Almost a year ago to the day, I had to write about the SEC canceling all sports activities for the rest of the 2020 spring. Rather than just note that fact and move on after a 100-word column, I looked at how Florida was not going to miss its spring practice as much as several teams on the schedule would.
It was very early then, and one of the highlighted opponents (FSU) didn’t even end up on the final schedule. I didn’t say that UF could always do without spring, or that the practice session wasn’t that valuable, but I reckoned at the time that having a returning quarterback with schematic stability on both sides of the ball would mitigate the loss.
To an extent, it did. Kyle Trask set all kinds of records, and the offense had one of the best campaigns in school history. The continuity there really did help, and we saw players like Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney, and Malik Davis make real strides despite not having spring practice.
Plus, some of the issues we saw on the team wouldn’t have gotten better with spring practice. The lack of depth at defensive tackle, as exposed any time Kyree Campbell was out, wasn’t going to change. I don’t believe UF had any spots available to give to additional transfers other than Stewart Reese last summer.
And as for Reese’s position group, it seems unlikely that the lineup would’ve changed as the present one is basically the same as last year minus the now-graduated Brett Heggie. Spring practice wouldn’t have prevented Ethan White from getting hurt in fall practice, though occasional injury fill-in Joshua Braun would’ve gotten some extra seasoning as an early enrollee. The communication issues on the right side wouldn’t have been fixed though, as Reese didn’t join the program until the fall.
However as we saw all across the country, defenses suffered without the tackling practice of the spring. Florida was no exception. Players across the back seven were just plain bad at it in their first couple of games, and different guys having different start dates showed it was an across-the-board thing. An unusually small number of redshirt and true freshmen saw the field except in injury-forced situations, reflecting the coaches’ lack of time seeing them prove themselves in practice.
It’s easy to forget that spring practice allows for all kinds of development, even the ones none of us think about much. There is enough time, for instance, for quarterbacks and receivers to do tackling drills.
#Gators QBs and receivers are…tackling. pic.twitter.com/BU4AwrCvv5
— Bailiegh Carlton (@BailieghCarlton) March 18, 2021
Ideally Florida won’t lose more than an average of about a turnover per game, and it almost certainly won’t lose more than about two per game. Since some lost turnovers can come on special teams and offensive ones tend not to have a lot of people around when they happen, the number of times any given offensive player who doesn’t play special teams will be asked to tackle someone is quite small. And yet, the coaches are being thorough enough to at least run a drill for it. That’s how much they’re focusing on development in all phases.
It’s not just about player development. The coaching staff has three new members, including both secondary coaches. In the latter case, coordination between the two is especially important given how communication was such a major issue a year ago. As it happens, Wesley McGriff said yesterday how he and Jules Montinar are working well together so far. They aren’t having to figure it out on the fly in only the fall session.
The defense especially has responded well to getting spring, as it reportedly has been ahead of the offense the entire way. That is as it should be, as defense always tends to be ahead of the offense in this phase of the year. The offense has yet to fully develop its timing and rhythm, and chaos usually favors a defense. That’s not to say the unit has been flawless; yesterday’s Instagram stream, for instance, showed a coverage bust on the running back coming out of the backfield. However, the confusion, indecision, and relative lack of adjustments that marked last year’s defense should largely be gone this year with everyone from the staff to the early enrollee freshmen knowing everything a lot better.
All of this and more is why it was a canny move for the Gators to get their spring practice session in so early while it could be guaranteed to complete even if there was a disruption. Activities shutting down due to COVID is not yet a thing of the past. Getting going as soon as they did allowed for a break if necessary, but fortunately one hasn’t been required.
After all, Florida doesn’t have nearly the continuity it did a year ago. UF doesn’t have many seniors who took advantage of the COVID eligibility mulligan, so there is turnover everywhere. Trask is gone, as are his top three targets. The secondary returns just three of the seven players who saw the most snaps a year ago. The defensive line welcomes two new guys in the middle, while the offensive line is even moving returners around with Reese reportedly penciled in at center for now.
Many changes from last year are by necessity; some are by choice. Either way, they are being made with time to consider and adjust. It’s time that few teams had last year and that UF needed more than we knew.
Spring practice is the portion of the year reserved for optimism, and it’s growing right now. With Dan Mullen and his staff known more for development than anything else, it should. Now is when a lot of that development happens, and it’s going to make a difference on the field this fall.