At six and half feet tall and 330 pounds Fred Johnson is an imposing figure. He arrived at Florida around 300 pounds but has slowly added on weight to his already massive frame.
“He’s a guy that up front that can at times create and eclipse,” Jim McElwain said. “He’s a big son of a gun and can block out the sun.”
His size may be the first thing you notice but Johnson is a hard worker. He has very little experience playing football prior to getting to Florida. He wasn’t on the varsity football team at Royal Palm Beach High School until his senior season. He was a raw prospect but forced his way into the starting lineup as a freshman at right tackle.
Johnson went into his sophomore season the incumbent starter at right tackle, before having to move inside after the emergence of Jeawon Taylor at right tackle. It was new to Johnson, who had to try and find a way to adjust in season.
“I just had to refocus on my technique and stuff like that because being a guard you have to take more of the bulk of people,” Johnson said.
That meant he needed to add weight. Johnson says he was around 315 pounds last season and “made sure to eat every three to four hours” in the offseason to add an additional 15 pounds. He did it the right way, with the help of Florida’s Coordinator of Sports Nutrition Collier Perno. Adding the weight slowly, and making sure it was good weight, has helped Johnson maintain his footwork and speed.
Johnson was setting in to a new position, happy with his new weight and then starting left tackle Martez Ivey went down with an injury that forced him to miss some of fall camp. Ivey has been held out of both of the Gators’ scrimmages to protect his knee before the season starts. That meant Fred was back out at tackle, this time at left tackle, even if only for a short time or in an emergency situation.
“I think first and foremost, he’s starting to grow up and understand the importance of the daily preparation and seeing really how much he means to the team being successful,” McElwain said. “He’s learning how to get his feet in the ground and play with some pad level and really the biggest thing, being held accountable through the communication piece has really helped him.”
Johnson credits new offensive line coach Brad Davis for a lot of that maturity and growth.
“He focused my game out to simply the techniques, the fundamentals and how I should approach the game,” Johnson said of Davis. “He played college football at the highest level too. So he’s just a good role model to look at.”
Johnson could have pouted when he was moved from tackle to guard. He could have moped around the locker room but he didn’t. He took on the position change, which could have been perceived as a demotion, in stride. He’s attacked every aspect of improving his game and he’s seeing the benefits of it now. If Ivey is healthy the junior will start and play at left tackle. Johnson is battling for a starting job at right guard but he’s preparing to play guard and tackle this season. He’s also, along with the rest of his fellow linemen, preparing to prove everyone wrong.
“This year our expectations are we know the system, we’ve been used to it for two years, it’s just be aggressive and attack every day,” he said. “Prove people wrong, people say we’re not like, a top unit for Florida.”