If you want to get better at an activity, there are generally two ways to go about it. One is to get better at the things you are trying to do. The other is to stop doing the things that are holding you back from performing well.
This article is about the latter. Florida did some things that hurt the cause in 2023, or otherwise had attributes that held them back. UF either has or could address these to be a better team, so let’s look at one such aspect for each unit.
Special teams: disorganization
It’s a dead horse that’s been beaten enough, so I won’t rehash the details. Florida’s been far too disorganized on special teams under Billy Napier, and it has hurt the team in some critical ways.
Napier hired Joe Houston from the New England Patriots to help bring better organization to the unit. They will, for instance, use a mat with 11 circles on it this fall to help make sure the special teams group that might be about to go out is fully staffed and ready to go. Teams from youth sports up to the NFL use them, so there’s no real reason not to if the task of preparing personnel groupings is an issue.
A new NCAA rule change means that analysts can do direct instruction on game days. This will help too, because Napier’s special teams coordinator, Chris Couch, is and has been an analyst. He and Houston will be able to personally get guys ready rather than relying on information relays or coaches who aren’t the special teams coordinator.
There is real value to this because when the special teams unit is actually organized, it has done well. There are a handful of advanced special teams efficiency ratings out there, and they don’t count things like only having ten men on kick blocks or substitution penalties or whatever. They solely look at the plays as they happened for things like net punting, field goal efficiency, and return game efficiency.
For example, the SP+ special teams ratings (which are explained here) had Florida ninth overall in 2023. The FEI special teams ratings, which have their explanation at the top of the page, had the Gators 13th overall last year. I believe these are the kinds of things Napier has been talking about when he’s defended his special teams unit as actually being good over the past year.
They are good, at least when they get their act together. Having an extra special teams coach, and having both such guys be able to actually coach on game days, should help the unit eliminate what’s been dragging it down while not regressing in the other areas.
Defense: lack of experience in the secondary
The guys in the defensive backfield are perhaps the most physically spread out of any unit, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need to play as one. Everything they do has to be in harmony because they’re spread out, as major disaster can strike any time there is even a small miscommunication.
Jason Marshall spoke on Monday about losing his confidence last year, something that really showed on Saturdays. He can play, and has played, better than what he put on film in 2023.
It’s easy to see how that could happen given the circumstances. UF’s backfield was plagued by blown coverages and poor tackling, a byproduct of both inconsistent effort all over and tremendous youth specifically at safety. There arguably isn’t much safety offered by that position when it’s primarily being manned by a true sophomore and a pair of true freshmen. If a corner can’t rely on safeties to have his back, it’s going to be a rough ride.
Experience is no longer a problem. Not only are the returning players like Jordan Castell a year older and wiser, but the portal brought in Asa Turner, DJ Douglas, and Trikweze Bridges. They have a combined 12 seasons of substantial game time between them, not even counting years of practice as redshirts. Marshall has also talked about how having a finally healthy Devin Moore opposite him at corner raises his confidence as well.
To be sure, there are myriad miscues that players can make that aren’t just freshman mistakes, and not every older player is a better player. However, it’s about impossible for a unit to play confidently as one when no one is sure what the others are going to do on any given snap. Florida has some good talent in the secondary, and it can once again try to max out its potential with the security that comes with much greater experience on the whole.
Offense: predictability
Napier wasn’t the most aggressive with his offense last year. I can think of a number of reasons why that might be aside from “he’s too conservative”.
The offensive line wasn’t very good, wasn’t very deep, and wasn’t completely healthy. The defense could give up a score on just about any given play. Graham Mertz was in his first year in the system and wasn’t reliably accurate beyond about 15 yards upfield.
UF was also predictable on offense, with formation (pistol set versus true shotgun) doing more than you might want to tip off run versus pass. As discussed on Gators Gameday, predictability isn’t per se bad if you want to set up big gains on counterpunches. It’s hard to get a play action deep shot to work if the defense doesn’t think you’re going to run. Being predictable to some degree will condition the defense to think run when you want to hit them over the top, but you really need to be good at those predictable runs to avoid throwing too many plays away (especially since deep shots are lower percentage plays).
Napier was never going to completely change what his offense is about, even with Russ Callaway earning a co-OC title and expanded responsibilities in the offseason. What we’ll see this year is not going to be worlds different than what we saw last year.
Still, there is room for improvement. Less effective plays can be pared back, and there can be more diversity within the calls. UF targeted the tight end on 27% of passes from the pistol but just 6% from the gun. It also used designed runs 65% of the time from the pistol but just 31% from the shotgun. Maybe even those up some? Plus, you don’t actually have to run it that much for play action to be effective. Not that the Gators were super run-heavy last year — the offense was 58% called passes and 42% designed runs — but the longer shots don’t need as many handoffs as you might think to set them up.
All in all, Florida has some good pieces in a lot of places on offense. The line is still a question, particularly on the right side, but the ingredients are there for a better showing this year. With an impossibly experienced quarterback running the show, it’s the right time to mix things up more and be more aggressive. Even if the defense gets substantially better, it still won’t be able to hold leads on its own against many opponents on the slate. A lead is a defense’s best friend, so sometimes complementary football means the offense getting after it all game long.