in a position to fail by arguably the worst coach in UF history.
 

Swamp Donkey

Founding Member
7-14 vs P5 Fire Stricklin First
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
78,161
109,975
Founding Member
put in a position to fail by arguably the worst coach in UF history.
Well, my memory only.goes back to the 90s. At least in the modern era, youd have a rough time arguing someone else.

Zook had more losses per season, but he also had two top 10 teams in the east, had a top 20 offense and a mediocre defense. Chimp despised offense and scoring but his defense was ok, not elite , but good I guess. Butterteeth produced even less offense and a terrible defense. ItIis hard to argue that he did anything well.
 

GatorJ

Founding Member
Hopeful
Moderator
Jun 11, 2014
20,998
33,555
Founding Member
Well, my memory only.goes back to the 90s. At least in the modern era, youd have a rough time arguing someone else.

Zook had more losses per season, but he also had two top 10 teams in the east, had a top 20 offense and a mediocre defense. Chimp despised offense and scoring but his defense was ok, not elite , but good I guess. Butterteeth produced even less offense and a terrible defense. ItIis hard to argue that he did anything well.

That 2012 defense was elite.

But I hated that DBs and 240lb DEs became the crux of his defense after that.
 

soflagator

Senior Member
Lifetime Member
Sep 4, 2014
21,135
78,740
That 2012 defense was elite.

But I hated that DBs and 240lb DEs became the crux of his defense after that.

It was a great defense. But teams rarely felt they needed to take chances because our offense was so nonexistent for the most part. That was largely the theme of WM’s tenure here.

Plus, while he was the DC and coach, it was littered with Meyer’s ‘09 and ‘10 insane classes of defensive talent. To me, the fact that he never recaptured the success of that season really waters down his role in it.

As you said, after that we never had guys like Floyd, Easley, Hunter, Orr, etc. it was all Fowlers and McCallisters.
 

BMF

Bad Mother....
Lifetime Member
Sep 8, 2014
25,399
59,220
It was a great defense. But teams rarely felt they needed to take chances because our offense was so nonexistent for the most part. That was largely the theme of WM’s tenure here.

Plus, while he was the DC and coach, it was littered with Meyer’s ‘09 and ‘10 insane classes of defensive talent. To me, the fact that he never recaptured the success of that season really waters down his role in it.

As you said, after that we never had guys like Floyd, Easley, Hunter, Orr, etc. it was all Fowlers and McCallisters.

That was pretty much it....similar to Butters tenure. Once a team got to 20 that was it. Sit on the ball, play conservative....and wait for our O to (continue) to sh*t the bed. No offense leads to the other team having to play limited offense. Often times, our O would give that other team a short field - even a "great" defense is going to give up some points here and there. I'd rather see us have a more productive offense (one capable of scoring 24-30ppg vs. most SEC teams) and have our D finish ranked lower due to the other team being forced to move the ball and try to score.

What a miserable 8 years of Gator Football. The "Lost Decade of Gator Football" is almost complete. If Mullen can't get this turned around in his first season, it will truly be 'the lost decade'. And there are people who still jerk off Foley like he's some once in a lifetime administrator....
 

Swamp Donkey

Founding Member
7-14 vs P5 Fire Stricklin First
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
78,161
109,975
Founding Member
the fact that he never recaptured the success of that season .
Im struggling to recall any success of that season. That he almost scored vs Ugly? That he got blown the fvkk out by a Big East team. That he scored two tds vs TAM and LSU using the goalline offense and 7 offensive linemen?

Where is the success?

That was a down year, a "maybe we will compete for championships next year" sort of season.

Of course, the other last eight years of the Fooley Era were of the fire those idiots on the spot variety.
 

Gator Fever

Founding Member
Senior Member
Jun 13, 2014
25,242
10,084
Founding Member
I think Clayton gets his weight up to at least 270 and becomes a force at DE. He looked about as good as some of our other DEs in the spring game last year. I think he will be one of the breakout players this year.
 

soflagator

Senior Member
Lifetime Member
Sep 4, 2014
21,135
78,740
Im struggling to recall any success of that season. That he almost scored vs Ugly? That he got blown the fvkk out by a Big East team. That he scored two tds vs TAM and LSU using the goalline offense and 7 offensive linemen?

Where is the success?

That was a down year, a "maybe we will compete for championships next year" sort of season.

Of course, the other last eight years of the Fooley Era were of the fire those idiots on the spot variety.

Well, we're talking defense only. Also, success is very subjective. His defenses were never as good as they were that season.
 

Swamp Donkey

Founding Member
7-14 vs P5 Fire Stricklin First
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
78,161
109,975
Founding Member
I think Clayton gets his weight up to at least 270 and becomes a force at DE. He looked about as good as some of our other DEs in the spring game last year. I think he will be one of the breakout players this year.
No offense, but just about anyone looks great against Martez Ivey.
 

Gator Fever

Founding Member
Senior Member
Jun 13, 2014
25,242
10,084
Founding Member
No offense, but just about anyone looks great against Martez Ivey.

It was Taylor he was giving fits. Taylor struggles some with the faster DEs. Not sure if he went against Ivey much in that spring game.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Help Users

You haven't joined any rooms.