Recent troubles raises questions on Florida Gators leadership

As the Florida Gators enter the home stretch of fall practice, head coach Jim McElwain has had to endure some disappointing and strange off the field occurrences. He has had to endure allegations against Antonio Callaway and Treon Harris, a BB gun incident with Tyrie Cleveland and Rick Wells and now having to deal with the suspension of top corner Jalen ‘Teez’ Tabor and C’yontai Lewis for engaging in a physical altercation.

When the frequency of the issues occurs the first question that is typically asked is where is the leadership?

Should we be concerned about the leadership of the team in the early stages of McElwain’s tenure. Last year he had the incident with Kelvin Taylor that was a media barnstorm that raised questions from national media pundits about his conduct and his behavior earned him a firm chastising from his mother.

With the Gators hoping to return to Atlanta for another chance at an SEC Championship, these are not the type of distractions that you would like. They take the focus of the overall development of the team and requires the attention to be placed elsewhere.

Going into each season every team has a makeup, they have a creed that they want to live by and this year it seems that the Gators are going to be one intense team or a very undisciplined team. According to sophomore running back, he believes the recent scuffle is a good thing.

“It’s all competitiveness. You can look at it in a good way or a bad way. But I think that’s a good thing.”

Regardless of how you see now, the fruits reaped will be over the next five months. If the Gators struggle, lose four or five games, some are going to blame the off season distractions and look to McElwain to resolve it or they will go on to win the SEC East again and most probably won’t care what is currently going on. You know winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

At this time of the year the expectation is that the veterans on the squad will take the leadership roles.

“Vets set [the] standard” Scarlett added. Unfortunately, one of the more outspoken vets in Tabor didn’t uphold the standard that Coach McElwain constantly preaches.

Since day one McElwain has been preaching about the ‘brand’. Outside looking in, one could bring into question whether that message is hitting home with those on the team. One thing that could help the staff out is finding that calming voice to balance the outspoken nature of those like a Jalen Tabor and help this team through what is sure be challenging times on the field.

In the mid 90’s the fiery and vocal nature of a Lawrence Wright served as a motivator and inspiration but so did the calm and gentle leadership of Danny Wuerffel. During the days of Tim Tebow, he provided a beautiful balance to a roster with Brandon Spikes and the Pouncey twins. Not suggesting that one way is better than another or one way is bad, but the balance of personality and leadership is needed in a locker room full of kids 18-21 years old.

In most instances that leadership opportunity is expected to come from and is given to the quarterback position. Well unfortunately for the Gators since the departure of Tebow, that position has been brutally unstable. Now two transfers in Luke Del Rio and Austin Appleby are battling for that starting role and more importantly, taking hold of the trust of those around them.

According to McElwain the leadership from Del Rio and Appleby has been satisfactory. “Well both of those guys, their natural leadership is good.”

We all know that their leadership will be challenged when the bullets really start flying. In the toughest moments of the game, especially with goals and aspiration on the line, the other ten guys will be looking to them to make magic happen.

“When those guys step in the huddle or whatever they’re doing, I feel really comfortable with the way the guys respond to their command. That’s a good thing.” McElwain said.

Their command is going to be needed along with the veteran leadership of others. David Sharpe and Brandon Powell leadership has been noticed by McElwain during the fall session.

“I’ll tell ya what, David Sharpe; I saw some really good [things], just, pushing himself and pushing the guys next to him” McElwain said. “Brandon Powell when he’s in there, is a guy that just carries a little confidence with those guys” He added.

Sharpe and Powell were in the thick of in 2015, a season that didn’t end as well as it started. Last year we saw the perseverance of this squad in the comeback win over Tennessee and we also saw that change after some unfortunate circumstances occurred mid-season. We saw a valiant effort in Baton Rouge and we saw near brain fart against Florida Atlantic. Most of us are still trying to figure out what happened against Michigan in the bowl game.

Not just for Florida but the nature of a college football season is a roller coaster. Determining when the ebbs and flows occur is virtually unpredictable. When they do occur, strong leadership is there to manage each situation.

If there was ever a time for leaders to step forward it would be now. McElwain has set a standard for this program that goes beyond individual accolades and he will not back down from it. It is too early to tell whether or not the leadership from the staff is lacking but we will soon see the true colors of this team.

McElwain is a high character coach that values integrity on and off the field. We don’t have to worry about the message he is delivering to this team in public or behind closed doors. Florida has a talented roster that has the potential to go a long way and we should expect Coach McElwain and this team to overcome these distractions on their way to another successful season.

Kevin Camps
Kevin, a lifelong Gator fan has followed and studied Florida football since 1990. He is a Gainesville native that has experienced many great triumphs of Florida football. Born and raised as a Gator, Kevin loves to talk and promote the Gator Nation. When not talking Gators, Kevin is spending time with his wife and five kids, serving in his church or grilling great bbq.

1 COMMENT

  1. I think this article would be more fair if the offenses the team members have committed were serious.

    Granted, the accusation against Callaway was serious, but we have no idea if accurate or not based on the limited facts we have seen.

    The BB gun.. not serious, only worth noting as a stupid kid thing and the fact some glass was damaged. They should just go to an airsoft field..

    A fight.. well, we wouldn’t even have heard of this if Mac wasn’t setting a standard. He should be praised… The fight itself, pretty common… but apparently went a little long. Hardly a negative stain on the program though.

    Now if the drug charges continue, fights in bars start, etc then you can argue about the leadership of the coaches and also the leadership the upperclassmen are providing (or lacking)