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2018 Off-Season Updates and Previews
Posted on 3/14/18 at 1:22 pm
Posted on 3/14/18 at 1:22 pm
For the Quarterback battle: Don't listen to anyone, no one knows anything at this point. Mullen has said repeatedly that they're starting from zero and that experience is not being factored in. They're, technically, all new to this system.
Watkins/Dean are officially Cornerbacks.
Gardner-Johnson will stay at Safety and looks JACKED.
Toney is officially a WR.
Percy Harvin is semi-officially on the staff and is working with a lot of the players.
Dan Mullen is building his house in Gainesville.
Taggart tweeted a Kodak Black song to try to look hip, but apparently didn't know that Mr. Black is a massive Gator fan.
Completely different feel to the team from multiple sources -- including recruits for 2019 who say everything is different.
Heggie OUT for Spring Ball.
Keivonnis Davis is officially back with the team after being suspended for CC Fraud but is recovering from a scooter injury.
Malik Davis will also miss Spring ball but both he and Keivonnis are expected to be back for Fall.
I will keep updating this as I see fit/when I can.
Watkins/Dean are officially Cornerbacks.
Gardner-Johnson will stay at Safety and looks JACKED.
Toney is officially a WR.
Percy Harvin is semi-officially on the staff and is working with a lot of the players.
Dan Mullen is building his house in Gainesville.
Taggart tweeted a Kodak Black song to try to look hip, but apparently didn't know that Mr. Black is a massive Gator fan.
Completely different feel to the team from multiple sources -- including recruits for 2019 who say everything is different.
Heggie OUT for Spring Ball.
Keivonnis Davis is officially back with the team after being suspended for CC Fraud but is recovering from a scooter injury.
Malik Davis will also miss Spring ball but both he and Keivonnis are expected to be back for Fall.
I will keep updating this as I see fit/when I can.
This post was edited on 4/16/18 at 3:10 pm
4
Posted on 3/14/18 at 4:37 pm to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
if you keep this going, i might just sticky it. 
Posted on 3/14/18 at 5:40 pm to finchmeister08
Stickied. This cannot start soon enough.
Posted on 3/14/18 at 8:22 pm to gatordmb89
If I wasn't so busy/lazy I would have posted the link to Mullens presser yesterday...he really looks energized and in great spirits...I likey.
Posted on 3/14/18 at 11:18 pm to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
quote:
Completely different feel to the team from multiple sources -- including recruits for 2019 who say everything is different.
I pray this is true, but it gets said about every single team (that didn't win the title) every single year. I guarantee there will be an article about UGA this off-season "totally different team, much hungrier, more focused, it's all business, just making it isn't good enough have to finish the job blah blah blah".
Makes me want to ask the beat writers, hey, why the frick weren't y'all talking about how sullen and weak the team looked last year, huh? If the team is noticeably better, doesn't that mean they were noticeably worse last year? The same year you tried to convince us we were going to beat the brakes off everyone?
Posted on 3/15/18 at 1:39 pm to Muthsera
It's not so much the writers as it is big time recruits who are taking unofficials to Florida -- guys McElwain never even had on the radar. Mullen seems to be trying to build a California pipeline and that's not even to start on what Coach Savage is doing. Read the players' tweets, read what other recruits are saying and read what some of our beat writers/journalists/students are saying. I understand that it might sound like football doubletalk, but you can clearly see from top tier interest that something has changed.
Posted on 3/15/18 at 9:28 pm to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
I’ll be at open practices tomorrow and Saturday.
Will share anything we get to see that’s worthy
Will share anything we get to see that’s worthy
Posted on 3/16/18 at 9:16 am to atlgator
Posted on 3/16/18 at 10:29 am to finchmeister08
S&C Coach, 2nd most important coach. Love that we have gone back to Meyer’s way of competing in everything. There’s a winner and loser in everything. That sets a great standard in S&C iyam.
Posted on 3/16/18 at 11:27 am to gatordmb89
Yeah I am pretty pumped about that myself.
Posted on 3/16/18 at 3:19 pm to olemc999
Posted on 3/16/18 at 4:19 pm to finchmeister08
Savage sounds like a drill instructor.
Posted on 3/16/18 at 4:44 pm to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
Van Jefferson is getting a ton of hype.
Posted on 3/17/18 at 8:58 am to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
Florida football: Observations from Gators first spring practice
March 16, 2018
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Dan Mullen era officially began Friday with the start of spring football.
The Gators opened the first two practices to the public and more than 400 fans turned out for opening day. Here are SEC Country’s observations from the first practice:
Feleipe Franks ran with the first-team offense throughout the day and was the sharpest quarterback of the group. He made accurate throws and looked comfortable running the offense. During the skeleton passing drill, Franks threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver transfer Van Jefferson, drawing a ton of cheers from the crowd.
Kyle Trask (No. 2), Jake Allen (No. 3) and Emory Jones (No. 4) received reps in that order. Trask had a solid turn during 11-on-11 work and received an applause from the fans as he came off the field. Allen and Jones struggled some with their accuracy. On a designed QB run, Jones put a nasty juke move on linebacker Vosean Joseph. He also had some fumble exchanges with the running backs.
Florida running back Jordan Scarlett practiced for the first time since fall camp after missing all of last season due to suspension. He slipped a couple times in the backfield, but otherwise looked impressive in his return to the starting lineup.
Gators running back coach Greg Knox made his presence known throughout practice. He is the loudest coach on the field and does not let anything slide with the players, stressing ball security and pad level on Friday. He jumped all over Adarius Lemons for fumbling and later chased down Iverson Clement and Lamical Perine during their long runs to make sure they went all the way to the end zone.
Jefferson and Kadarius Toney stood out at receiver. Both ran with the starters and were very involved in the offense. Jefferson caught everything that came his way and looked like a seasoned SEC wideout, while Toney ran a couple reverses and made several grabs across the middle.
Florida’s starting offensive line: Martez Ivey (LT), Tyler Jordan (LG), T.J. McCoy (C), Fred Johnson (RG) and Jawaan Taylor (RT). Second-team offensive line: Jean DeLance (LT), Kavaris Harkless (LG), Nick Buchanan (C), T.J. Moore (RG) and Stone Forsythe (RT).
Florida’s starting defensive line: Jabari Zuniga (DE), Khairi Clark (NT) and Luke Ancrum (DE) with CeCe Jefferson at outside linebacker. Second-team defensive line: Zach Carter (DE), T.J. Slaton (NT) and Elijah Conliffe (DE) with Jachai Polite at outside linebacker.
During 11-on-11 work, Florida’s backup O-line got dominated by Carter, Conliffe, Slaton and Polite off the edge. Jones was in at quarterback at the time and he had no chance to throw or run against that group.
Early enrollee Amari Burney made a pair of interceptions and looked good repping at safety. Linebacker Vosean Joseph and cornerback C.J. Henderson also came down with picks, while cornerbacks Trey Dean, Brian Edwards and Marco Wilson all had pass breakups.
Edwards played safety last season, but is now working with the corners. C.J. McWilliams has moved from cornerback to safety/nickel. Chauncey Gardner started at nickel when Florida was in that formation, with Brad Stewart and Jeawon Taylor as the safeties.
March 16, 2018
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Dan Mullen era officially began Friday with the start of spring football.
The Gators opened the first two practices to the public and more than 400 fans turned out for opening day. Here are SEC Country’s observations from the first practice:
Feleipe Franks ran with the first-team offense throughout the day and was the sharpest quarterback of the group. He made accurate throws and looked comfortable running the offense. During the skeleton passing drill, Franks threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver transfer Van Jefferson, drawing a ton of cheers from the crowd.
Kyle Trask (No. 2), Jake Allen (No. 3) and Emory Jones (No. 4) received reps in that order. Trask had a solid turn during 11-on-11 work and received an applause from the fans as he came off the field. Allen and Jones struggled some with their accuracy. On a designed QB run, Jones put a nasty juke move on linebacker Vosean Joseph. He also had some fumble exchanges with the running backs.
Florida running back Jordan Scarlett practiced for the first time since fall camp after missing all of last season due to suspension. He slipped a couple times in the backfield, but otherwise looked impressive in his return to the starting lineup.
Gators running back coach Greg Knox made his presence known throughout practice. He is the loudest coach on the field and does not let anything slide with the players, stressing ball security and pad level on Friday. He jumped all over Adarius Lemons for fumbling and later chased down Iverson Clement and Lamical Perine during their long runs to make sure they went all the way to the end zone.
Jefferson and Kadarius Toney stood out at receiver. Both ran with the starters and were very involved in the offense. Jefferson caught everything that came his way and looked like a seasoned SEC wideout, while Toney ran a couple reverses and made several grabs across the middle.
Florida’s starting offensive line: Martez Ivey (LT), Tyler Jordan (LG), T.J. McCoy (C), Fred Johnson (RG) and Jawaan Taylor (RT). Second-team offensive line: Jean DeLance (LT), Kavaris Harkless (LG), Nick Buchanan (C), T.J. Moore (RG) and Stone Forsythe (RT).
Florida’s starting defensive line: Jabari Zuniga (DE), Khairi Clark (NT) and Luke Ancrum (DE) with CeCe Jefferson at outside linebacker. Second-team defensive line: Zach Carter (DE), T.J. Slaton (NT) and Elijah Conliffe (DE) with Jachai Polite at outside linebacker.
During 11-on-11 work, Florida’s backup O-line got dominated by Carter, Conliffe, Slaton and Polite off the edge. Jones was in at quarterback at the time and he had no chance to throw or run against that group.
Early enrollee Amari Burney made a pair of interceptions and looked good repping at safety. Linebacker Vosean Joseph and cornerback C.J. Henderson also came down with picks, while cornerbacks Trey Dean, Brian Edwards and Marco Wilson all had pass breakups.
Edwards played safety last season, but is now working with the corners. C.J. McWilliams has moved from cornerback to safety/nickel. Chauncey Gardner started at nickel when Florida was in that formation, with Brad Stewart and Jeawon Taylor as the safeties.
Posted on 3/17/18 at 9:02 am to gatordmb89
Florida players have extra pep in their step on opening day of spring ball
By Zach Abolverdi SEC Country Staff
March 16, 2018
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — During his first game week in 2015, former Florida coach Jim McElwain criticized his team after its season opener for showing up late to a team meeting and not having their ankles taped.
That wasn’t an issue for first-year coach Dan Mullen on Friday. The Gators held their first practice of the spring and the players were anxious to get to work.
“The biggest thing that jumped out to me was today we were starting meetings at about 2:30 and at 2:25 everybody was in the meetings and ready to go,” Mullen said after practice. “That just shows me those are guys that are hungry, that love football and that really jumped out at me.
“Five minutes before a meeting — and I don’t mean guys kind of walking into a meeting. I’m standing around and I’m the only one in the hallway. I looked in the door and everyone was in all the meetings and I was like, ‘OK, I guess we can start all the meetings then.’ That excitement to be out on the field, I love.”
Quarterback Feleipe Franks, wide receivers Van Jefferson and Kadarius Toney, safety Amari Burney, cornerbacks C.J. Henderson and Marco Wilson were some of the top performers Friday, but Florida only had a couple periods of skeleton passing drills and 11-on-11 work.
RELATED: Observations from Florida’s first spring practice
Fundamentals were a big emphasis on Day 1 as the coaches look to install their schemes on offense and defense.
“That’s what spring is about. At the end of spring we’re 0-0. We don’t have to prepare for a game. There’s no game-planning,” Mullen said. “It’s not so much to me about the scheme as much as it is really learning what to do. Then we’ll learn how to do it. Then finally we’ll learn why we’re doing it within that progression.
“But to me it’s constantly working our fundamentals every single day, if we can do that. Because every day I’ve got to be a little bit better of a fundamental football player, so we’ll spend a lot of time on that. And eventually through repetition they’ll pick up the scheme. But what I want to make sure is when we do understand the scheme we have great technique and fundamentals to execute it.”
Starting linebacker David Reese is one of eight players on Florida’s leadership council and met with reporters after practice. When asked what the new staff has done to win over the players, Reese said it didn’t take much convincing.
“We want to win and they want to win also. So when you’ve got that thing in common, it’s easy to buy in,” Reese said. “I feel like everyone knows this is our time to come back, time to wake that sleeping giant. So I’m excited about that.
“I just feel like after a disappointing season like that, you’ve got to get back. We know what we’re capable of. … So we learned from our mistakes and we’re ready to give it our best shot this coming season.”
More than 400 fans were on hand Friday and the Gators should have an even bigger crowd for Saturday’s open practice, which runs from 12:20-2:50 p.m. Having spent four years at Florida (2005-08) as the offensive coordinator, Mullen had some déjà vu during his official return to the Sanders Practice Fields.
“Walking out to practice, it does kind of bring it back a little bit of being out here,” Mullen said. “It’s a little different. That used to be turf, and that used to be grass, and all the fans used to be on a hill over there. It’s great to see, too, all the people come out. To see the Gator Nation, to see their excitement and energy for the team and the program.
“We open up practice, we don’t know what to expect. To see all these people showing up here – that’s why we do it, for them. They do so much supporting us. That’s why we’re doing it again tomorrow so they can come out, maybe have some fun and watch the team.”
By Zach Abolverdi SEC Country Staff
March 16, 2018
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — During his first game week in 2015, former Florida coach Jim McElwain criticized his team after its season opener for showing up late to a team meeting and not having their ankles taped.
That wasn’t an issue for first-year coach Dan Mullen on Friday. The Gators held their first practice of the spring and the players were anxious to get to work.
“The biggest thing that jumped out to me was today we were starting meetings at about 2:30 and at 2:25 everybody was in the meetings and ready to go,” Mullen said after practice. “That just shows me those are guys that are hungry, that love football and that really jumped out at me.
“Five minutes before a meeting — and I don’t mean guys kind of walking into a meeting. I’m standing around and I’m the only one in the hallway. I looked in the door and everyone was in all the meetings and I was like, ‘OK, I guess we can start all the meetings then.’ That excitement to be out on the field, I love.”
Quarterback Feleipe Franks, wide receivers Van Jefferson and Kadarius Toney, safety Amari Burney, cornerbacks C.J. Henderson and Marco Wilson were some of the top performers Friday, but Florida only had a couple periods of skeleton passing drills and 11-on-11 work.
RELATED: Observations from Florida’s first spring practice
Fundamentals were a big emphasis on Day 1 as the coaches look to install their schemes on offense and defense.
“That’s what spring is about. At the end of spring we’re 0-0. We don’t have to prepare for a game. There’s no game-planning,” Mullen said. “It’s not so much to me about the scheme as much as it is really learning what to do. Then we’ll learn how to do it. Then finally we’ll learn why we’re doing it within that progression.
“But to me it’s constantly working our fundamentals every single day, if we can do that. Because every day I’ve got to be a little bit better of a fundamental football player, so we’ll spend a lot of time on that. And eventually through repetition they’ll pick up the scheme. But what I want to make sure is when we do understand the scheme we have great technique and fundamentals to execute it.”
Starting linebacker David Reese is one of eight players on Florida’s leadership council and met with reporters after practice. When asked what the new staff has done to win over the players, Reese said it didn’t take much convincing.
“We want to win and they want to win also. So when you’ve got that thing in common, it’s easy to buy in,” Reese said. “I feel like everyone knows this is our time to come back, time to wake that sleeping giant. So I’m excited about that.
“I just feel like after a disappointing season like that, you’ve got to get back. We know what we’re capable of. … So we learned from our mistakes and we’re ready to give it our best shot this coming season.”
More than 400 fans were on hand Friday and the Gators should have an even bigger crowd for Saturday’s open practice, which runs from 12:20-2:50 p.m. Having spent four years at Florida (2005-08) as the offensive coordinator, Mullen had some déjà vu during his official return to the Sanders Practice Fields.
“Walking out to practice, it does kind of bring it back a little bit of being out here,” Mullen said. “It’s a little different. That used to be turf, and that used to be grass, and all the fans used to be on a hill over there. It’s great to see, too, all the people come out. To see the Gator Nation, to see their excitement and energy for the team and the program.
“We open up practice, we don’t know what to expect. To see all these people showing up here – that’s why we do it, for them. They do so much supporting us. That’s why we’re doing it again tomorrow so they can come out, maybe have some fun and watch the team.”
Posted on 3/17/18 at 9:03 am to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
Franks has a cannon, was the smoothest in the footwork drills, and looked the most comfortable of the three QBs. Emory is clearly athletic but he took off scrambling as soon as he didn’t see his first guy open, had a few errant throws. He threw up on the field in the middle of running 11-on-11 drills and fought through it without coming out. You don’t realize how hard these guys are really working when you’re watching them. Trask started out solid and appeared to get tired and started making mistakes toward the end.
Van Jefferson was clearly the best receiver. Got open on nearly every route, including against Marco and Henderson. Kadarius Toney was electric, they ran a couple of reverses for him. He did have some problems with drops. Daquan Green flashed. Swain was quiet, Cleveland was quiet. Grimes was physically impressive and had a couple of nice catches, but was pretty quiet.
Dameon Pierce is a freak. Reminds me of Maurice Jones Drew. Adarius Lemons is a tall back, had some problems with not getting low enough in drills because of that height. Scarlett is ripped.
Didn’t see much defense they were on the far side field. Vosean Joseph had a pick, Amari Burney had two picks. Burney is physically impressive, was in position, and if he didn’t flash so much in coverage I could definitely see him at linebacker. I was extremely impressed with his size, speed, and instincts. He will push whoever is in front of him for playing time at whatever position they decide to put him at. Trey Dean got beat a couple of times but he’s a scrappy player. Even in shorts and t shirts he was aggressive making sure guys felt him in coverage and after they caught the ball.
Dan Mullen spent the beginning of practice sprinting to the football with the defense in a pursuit drill. He spent a lot of time working on details with quarterbacks on footwork. I liked they spent about 40 minutes working on special teams- every player on the team- at the beginning of practice. Mullen was energetic and all over the field. Greg Knox made running backs sprint to the end zone on every play. Hevesy was very loud and in your face with his coaching style.
Overall, I liked the intensity and order. Everybody knew where to go, everybody seemed to have a grasp on what they were doing. There weren’t any major breakdowns and just completely missed assignments, which was extremely encouraging for the first ever practice of Mullen’s first spring. They did 5-6 plays on offense and it seemed Mullen wanted them to run those plays perfectly. I loved the access, we were right on the field within 3 feet of the practice field. Great day, and I’ll be back with another update from today’s practice tonight or tomorrow.
Van Jefferson was clearly the best receiver. Got open on nearly every route, including against Marco and Henderson. Kadarius Toney was electric, they ran a couple of reverses for him. He did have some problems with drops. Daquan Green flashed. Swain was quiet, Cleveland was quiet. Grimes was physically impressive and had a couple of nice catches, but was pretty quiet.
Dameon Pierce is a freak. Reminds me of Maurice Jones Drew. Adarius Lemons is a tall back, had some problems with not getting low enough in drills because of that height. Scarlett is ripped.
Didn’t see much defense they were on the far side field. Vosean Joseph had a pick, Amari Burney had two picks. Burney is physically impressive, was in position, and if he didn’t flash so much in coverage I could definitely see him at linebacker. I was extremely impressed with his size, speed, and instincts. He will push whoever is in front of him for playing time at whatever position they decide to put him at. Trey Dean got beat a couple of times but he’s a scrappy player. Even in shorts and t shirts he was aggressive making sure guys felt him in coverage and after they caught the ball.
Dan Mullen spent the beginning of practice sprinting to the football with the defense in a pursuit drill. He spent a lot of time working on details with quarterbacks on footwork. I liked they spent about 40 minutes working on special teams- every player on the team- at the beginning of practice. Mullen was energetic and all over the field. Greg Knox made running backs sprint to the end zone on every play. Hevesy was very loud and in your face with his coaching style.
Overall, I liked the intensity and order. Everybody knew where to go, everybody seemed to have a grasp on what they were doing. There weren’t any major breakdowns and just completely missed assignments, which was extremely encouraging for the first ever practice of Mullen’s first spring. They did 5-6 plays on offense and it seemed Mullen wanted them to run those plays perfectly. I loved the access, we were right on the field within 3 feet of the practice field. Great day, and I’ll be back with another update from today’s practice tonight or tomorrow.
Posted on 3/17/18 at 9:05 am to atlgator
Thomas Goldkamp 56529 posts
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Percy Harvin here today, by the way. Walked in chopping it up with Gardner.
109 minutes ago
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Percy Harvin here today, by the way. Walked in chopping it up with Gardner.
Posted on 3/17/18 at 9:06 am to gatordmb89
Luke Stampini 56529 posts
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DB Trey Dean was with 2nd team D at CB.
Posted on 3/17/18 at 9:07 am to gatordmb89
Luke Stampini 56531 posts
84 minutes ago
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WR Van Jefferson was working with first team offense as w
brgators 890 posts
84 minutes ago
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WRs running juke drills. Percy harvin out here, nods approvingly at Toney's moves. After his second rep, nods again and comes over and daps him up
Thomas Goldkamp 56529 posts
83 minutes ago
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QBs with the RBs now working exchanges as the backs get low low through a whole. Lemons fumbles and gets absolutely chewed out by Knox: “That can’t happen! That ball is never on the ground!”
homas Goldkamp 56529 posts
81 minutes ago
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Couple running backs hitting the top of their helmet on the gates they’re running under. Working on pad level and coaches aren’t happy they’re not getting low enough. Knox: “Hey, stop hitting the helmet and get up under it!”
Thomas Goldkamp 56529 posts
79 minutes ago
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Emory Jones and a walk-on botch an exchange and fumble.
Luke Stampini 56531 posts
78 minutes ago
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Billy G really evaluating the WRs cutting ability. Can tell he’s trying to figure out the athletic ability of each.
More studying than coaching through these first couple drills.
84 minutes ago
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VIP
WR Van Jefferson was working with first team offense as w
brgators 890 posts
84 minutes ago
via Mobile
WRs running juke drills. Percy harvin out here, nods approvingly at Toney's moves. After his second rep, nods again and comes over and daps him up
Thomas Goldkamp 56529 posts
83 minutes ago
via Mobile
QBs with the RBs now working exchanges as the backs get low low through a whole. Lemons fumbles and gets absolutely chewed out by Knox: “That can’t happen! That ball is never on the ground!”
homas Goldkamp 56529 posts
81 minutes ago
via Mobile
Couple running backs hitting the top of their helmet on the gates they’re running under. Working on pad level and coaches aren’t happy they’re not getting low enough. Knox: “Hey, stop hitting the helmet and get up under it!”
Thomas Goldkamp 56529 posts
79 minutes ago
via Mobile
Emory Jones and a walk-on botch an exchange and fumble.
Luke Stampini 56531 posts
78 minutes ago
via Mobile
VIP
Billy G really evaluating the WRs cutting ability. Can tell he’s trying to figure out the athletic ability of each.
More studying than coaching through these first couple drills.
Posted on 3/17/18 at 9:10 am to gatordmb89
Thomas Goldkamp 56529 posts
78 minutes ago
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Mullen has been floating around, he’s watching the running backs now. Coaching Franks on some technique on the mesh point, how to sell the fake right.
Thomas Goldkamp 56529 posts
78 minutes ago
via Mobile
Ron English is that guy that you walk out and you immediately go “yep, that guy is a football coach.” Extremely vocal and just looks the part. Coaches guys hard.
Thomas Goldkamp 56529 posts
68 minutes ago
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Some routes on air coming. Jones high off the receivers hands on a seam route. McElwain had two QBs throwing at a time. Mullen has four, all the same direction. Never seen that before. Lot of throws.
78 minutes ago
via Mobile
Mullen has been floating around, he’s watching the running backs now. Coaching Franks on some technique on the mesh point, how to sell the fake right.
Thomas Goldkamp 56529 posts
78 minutes ago
via Mobile
Ron English is that guy that you walk out and you immediately go “yep, that guy is a football coach.” Extremely vocal and just looks the part. Coaches guys hard.
Thomas Goldkamp 56529 posts
68 minutes ago
via Mobile
Some routes on air coming. Jones high off the receivers hands on a seam route. McElwain had two QBs throwing at a time. Mullen has four, all the same direction. Never seen that before. Lot of throws.
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