Jon Sumrall has repeatedly emphasized that strength and conditioning is the foundation of a successful college football program. At Florida, he believed it was an area that needed a complete overhaul.
Director of Football Performance Rusty Whitt hit the ground running this summer with the goal of making the Gators bigger, stronger, faster and tougher.
Weight room
From May to July 2026, the Gators generated a combined increase of nearly 14,000 pounds across the program’s four primary lifts: the power clean, back squat, bench press and deadlift.
The team’s average power clean increased from 276 to 298 pounds, a gain of 22 pounds. The average back squat jumped from 376 to 430 pounds, an increase of 54 pounds. The average bench press improved from 290 to 311 pounds, up 21 pounds, while the average deadlift rose from 435 to 469 pounds, a 34-pound increase.
Across 116 players, Florida recorded a combined increase of 2,417 pounds in the power clean, 5,951 pounds in the back squat, 2,200 pounds in the bench press and 3,838 pounds in the deadlift.
“How that’s going to help us is durability, longevity and acceleration when you have an overall improvement in your team’s squat, deadlift and clean,” Whitt said. “And you’re going to see better accelerators and decelerators, and it should lend itself to … we’re not going to prevent injuries, but we can mitigate injuries.”
Florida had 54 players power clean over 300 pounds.
Speed
Moving weight wasn’t the only goal for Florida this offseason. The Gators also placed an emphasis on improving their speed and explosiveness.
During summer testing, 56 players reached a top speed of at least 20 miles per hour, while 79 players recorded personal-best marks.
Here are some of the biggest improvements from March / April that Whitt provided:
Offensive Speed Improvements
- Eric Singleton Jr. (WR): 22.74 mph → 23.32 mph (+0.58 mph)
- Vernell Brown III (WR): 20.99 mph → 22.58 mph (+1.59 mph)
- Jaylen Lloyd (WR): 20.28 mph → 22.11 mph (+1.83 mph)
- TJ Abrams (WR): 20.72 mph → 22.02 mph (+1.30 mph)
- Amir Jackson (TE): 20.42 mph → 22.09 mph (+1.67 mph)
- Tramell Jones Jr. (QB): 19.92 mph → 21.71 mph (+1.79 mph)
- Khaleil Jackson (WR): 19.11 mph → 21.39 mph (+2.28 mph)
- Lacota Dippre (TE): 18.70 mph → 20.17 mph (+1.47 mph)
Defensive Speed Improvements
- Cormani McClain (CB): 21.73 mph → 22.48 mph (+0.75 mph)
- Myles Johnson (LB): 20.70 mph → 22.32 mph (+1.62 mph)
- Ben Hanks III (CB): 21.74 mph → 22.09 mph (+0.35 mph)
- LJ McCray (EDGE): 18.50 mph → 20.31 mph (+1.81 mph)
- Kamran James (EDGE): 19.05 mph → 20.09 mph (+1.04 mph)
“Those are fantastic improvements.” Whitt said. “If you got a team full of 22 mile an hour guys at your corners and wideouts, you’re going to be in the mix.”
More individual standouts
OL Bryce Lovett: Redshirt junior offensive lineman Bryce Lovett had one of the most impressive offseasons in the program. He lost 43 pounds of fat while adding 22 pounds of lean muscle. During the summer alone, Lovett dropped 16 pounds while gaining four pounds of lean mass. He now weighs 305 pounds.
DL LJ McCray: Not only did edge rusher LJ McCray improve his top-end speed by more than 1.00 mph, but he also added 21 pounds of lean muscle since January. The 6-foot-6 McCray now weighs 277 pounds.
WR Dallas Wilson: Redshirt freshman wide receiver Dallas Wilson has lost over 15 pounds and is hovering around 210-212 right now. He also ran roughly 21 mph.
TE Heze Kent: Freshman tight end Heze Kent has undergone one of the biggest physical transformations on the roster, dropping 30 pounds since arriving at Florida. Despite weighing 288 pounds, Kent reached a top speed of 19 mph two weeks ago. His offseason routine included walking 30-45 minutes twice daily in July with a 20-pound weighted vest, on top of the team’s conditioning and weight training, as he works toward a goal weight of 275 pounds.
Whitt is pleased with how much the Gators have improved in a short period of time, as it has given them a chance to be competitive this fall.
“There’s a lot of lot of teams in our league who can say comparable numbers, but we have a fighting chance. We’re in the mix. We just have to keep pushing our guys to live right, do right,” Whitt said.
Although he’s pleased with the numbers, Whitt doesn’t want the Gators to simply maintain their current level of speed and strength. He wants the team to continue improving.
“You got to keep pushing. When you’re 21 years old, you can get stronger. I don’t like to maintain. I like to improve. Even a guy like Jayden can keep progressing because he’s such a young guy.”