This season begins a new era at linebacker for the Florida Gators. The names of Jarrad Davis and Alex Anzalone will no longer be called over the speakers at The Swamp on Saturdays. Instead, it will be names like Kylan Johnson, David Reese, Vosean Joseph and Jeremiah Moon.
While it is tough to let go of players who meant so much to the program, they left a lasting impression on their teammates. Their legacy will continue to live on through the players following in their footsteps this season.
“They taught us everything we know,” Joseph said. “So if we’re not better than them, then there’s something wrong. Between me, Reese, Kylan, Moon, everybody on the defense, we’ve just gotta come and play football at the end of the day.”
Davis and Anzalone not only left big holes to fill from a playmaking standpoint, but also from a leadership standpoint. They were two of the greatest leaders Florida has had, and that is not easy to replace, especially when the three most experienced linebackers on the team are a pair of sophomores and a redshirt sophomore.
Head coach Jim McElwain emphasized the need for those guys to step up this year at Florida’s Media Day on Wednesday.
“I think what David, Vosean obviously, Kylan, as we talked about earlier, those guys have to really be leaders, and you know what, it’s only their second year,” said McElwain. “I think them getting their feet wet and actually not really just walking through the puddle but jumping in the pool, those guys really made a huge impact and believers in the guys around them, and I think that’s positive. Their continued growth, but more than that, their continued play, their actions, their communication with each other and the others in front and in back are going to be huge.”
It will be especially important for Reese as the starting middle linebacker this season. He stepped into that role nicely over the last half of the 2016 season, but a wrist injury set him back, forcing him to miss the bowl game and the spring.
He fit back in right where he left off when he returned and he is prepared to become that voice the Gators need on defense this season. He is not only accepting, but owning his responsibilities.
“I take that challenge head on,” Reese said. “I have guys like JD and Alex to follow after. They basically set the standard of what a linebacker does and what that means to this team … Linebacker is a fatal position in the leadership role and somebody has to take it, and I’m willing to take it.”
Johnson also feels an obligation to become a leader moving forward.
“Basically, knowing that we are the veterans,” he said of the biggest thing the linebackers need to focus on. “We know we’re the vets compared to the young dudes that just came in, but now we have to start acting like it more and set an example for them about how things are supposed to go.”
The youth at linebacker, and the defense as a whole for that matter, has been an expressed cause for concern from the media throughout the offseason. It’s difficult for the players to avoid every single story saying the defense will take a step back this season, but they try not to pay it much mind and just let their play do the talking.
“I don’t get too caught up in thinking about that sort of thing,” said Reese. “They probably just think because we’re young that we can’t get things done, but we’re just excited to work in camp and get into it. There’s nothing you can do talking before the season to make people believe in us, anything we can tell people to make people believe in us. It’s just when we come first game after this camp and we better ourselves throughout camp and show what we have. If you still feel that way then I don’t know what to tell you.”
What many seem to look over when talking about this group’s youth is how much experience it actually has. While last season’s injuries to Davis and Anzalone were devastating, they may have actually been a blessing in the skies in the long run.
Reese and Johnson earned a lot of valuable playing time in their absence and combined for 10 starts as a freshman and redshirt freshman. The two played in every game (excluding the Outback Bowl for Reese) and finished fifth and seventh on the team in tackles.
Joseph was not called on as much as a freshman, but still played in all 13 games and really came on late in the season and made some big plays and punishing hits. Moon redshirted last season, but he did get two games under his belt before suffering a thumb injury. When watching him in the spring game though, it almost felt like he was the veteran.
The point is, all of these guys bring something special to the table and aren’t just the typical young players coming into the season unproven.
“People keep forgetting about how many games they’ve actually played in or have started before,” said defensive coordinator Randy Shannon. “The difference is when you have a true freshman playing in his first college game primetime, that tends to wear on you. But if you have guys who have been in like major games and that have really played some football, it really doesn’t affect them that much.”
These linebackers are confident that the transition will be a lot smoother than many believe. The last half of last season was a sneak peak of the future, and it looked pretty bright. They had two of the best mentors they could have, and now they are ready to build on that legacy.
“They left us with enough knowledge and enough presence,” Reese said of Davis and Anzalone. “I feel like we’re gonna be able to fill in like we have before. I feel like we’ve done it already, somewhat, so we’re just ready to advance that and keep on moving forward with this next era of linebackers.”