The 2021 Gators will be defined by the progress made on the defensive side of the ball.
UF’s offense likely won’t be able to singlehandedly win games or keep them in games this time around. So, if the defense turns in another historically bad season and ranks 70th or worse in scoring defense and total defense, this season will be a disaster. Like, struggling to make a bowl game type of disaster.
If they return to their top-30 form of 2018 or their top-10 form of 2019, the Gators have a chance to win back-to-back SEC East titles and contend for a playoff spot.
So, how exactly do you take perhaps the worst defense in program history and transform it into a team strength without any major personnel or coaching changes?
Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has identified three primary areas of improvement that he believes will result in much better performances this season.
First, while the SEC has adopted some of the Big 12’s up-tempo and pass-heavy concepts, it is still a line-of-scrimmage league at its core. And the Gators weren’t very good up front last season. They gave up at least 170 rushing yards in half of their games, punctuated by a 435-yard shellacking at the hands of Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.
The lack of stoutness up front in the running game and the absence of a consistent pass rush affected the linebackers and defensive backs.
To address that problem, they brought in a pair of experienced defensive tackle transfers in Antonio Valentino and Daquan Newkirk. They’ve impressed with how they’ve practiced and led their younger teammates so far.
“They’ve got talent, they’ve got stoutness, they’ve got the ability to make plays, they can hold the point, they can make plays one-on-one,” Grantham said. “But also their work ethic, their character and all of that becomes contagious, and I think that can breed into the habitual traits that we want from that unit and that group. So, that’s the thing I think is great about having two veteran guys that have played snaps and have some maturity to them.
“They both understand block recognition. They both understand where the ball is going, how to press blocks, and they both have pass-rush ability. So, they’re really interchangeable from that standpoint. They can play both positions, or they can play side-by-side; that’s kind of how we’ll play them.”
Linebacker Mohamoud Diabate said the defensive tackle play last season made the linebackers’ jobs harder, and he’s thankful to have Valentino and Newkirk on board.
“We didn’t have the luxury of having them two big boys in front of us last year,” he said. “Me and Ventrell [Miller], [Amari] Burney, Ty’Ron Hopper, when we’re able to flow freely and use our speed to our advantage and not have to worry about getting off a block every run, then you guys will see the improvement in our play for sure. I’m very happy our coaches were able to get those two because they’re going to be a big part of our defense.”
The second point of emphasis is making plays on the ball when it’s in the air. You can probably go back and pick out two or three plays from every game last season where it looked like UF’s defenders were in a great position to intercept a pass, only for them to not get their head around in time or have it go right through their hands. The secondary didn’t intercept its first pass until game five against Georgia.
With scoring up across the board in college football, you’ve got to create turnovers when you get the chance. Not doing so is basically the same as allowing an offense to convert a third-and-long; you’re giving them an additional opportunity to score and tiring out your defense. That has a cumulative effect across a long season.
“You always want to be plus-one [in turnovers],” Grantham said. “In the SEC, which is obviously a league that everyone wants to join, you’ve got really good competition. If you can be plus-one in turnovers, your chances of winning go tremendously up. That’s something that you always talk about.”
Finally, Grantham wants to see his guys play with more cohesion or “synergy,” as he called it. Not being able to do things with each other away from the field due to COVID protocols probably hurt the chemistry of last year’s defense, but every other team had to deal with that too. Whatever the issue was, Grantham feels good about the direction this group is heading.
“I really do love the attitude of our players and the vision they have for the kind of team we want to be,” he said. “For example, we had a full team defensive unit meeting last night. OK, so therefore, you can define things as a unit.
“The D-Line can see guys in the backend making plays. Well, that’s a respect factor because you pointed it out to him in a meeting. You can see guys up front making plays. Well then the corners and the off-the-ball players get to see that, so that becomes a respect factor. Then you get to show plays that, ‘Hey, we’ve got to improve upon [that] to be the kind of team we want to be, and we need to work on that.’”
Grantham identified cornerback Kaiir Elam and safety Trey Dean as being the two players who are showing the most leadership in the secondary. Elam said he’s made it his responsibility to get his unit to play up to the standard that fans have come to expect.
“We’re trying to bring back DBU,” Elam said. “Not just the saying, we’re actually trying to prove every single day and every single practice. We make sure we’re staying on everybody, and we want people to stay on us if we’re slacking. So, we’re just trying to install that mindset, like, ‘OK, we’re not [up to the] Gator Standard if we’re not a top-five defense.
“I just want to help my team win. Whatever Coach Grantham tells me to do, I want to do it and want to win, so if it doesn’t matter. I’ll do whatever to win. Somebody says cut off my finger to win, I’m going to do it.”
Added Diabate: “I feel like this is the closest team I’ve been on personally. All of us, we’re cool, we hang out, and we’re with each other all day after football regardless. We might have workouts at 5, and we might still be in the locker room at 8 talking. We’re a close team, and we all know what each other wants, and we’ll push ourselves to get there.”
Grantham believes having good cohesion does more than just motivate the players to work harder in practice and hold each other accountable. He thinks it has an intangible impact on the results on Saturdays.
“When you bring guys together, you have an individual grade for your players,” he said. “But collectively, we have more power. We have more juice as a unit. So, I’m saying with the mindset of our players right now and where they want to go and with the work ethic they have, as we move forward, we look forward to playing as a unit, and, as you play as a unit, you can play with that synergy that allows you to be the kind of defense you want to be.”
Only time will tell whether last season’s debacle was an aberration caused by weird circumstances or a troubling sign of things to come. If the defense doesn’t experience a dramatic turnaround, it won’t be for the lack of a plan or effort.
The Gators need Grantham’s three-step plan to work. Their championship hopes are riding on it.
Talk is cheap. Show me.