With the Orange and Blue Debut in the rear view, the Florida Gators football team enters the doldrums of the off-season. The team will workout together through the off season with the strength and conditioning staff but Jim McElwain and his coaching staff are solely focused on recruiting with the spring evaluation period beginning.
With that in mind Gator Country will go over where the current roster stands, what the depth chart looks like, and how the 13 incoming freshmen will fit in at their positions when they arrive on campus in June.
So far we’ve covered quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, defensive ends, defensive tackles, linebackers, tight ends, cornerbacks, offensive linemen and safeties. Today we wrap up the series with the specialists.
The Players
Kickers
Senior — Neil MacInnes
RS Sophomore — Jorge Powell
RS Sophomore Eddy Pineiro
Punters
RS Junior — Johnny Townsend
RS Freshman — Jon Gould
Questions heading into spring
The Gators welcome back punter Ray Guy finalist Johnny Townsend, who is a known commodity with his career 44.5 yard per punt average. The real issue with Florida’s special teams the past three years has been placekicking. Austin Hardin — who converted on just 44% (16-36) of his career kicks — is gone, in his place is the YouTube/Internet sensation Eddy Pineiro. How would Pineiro adjust to kicking at Florida and can he finally give Florida what they need most on special teams — stability?
What we learned
Pineiro’s recruitment has to be the most scrutinized and closely followed recruitment of a kicker in the history of college football. Pineiro’s recruitment blew up thanks to his powerful kicking leg and an Internet connection. Pineiro, an Alabama commit at the time, started posting some mind-bendingly long kicks, like this 77-yard monster.
77 yarder the grind don’t stop working hard to be the best. pic.twitter.com/p5s4GQVpAi
— Eddy Pineiro (@eddypineiro1) December 1, 2015
Pineiro had committed to Alabama but Jim McElwain couldn’t sit idly by watching his kicker combine to go 7-17 in 2015. The Gators made a huge push for Pinero and ultimately landed him. The biggest unknown surrounding Pineiro was how he would react under a brighter spotlight and under more pressure. A 77-yard kick on an 11-second video is impressive, but when there are 21 other people on the field, 11 of them trying to make sure you miss that kick, and 90,000 fans in the stands, how do you react?
Pineiro trotted out on the filed in the Orange and Blue Debut and his first PAT sailed into the club seats at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The crowd of more than 40,000 erupted louder for Pinero’s PAT than they did for the precursor touchdown. His next attempt was more daunting — 52 yards. The ball shot high off Pineiro’s foot, through the uprights and cleared the 52 yards with room to spare and you would have thought Florida had just won on a last second kick of Florida State with a capacity crowd. The kick-starved fans in Gainesville were drunk on the prospect of having a new kicker and Pineiro soaked it in.
Pineiro converted kicks of 52,46 and 56 yards in the spring game, while missing from 53 and 52. He was perfect on is PATs.
Moving forward
Redshirt freshman Jon Gould looked good punting this spring. He had one attempt for 40-yards in the spring game and could have a career at Florida down the line. Make no mistake about it though, this is Townsend’s job and the redshirt junior should contend for a Ray Guy Award in 2016.
Florida also has three kickers. Jorge Powell and Neil MacInnes both were sidelined with injuries this spring and Pineiro really distanced himself during camp. Pineiro will continue to hold down the starting job, as well as handle kickoffs