You wont find much separation this year amongst the Florida Gators secondary unit. Last week after giving up 119 passing yards in the first half against New Mexico State the Gators allowed only nine yards in the second half. The Florida secondary is considered to be one of the best units in all of college football. They have recruited some the best prospects across the country to form a group of defensive backs that hope to be the strength of the 2015 Gator defense.
This season Florida will face some of the best receivers in the SEC and in the country, that include Ole Miss’ Laquon Treadwell, LSU receiver Travin Dural and the very versatile South Carolina receiver Pharoh Cooper. To slow down these elite receivers the Gators will need to perform at a high level week in and week out; and to accomplish this, there cannot be any holes in the unit.
With the wide open passing schemes today, offensive coordinators are searching for ways to create holes and mismatches in the secondary. Communication in the secondary in this pass happy era of college football is essential and sophomore cornerback Jalen Tabor believes the genuine relationships built by the Gator secondary off the field will benefit the Gators on the field.
“I just feel like we’re the closest unit in college football just what we do on and off the field,” Tabor said. “We know where each other will be on the field; we know how to play certain routes just because we’ve been together for so long. Off the field, in the meeting room, even when we’re not playing football we’re still a close unit.”
Tabor believes in the strong bond amongst the defensive backs unit and believes it is the reason they have become one of the best on the team as well as the country.
“We’re the closest unit on the team. We might be the closest unit in all of college football, we go out there, we compete with each other and make each other better. I feel like off the field we’re just as close as we are on the field.”
The former high school all-American from Washington D.C. has shown flashes of brilliance since arriving in Gainesville and credits the leadership of current upper class men and fellow defensive backs Brian Poole and Keanu Neal.
“It’s big. Those guys have been here before so they’ve seen a lot. Just learning certain stuff from those guys is big, real big. It goes a long way.”
Tabor and Florida will need to continue this grooming the next in line if they desire to hold up the banner as DBU, especially with the potential departure of the cornerback playing opposite Tabor, Vernon Hargreaves III. The two form one of the top tandems in the nation and entering their second season playing across from each other will make it extremely hard on opposing quarterbacks to find holes.
“Just being together for the amount of time we’ve been together, we just (know) where each other (are going) to be, how to play certain stuff so it just comes with time” said Tabor
And the time those two and the entire secondary have spent together off the field has created a strong cord that opposing coaches, quarterbacks and receivers will try to unravel on the field.
“We’re just a close knit group.” Tabor noted.