Florida’s football program hired Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts to serve as their Executive Head Coach, Co-Defensive Coordinator, and Inside Linebackers Coach this offseason. It’s no secret that the Gators’ defense has struggled over the years, failing to crack the top 71 in total defense and scoring defense in each of the last two seasons under Billy Napier.
The 56-year-old Roberts brings over 30 years of coaching experience to Gainesville, which is something the Gators’ young staff desperately needed. ‘Executive Head Coach’ is an unfamiliar title to many, if not most Gator fans. Roberts states that his mentorship surrounding the Gators’ defense and staff is his most important task.
“I’ve just had the opportunity to be around this game a lot,” Roberts said on his role with Florida’s staff. “I ran this defense for a long time. And you know if someone makes a mistake, I’ve been there, I’ve seen that. So it’s a chance to provide some mentorship, you know, to help guys along the way and [figure out] how I can speed up the process along the way, you know, as fast as possible.”
Roberts has been labeled the ‘godfather’ of the defense that Florida runs, according to Billy Napier. Roberts details his scheme and the priorities that come with it.
“Well it’s still the basic same things. We wanna stop the run, we wanna be efficient, we wanna get off the field on third down. I mean those are the basic parameters,” Roberts said on his defensive philosophies. “And we want to make sure your calls are based upon those things. Especially facing great coaches in the SEC here it goes every week. But you also gotta be multiple so you can use your talent so that in some ways you’re leaning in and you got more, more, more edge rushers, you got more D lineman, you got more DB’s. How can you use those guys to get the best people on the field to help you win football games.”
Tackling has been a major issue for the Gators’ defense, posting a tackling grade of 59.1 in 2023, which ranked 111th in college football. Florida had 116 missed tackles across 12 games last season and 132 across 13 games in 2022.
“We’ve got to emphasize it. We’ve got to be great in that category,” Roberts said on prioritizing tackling. “That’s what the game is about. You do all the all stuff, and you can draw it up, but if you can’t tackle them and get them on the ground, it’s kind of a problem. So, we’ll focus on those basics and those fundamentals and make sure we’re getting better as a group.”
Roberts believes that having an older group will help with tackling.
“It’s going to help tremendously,” Roberts said. “I think there are some certain basic fundamentals that you’ve got to believe in, that you’ve got to preach and make sure they buy in. One thing that helps is you do that for a couple of years and then it starts compounding, so it’s been going on here.”
The Gators failed to create many turnovers a season ago, ranking 129th out of a possible 130 division one teams in turnovers gained, creating just seven in 2023. It almost seemed as if Florida was allergic to falling on fumbles or intercepting passes thrown directly at defensive backs.
“It’s one, taking the shots on the ball, creating those opportunities, but then two it’s you gotta populate the ball in pursuit, you got to be there to take advantage of a tip ball, ball on the ground, interception, all of that stuff,” Roberts said on emphasizing turnovers. “So, it’s just really implementing in practice on a day-to-day basis, we’re doing everything right now, we’re counting attempts, how many punches do we get a day.”
Gator Country spotted secondary coach Will Harris working with the defensive backs on knocking the ball out and recovering it during Florida’s first spring practice, so turnovers are something that they are actively addressing in spring camp.
Florida’s defensive scheme will stay the same and Austin Armstrong will call plays. Time will tell if the experience and mentorship of Ron Roberts will pay off for the Gators, who desperately need to improve defensively in 2024.