Sean Spencer has a pretty impressive coaching resume at the college level. As Vanderbilt’s defensive line coach from 2011-13, he helped the normally downtrodden Commodores rank among the nation’s top-25 in total defense in each season.
He then followed James Franklin to Penn State and worked with the Nittany Lions’ defensive front. They led the nation in sacks in two of his six seasons in Happy Valley. They posted more than 40 sacks in three consecutive seasons for the first time since the mid-2000s. Carl Nassib broke the school record with 15 ½ sacks in 2015.
After working for the New York Giants for the past two seasons, Spencer is back in the college game as Florida’s co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach. Spencer feels like he’s back where he belongs.
“I missed that part of mentoring the young men,” Spencer said. “I grew up without a father. I really feel like this was my gift back. For somebody that didn’t have [a father], this was my gift back. I was able to connect with young people.
“I just like mentoring players and helping them further their careers, not just in football but in life.”
Spencer has one of the best nicknames for a defensive line coach – “Coach Chaos.” He said that the nickname originated when he was at Vanderbilt and used to break down huddles by having his players yell “Chaos.” Strength and conditioning director Dwight Galt gave him the nickname, and it stuck.
“I had all this energy,” he said. “All of a sudden, he just said ‘Follow Coach Chaos.’ We were running in a circle when we didn’t know where we were going. He said follow Coach Chaos, and it stuck. I’ve got to give him credit.”
Spencer will try to unleash some more chaos on opposing quarterbacks this fall. The strength of the Gators’ defensive front figures to be at tackle. Gervon Dexter, Desmond Watson, Chris Thomas and Jalen Lee are all massive and athletic, and early-enrollee Chris McClellan is an intriguing player to watch for down the road.
Dexter, 6-foot-6 and 313 pounds, played in all 25 games over the past two seasons and started 11 of them. His physical tools made him a five-star recruit and gives him a ton of upside. Spencer is trying to make him a more fundamentally sound player this spring to allow him to tap into his potential more.
“He works so hard,” Spencer said. “He wants to be great. He’s in my office all the time. One time, I asked him, ‘Can I sit in my chair?’ because he’s sitting in there watching film. He wants to be great. He knows I’ve coached guys like Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence. I’ve shown him tape of those guys, and he wants to be great like that, and I think he has a chance to be great.
“He has tremendous work ethic, and his ceiling has not been reached yet. Really, no kid’s ceiling should really be reached, but his ceiling has not been reached. This guy has unbelievable potential. He can move in a short area. He can power the pocket if you need him to. He can take on double teams. I don’t know what he can’t do. That’s not saying he’s doing all the things, but I don’t what he can’t do.”
Dexter said that a coach like Spencer is exactly what he needed at this point in his career.
“He’s a great technique coach,” he said. “That’s kind of what I was missing. I was playing a lot of just physical football and dominating the game just based off me and my physical ability. Coach Chaos came in and he’s – the same way Coach [Billy] Napier is doing – breaking the small things down and teaching me the small techniques that I may not [have] known was a problem but is a problem.”
Watson has to be one of the largest people to ever play at Florida. He’s listed at 6-foot-5 and 415 pounds. He’s not just a brick wall, though, as he moves much quicker than you might expect for someone his size. The biggest key with him is to get his conditioning up. He rarely, if ever, played back-to-back snaps last year. With offenses seemingly operating with more tempo ever year, it’s going to be important for Watson to get in better shape for him to make an impact.
“Sometimes, we line him up in the gap, and he’s really taking up two,” Spencer said. “It’s kind of awesome where maybe we can play with 10 on the field. We’ve got to continue working on his conditioning, which is best for him long term. He moves exceptionally well for a big person, but we’re going to continue to work on his conditioning and get him prepared to play because he’s got to be able to play multiple plays. I’m excited about Des.
“We do a sled drill where big Sharrif Floyd and Coach [Karmichael] Dunbar stand on it – those are two pretty big dudes – and Des lifts that sled up. The guy bench presses 560 pounds. That’s like an electric car.”
While the big guys in the middle might receive the most hype this offseason, Spencer said that he likes the group he has at the strongside end spot as well.
Princely Umanmielen is the top returning player, as he played in all 13 games in 2021 and started the bowl game. He’s better as a run-stopper than as a pass-rusher, so he’ll be looking to expand his game this spring. Dexter made a bold prediction for the type of season he is going to have.
“He’s probably one of the most dominant rushers in the SEC,” Dexter said. “He waited his turn, and now he gets the chance to show that.”
Dante Zanders, Justus Boone and Tyreak Sapp figure to compete for snaps behind Umanmielen.
Spencer spoke particularly highly about Sapp, who he views as a guy that can slide inside to provide some interior rush on passing downs.
“Sapp’s a great kid, came from a really good program, worked with Jason Taylor,” he said. “Jason did a great job with him, coaching him up when he was younger. He’s a student of the game, and he works hard. He’s a ball of muscle. He’s going to be fun to coach.”
The defensive line still has a ton of work to do before they’re ready to play at a high level, but Spencer’s history suggests that they’ll get there quickly.
They don’t call him “Coach Chaos” for nothing.