The Florida Gators reported for fall camp this morning with practice beginning on Wednesday, July 30th. Gator Country provides a notebook from Florida’s fall camp press conference.
INJURY UPDATES
Head coach Billy Napier announced that five players will be limited to start fall camp: QB DJ Lagway, OL Tavaris Dice, LB Pup Howard, RB Treyaun Webb, WR Kahleil Jackson.
Napier noted that all five are considered day to day and are in return to play protocol.
Nearly two weeks ago, DJ Lagway was walking around SEC Media Days asserting the injuries he dealt with during spring camp were behind him. Fastforward to the start of fall camp, Lagway will be limited once again with a reported calf strain.
“He’s day to day,” Napier said on Lagway. “The good thing is — I think we’re about a week removed. In general he’s made a lot of quick progress. But it will be something that we’re monitoring, and hopefully as we go, his ability to participate in practice will be a little bit more each opportunity that we get going forward.”
While the injury doesn’t sound serious, it’s not ideal that that Florida’s sophomore quarterback will be limited to start fall camp after not throwing in all of spring.
“I think [he] understands what’s required to be ready,” Napier said. “It’s not ideal, but I think ultimately we’ll come up with the best plan we can to have him ready.”
On a positive note, nickel corner Aaron Gates is expected to be back on the practice field after undergoing knee surgery late in the 2024 season.
“Aaron is on schedule, obviously still in the brace a little bit. Anytime a guy is an ACL guy — as you get into training camp, we’ll be monitoring his volume closely, but he’s been a full participator here as of late,” Napier said on Gates.
Gates will provide Florida with much needed depth at a physical position.
S&C PROGRESS
The Florida Gators gained 700 pounds of muscle in the offseason, a 120-pound increase from the 2024 number of 580, according to Strength and Conditioning coach Tyler Miles.
Miles also noted the team lost ‘200-some odd’ pounds of fat, which was less than last year.
“We didn’t lose as much fat this year, but we didn’t have as much fat to lose,” Miles said. “Our guys had done a great job last year, 65% of our team gained muscle and lost fat in season, right? So we also have longer because of the bowl game, so we didn’t have as much fat to lose. Still gained 700 pounds of muscle, which is more than last year. I think that’s the best number.”
One of the notable standouts was sophomore running back Jadan Baugh, who put out ‘freaky’ numbers in the weight room this offseason.
“Jadan Baugh had an incredible summer,” Miles said. “He broke the team records, not only for his position but pound for pound, the strongest, we have a formula, and he’s pound for pound he’s the strongest guy on the team – not only on the team but since we started tracking that, pound for pound the strongest guy that we’ve ever had.”
Another player Miles discussed was sophomore edge rusher LJ McCray.
“He probably had one of the best offseasons out of anybody,” Miles said on McCray. “He gained like 40 pounds in each one of his lifts, PRed by 40 pounds. You can see it now in his arms. He’s more thicker with more muscle. He had a phenomenal offseason.”
Redshirt sophomore cornerback Cormani McClain has put on 20-25 pounds since his arrival at UF, according to Miles. McClain weighed in at 189 pounds ahead of fall camp.
“He’s done a good job. He really has. He’s still continuing to get stronger, put on the weight, put on muscle. He’s never going to be your big, vocal guy, but we don’t need him to be. He does his job. He comes in. he stays out of trouble,” Miles said on McClain. “He’s doing what he’s supposed to do and getting stronger and faster, being better about his nutrition, everything. He continued that in the summer.”
DEPTH AT DEFENSIVE TACKLE?
One of the biggest question marks on defense entering the 2025 season is Florida’s depth at defensive tackle. The Gators lost Cam Jackson, D’Antre Robinson, and Desmond Watson this offseason. Despite losing two key contributors and a rising sophomore who was expected to take on a bigger role, defensive coordinator Ron Roberts didn’t seem concerned about the position.
“We have plenty of guys,” Roberts said on the depth at defensive tackle. “Our inside players we got about seven that can play. So it’s going to come down to competition, healthy, and who can do that and who becomes the impact players and who’s going to turn it up a notch. But we got about seven competing and fighting for jobs. Our depth is a lot deeper. We lost some impact guys that had some experience and played and stuff, but our depth is — we’re a lot deeper in our depth chart, especially up front.”
Florida’s latest addition, Baylor transfer Brendan Bett, was originally recruited by Ron Roberts at Baylor.
“He’s a great attitude, work ethic, how he handles his business, wants to be successful in everything he does, tremendous work ethic on the field, all those intangible things that we’re trying to look for, he had them coming in,” Roberts said on Bett. “So excited about he’s had a really good summer. So, again, he’s going to be an impact player, really expect him to have a high role come this fall.”
TIGHT END IMPROVEMENTS
Offensive coordinator Russ Callaway noted on the improvements in the tight end room, specifically with Hayden Hansen, Tony Livington and Amir Jackson.
“Hayden Hansen, Tony Livingston, Amir Jackson, those three have made tremendous strides,” Callaway said.
On Hansen and Livingston:
“I saw Hayden and Tony do things this summer and in spring that — from a leadership standpoint that I’ve never seen them do, and I think they both are bought in to the fact of like, hey, this is part of the next step. This is why I come to Florida. We want to come to Florida to obviously win games and build a championship program. But to do that, at some point we’re going to have to step up and we’re going to have to push people and we’re going to have to get on people, and a lot of times it’s not comfortable, but obviously as we all know, you grow in uncomfortable situations, and I’m super proud of the way they’ve handled it.”
“They both got their body looking really good. Hayden has got it trimmed up. Tony has got some good muscle coming on. Hayden has gotten a lot better at some different route things. Tony has gotten better at some route things and some run game things.”
On Jackson:
“Amir Jackson, that guy, when we signed him, he was a raw skill player in high school, and we basically had to teach him how to play the position, and he has worked his tail off, and he has come a long way, and I’m excited to see what he can do this year as well.”
Jackson is up to 235 pounds after weighing in at 228 pounds last season.
WHO’S RETURNING PUNTS
After the loss of Chimere Dike to the NFL, Florida has to figure out who they’ll use on punt return in 2025. ST coach Joe Houston named 12 Gators that are working with the punt team.
Here’s the list:
WR Vernell Brown III
WR Tre Wilson
RB Jadan Baugh
RB Treyaun Webb
WR Tank Hawkins
RB Ja’Kobi Jackson
WR J.Michael Sturdivant
WR Naeshaun Montgomery
WR Dallas Wilson
RB Bryon Louis
DB J’Vari Flowers
WR DeBraun Hampton
“Obviously they are all very talented, they’re extremely fast, they’re quick, they have good ball skills, they can track the ball,” Houston said on this group. “Really it’s going to come down to the decision making piece of it where Chim did an outstanding job of when to return, when to fair catch, the intricacies of being a returner, the communication piece of it, the make you miss ability. All of those guys have the talent to do it, it’s going to come down to the consistency piece of it relative to training camp.”