File the 2007 football season under been there, done that, don’t want to ever do that again for Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong. Inexperience will do that for you and that’s the mess Strong had on his hands last year. He had only two returning starters from the 2006 team, whose defense proved it was the best in the nation the way it systematically destroyed Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game. Worse yet, those two starters were also the only two players with any kind of game experience on something other than special teams.
The Gators went from a team that allowed Ohio State only 82 total yards in that national championship game victory to a team that last fall arrived one step too late far to make a play far too often. Instead of the electric, savvy Reggie Nelson as his last line of defense, there to erase any time there was a mistake, Strong had a true freshman trying to re-enact that role. Only problem was, the mistakes made in front of Major Wright were made by inexperienced freshmen and sophomores whose lack of on the field playing time translated into blown assignments.
“Besides playing with a young group of guys — the year before we lost so many experienced players who were great leaders — we didn’t have the leadership and that was what was made it so frustrating,” said Strong, his face never changing expression as he recalled a year in which Florida finished number 46 in the nation in scoring defense, number 98 in the nation against the pass and number 41 in total defense.
The leadership void cannot be over-stressed. That 2006 crew was a self-motivated group that fully understood assignment football, good game preparation and making sure they had each other’s back on and off the field. Strong had the ultimate vocal leader on that team in middle linebacker Brandon Siler and he had some excellent leaders by example in guys like Ray McDonald, Joe Cohen, Earl Everett and Nelson. When they took the field, they knew their assignments through and through but they also had the ability to cover each other for a mistake.
In 2007, the Gators had moments when they got it but there were far too many times when players came off the field with that “what was I supposed to do?” look on their faces. Complicating matters was a lack of real leadership.
“There just wasn’t leadership there,” said Strong. “We had young guys heading in all different directions and we were so young that nobody had learned how to step up and lead. When you’ve got leadership in place, you eliminate so many issues on the field.”
All the leaders, unfortunately, graduated and most of them were playing on Sunday last year.
Leadership began to emerge during the offseason mat drills and then again in spring football. The one player that Strong was looking to step up was Brandon Spikes and he did everything that was asked of him during the mat drills and again during spring practice. All-SEC at middle linebacker last season as a sophomore, Spikes elevated his game in the spring along with taking on the role of the team leader.
He wasn’t the only one to take a giant step forward as a leader, however. Javier Estopinan, although rehabbing a surgically repaired knee and unable to participate, emerged as a leader on the defensive line. In the secondary, Wright, Joe Haden and Ahmad Black assumed the mantle of leadership, and there were others.
“The place you have to build your leadership is in the spring,” said Strong. “It’s still spring ball, though. We won’t know until August and then once the season starts if those guys that came on in the spring are real leaders.”
Strong was pleased that several players showed a willingness to take on the extra responsibilities but the one place he had to have a leader emerge was at middle linebacker and that’s where Spikes showed his maturity.
“It was a collective groups of guys [that emerged as leaders],” Strong said. “The middle linebacker is the one that really has to lead the football team. We put a lot of responsibility on that position. We have a lot of talented guys that had to step forward so it really isn’t all on one guy but really, that’s where it starts.”
Spikes is 6-3, 240 and has the kind of speed and instincts to play the position at a very high level. He is one of the hardest hitters in the Southeastern Conference and he has the ability to make plays in the secondary, too. If he continues to play at a high level and improve his game, he will be the cornerstone of Florida’s improved defense in 2008.
“Spikes is an outstanding football player,” said Strong. “He led our team in tackles last year and he made all-conference. The thing about him is that he is so elusive that he can make plays. He’s a big hitter and he’s elusive enough that he can get to the place to make the play without getting hit. We expect big things out of him this year.”
With an eye on improvement in the leadership department, Strong sees a 2008 defense that won’t lack for talent. The hard lessons learned on the field should translate into a unit that has experience and much more confidence.
“The whole confidence level should be better because they have played,” he said. “You look at our defense last year. Tony Joiner played and Derrick Harvey played the year before and the rest of those guys played special teams or they played very little. When you haven’t been out there in a game situation, you don’t have the confidence you need to make plays. And if you haven’t played, when you do make a mistake you’ve got to learn how to forget the mistake and bounce back. Those things take time to learn and the only place you learn them is on the field.”
In 2007, the secondary was toasted on a regular basis as that number 98 ranking in pass defense tells you. It wasn’t always the fault of the secondary, however. The previous season, the secondary had the advantage of a defensive line that was regularly pressuring the quarterback so they could play tight coverage and they knew they could take chances.
The 2007 pass rush was so weak through eight games that Mike Pouncey was brought over from the offensive line to play the nose tackle. That gave the Gators noticeable improvement over their final four regular season games, but in the Capital One Bowl, Michigan neutralized Pouncey with a double team and once again the secondary became toast.
“When you talk about the secondary and the defensive front, it’s easy to say last year that the secondary got burned a lot but we rarely got much of a pass rush,” said Strong. “That was a critical phase of our defense last year. We really only had one guy that could get a pass rush and that was Derrick Harvey but we couldn’t get any push in the middle.
“The secondary wasn’t getting a lot of help up front. It’s easy to criticize them for sitting back there and not making plays but if you’re not consistently hitting the quarterback and getting some pressure you’re going to see a lot of balls completed. You don’t want to be the guy that gives up the home run play so you sit back on your heels but when you do that you open it up to give up big plays in front of you and we did that a lot last year.”
The pass rush has the potential to be one of the strong points of the team in 2008. Returning starter Jermaine Cunningham will have help from Carlos Dunlap, who had five sacks in the spring game, and Justin Trattou on the outside, and there is depth on the interior line. Omar Hunter and John Brown figure to split the time at the nose tackle while Lawrence Marsh, Terron Sanders and Troy Epps will rotate in and out at the three technique tackle. If Estopinan can give the Gators even a few plays a game, that will be a real plus.
Spikes and Dustin Doe started every game in 2007 and they should be joined in the starting lineup by Ryan Stamper or Lorenzo Edwards. If A.J. Jones can avoid injury, he figures to become a regular in the rotation as well. Freshman Brendan Beal had a very good spring, too, so there is depth at every position.
Haden was a freshman All-American last year at corner. In the spring Wondy Pierre-Louis made tremendous improvement. Jacques Rickerson, Moses Jenkins and freshmen Janoris Jenkins and Jeremy Brown are there to provide quality depth. At safety, Wright, Black, Dorian Munroe and Bryan Thomas will be pushed by freshmen Will Hill and Dee Finley.
From a personnel standpoint, there is talent and depth, plus there is experience. If all things come together, the Gators should be a much-improved defensive unit in 2008. Strong says his defenders know exactly what is expected.
“I think the guys understand,” he said. “They know the standards here have been set and they aren’t pleased with the way we played last year. They understand what is expected here so they’ve really worked hard and dedicated themselves to getting back to a championship level. That’s the standard here.”