At the conclusion of spring practice in 2008, University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer declared that “the Omar Hunter watch” was on. Talk about your high expectations for a kid who hadn’t even enrolled in school!
Hunter was thought to be an impact player of national consequence coming out of Buford, Georgia but a lingering back injury suffered in the weight room set him back immeasurably. The pain wouldn’t go away and Hunter piled on the pounds because he couldn’t work out the way he should have. Eventually, his freshman season was shelved.
It took months for Hunter to get into good playing shape but as his weight dropped and his overall physical condition improved, he began to see the playing field more and more. By the end of the 2010 season Hunter was on the field on a regular basis and making contributions to a Florida defense that was one of the five best in the nation.
He has continued to get stronger and better conditioned to the point that he feels better physically than he ever has in a Gator uniform, which is a good thing for defensive line coach Dan McCarney, who is counting on Hunter to perform at a high level in 2010.
Hunter credits strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti for pushing him and all of Florida’s defensive linemen to get stronger and tougher.
“I feel 100 percent,” Hunter said after Monday’s practice. “Coach Marotti and his staff have done a great job with us, and they are going to have me ready to go at the beginning of the season.”
After recording 17 tackles last season, the 6-0, 307-pound tackle plans to take his game to the next level in 2010. With seniors Lawrence Marsh and Terron Sanders out for the spring with various injuries, Hunter has emerged as a disruptive presence at nose tackle. He hopes the work in March and April lead to an increased role and more production this fall.
“It’s been going good so far,” he said of spring practice. “There’s a lot of things I’ve improved on, and there’s a lot of things I need to work on before the season starts.”
One of those areas is better communication between the defensive line, something he feels has been accomplished over the last three weeks.
“One of the main things we want to do is get that chemistry back on the line,” he noted. “That’s something we’ve been working on (this spring).”
Despite the loss of soon-to-be NFL defensive ends Jermaine Cunningham and Carlos Dunlap, Hunter likes what he has seen out of their replacements over the last few practices.
“It starts with Justin Trattou,” Hunter said. “He is the leader of this group. He works extremely hard. Then, there’s Duke Lemmens and William Green. They are high effort guys and their technique is just incredible.”
With a touted defensive line class headed to Gainesville in the summer, along with the return of Marsh and Sanders to the line up, Hunter expects plenty of competition along the defensive line this fall. That can only be considered a good thing as it relates to the success of this unit.
“It’s always good to have competition,” he said. “It’s going to be intense when all of those guys are on the field together. ”
It will be a battle for playing time that not only could set the tone for Hunter and his line-mates, but the entire defense as well.