Vosean Joseph slimmer, faster and ready for big season

Big things have been expected from Florida Gators junior linebacker Vosean Joseph since he put that monster hit on LSU quarterback Danny Etling way back in 2016.

That viral hit along with several other hard knocks from his freshman season put him on the radar to breakout as a sophomore. Unfortunately for Joseph, that did not exactly pan out.

He still finished as Florida’s third-leading tackler with 55 on the season in 2017, but often found himself missing assignments and not making plays he should have made. He will be the first person to admit that he over-pursued on most plays.

Joseph did not actually come to that realization until going back and watching the film from last season with his new coaches, and he couldn’t believe just how bad he looked at times. The skill was there, but he knew he had a lot of work to do over the offseason, so he went to it.

“I got my footwork better and my pursuit angles,” he said. “Last year I was just ‘okay, I’m going to go play football and hit this man or whoever got the ball.’ Now, it’s more the scheme. I’m actually learning the game now. For me to just be able to look at it, to see where I messed up last year and come back, it actually helped me a lot.”

As many other players have already said, Joseph noticed the biggest changes coming to his game once he got to work with strength and conditioning coach Nick Savage.

While most of his teammates worked to make gains over the offseason, Joseph actually slimmed his figure down. He said he lost around 10 pounds, but his biggest accomplishment was going from 17 percent body fat all the way down to six percent.

“I want to say it started with Coach Savage in the weight room,” he said. “When them boys came in, we didn’t know anything about them. They came in and all we did was work, work, work, work, and worked our butts off. Ever since we’ve been doing that, everybody has a different mindset. We’re fixing to go out there and give it our all. We’re going to strain and continue to push through. You haven’t seen nothing like it. If there is a block in the way, we’re fixing to run though the block, whatever it is.”

Now that he has his body where he wants it to be, he feels even faster. Fellow linebacker David Reese said he fully believes that Joseph is the fastest linebacker on the team, but he still has the power to lay someone out at any given time.

Last season showed Joseph that he wasn’t everything fans, media or even he himself thought he was. He knows there is still so much more in him, and he is ready to prove it once and for all.

“It humbled me,” Joseph said. “I want to say as a freshman I thought I was going to do something big and then I got too big headed last season and didn’t play like I wanted to. Watching my film, I was able to see myself and coach myself that I did this or that. I pushed myself and said I was going to take my time and get this correct. I’m fixing to work on this until I perfect it. That’s what I’ve been doing so I can become a better player.”

Bailiegh Carlton
A lifelong sports fan, Bailiegh Carlton knew from a young age that she wanted to work in sports in some capacity. Before transferring to the University of Florida to study journalism, she played softball at Gulf Coast State College. She then interned for Gator Country for three years as she worked toward her degree. After graduation, Bailiegh decided to explore other opportunities in the world of sports, but all roads led her right back here. In her time away, she and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. When she isn't working, she can almost always be found snuggled up with sweet baby Ridley, Cody and her four fur babies.