Gator Country answers all your Gators questions in our Florida Football Mailbag!
Here is a Q&A with members of GatorCountry.com.
MrB-Gator: How is the team doing with the new S&C coach and training?
NM: It’s a little too early to have any significant feedback from the team regarding the new strength and conditioning hires given that Craig Fitzgerald (Director of Football Performance) arrived in Gainesville on December 30th and Jake Sankal (Director of Football Nutrition / Asst. Strength and Conditioning) on January 9th. Many of the transfers and freshmen players just arrived at UF last weekend.
With that being said, both have decorative backgrounds including a lengthy history in the National Football League. Both have garnered support from a number of current NFL players, including Saquan Barkley and Sam Howell.
“Florida’s getting a really good one. A really good strength coach, a really good coach, someone you can talk to, a great man. And it sucks to see him go but at the same time, happy for him,” Barkley said on Florida hiring Craig Fitzgerald.
“Florida is getting the best in the business with Jake. Jake truly knows how to get the best out of the athletes he works with. He goes the extra mile to make sure his players have all of the information and resources needed to maximize their abilities,” Sam Howell said on Florida hiring Jake Sankal.
We will have a better understanding of the development of Florida’s roster regarding strength and conditioning after the conclusion of spring football.
Pigpen: Who do you think will be our top 2 portal pick ups. Also do you see anyone switching positions? Watson to OG? Hanson to SSDE? Graham to RB in Red Zone.
NM: I’ll start by saying Florida is not done in the transfer portal, but as I’ve right now I would say the Gators’ top two portal pickups are Joey Slackman and Grayson Howard. Slackman was the Ivy League Player of the Year and is a welcomed addition to a defensive line that hasn’t produced much over the years. Slackman is 6’4 and holds 300 pounds very well. Howard logged 221 snaps as a true freshman and graded as South Carolina’s best tackler, not missing a tackle throughout his freshmen campaign. That is a quality Florida’s linebackers have been missing over the years. I do think Florida’s best addition is yet to come.
I think Brandon Cranshaw-Dickson will have a strong impact in 2024 for as well. The San Diego State offensive tackle has a ton of experience and graded as the 34th best pass blocking tackle in the FBS in 2023.
The only position changes I envision are Damieon George and Kamryn Waites moving to offensive guard, which isn’t groundbreaking news as both have experience at that position throughout their career.
Dnaughty23: Is UF still actively looking at the portal/any players of interest they are looking to bring in for visits?
Additionally, with the news of the Saban retirement what is the likelihood we are able to poach any of those players (any in particular)?
NM: Yes, Florida is still actively pursuing transfer portal players. Just this weekend the Gators hosted Washington DB transfer Mishael Powell. Newly hired DB coach Will Harris has been very active in the transfer portal as Florida is looking to add safety help. Florida also hosted Air Force transfer TE Caleb Rillos for an official visit this weekend.
It’s hard to predict the level of interest for Alabama players in regard to Florida, but we have not heard of any interest as of now. You can’t count anything out with the transfer portal, however.
Floridagatorman: There was some chatter that Ron Roberts essentially created the defense we currently run. Did he really and who else runs it? It looks like it’s a “versatile 4-2-5” that’s designed to be able to shift and defend heavy run or spread attacks. It was very successful at Baylor but obviously a bit of a disaster at Florida. Does it require certain things we don’t have? From here, how much is it scheme and how much we need to continue acquiring talent to make that defense work? Seems like it might require at least a few extremely versatile players. Do we have any in that mold?
NM: Yes, it’s true. Ron Roberts has strong ties with Dave Aranda, Patrick Toney, Austin Armstrong, who also run similar defenses. The 4-2-5 defense is becoming more and more popular as it’s designed to stop the spread attack. Another term you hear frequently when talking about this particular defense is the use of “creepers”, which is a blitzer from the secondary or linebacker positions, designed to not simulate the pressure in order to keep the offense guessing. Ron Roberts has experience with this type of play calling.
The reality is Florida’s defensive struggles are a combination of not having the best talent and the Gators’ coaching staff not teaching the material properly or efficiently. It’s never one or the other, but a combination. The problem is not with the scheme, but who’s teaching it and running it. Ron Roberts should provide a level of experience to this defense that Florida hasn’t seen under Billy Napier.
Florida will ask players to play a number of different roles, such as edge rushers dropping back into coverage and cornerbacks blitzing. The Gators have added versatile DB DJ Douglas through the transfer portal.
dhainer24: Will we hire an OC? Will we have 1 coach dedicated to special teams? Will we still waste a coaching spot on 2 OL coaches?
NM: I clumped these questions together because my answer is the same for all three, we don’t really know. Napier stated they are in the evaluation process as far as offensive staff changes go, but that’s as far as we’ve heard. Walk-on punter commit Bobby Englster told Gator Country he believes the Special Teams coordination will remain the same. My gut feeling tells me Florida hires an offensive coordinator and let’s go of one of the offensive line coaches, but that is nothing more than a gut feeling at this point.
jcmiller910: Currently where do our numbers sit in terms of scholarship players? What is our biggest position of need that still needs to be addressed via the portal? Will we see anymore attrition before Spring ball?
NM: I have Florida at 83 scholarship players after the addition of transfer portal QB Clay Millen. I’m going to say that Florida needs to add another wide receiver, safety, and an interior offensive lineman. I see those three positions as an equal area of need right now. I believe most of the attrition is done before spring ball. After spring ball will open the door for more opportunities.
rg226: Was there any real chance of Billy being fired at the end of last season? Do you see it as a foregone conclusion that we will have the pleasure of his company in 2025? How many wins does he need to get a 5th year?
NM: No, I don’t believe there was a real chance at Billy Napier fired at the end of last season. I also don’t think it’s guaranteed that he is the head coach of the Florida Gators in 2025. I would say Napier needs at least 6 wins (given the difficult schedule) next season to be given a 4th year. I can’t really imagine Florida keeping Napier if in fact he posts a third straight losing season.
Kennystyle: Do you get the feeling that Billy knows he has to win, or is he lost is his reality ?
NM: I think it’s safe to assume that Billy Napier knows he has to win this season. He is feeling the pressure.
sflagator: is having two OL coaches a problem? do you think the OL has been bad because of coaching or because of talent?
NM: Having two offensive line coaches is not a problem. Having two offensive line coaches that don’t produce a good offensive line is a problem. The reaction Gator Nation has had to Florida’s two offensive line coach philosophy has changed drastically from year one to year two. The reality is the Gators’ offensive line was good in 2022, and not so good in 2023. I will answer this question how I answer pretty much every question like this one. The answer is a combination of both. It’s usually never one or the other in sports. People like to find someone or something to blame it on, but the reality is it’s almost always a combination of factors leading to the result. I think Florida should go in a different direction with the offensive line staff but not because of their coaching, but more so their lack of recruiting to this point.
Part two of our Q&A with members of Gator Country is coming shortly.