Florida is Del Rio’s third school after stops at Alabama and Oregon State, and he seems to feel the urgency.
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A few seconds later, Del Rio took his seat – right in the middle of the scrum.
University of Florida coach Jim McElwain’s mantra a year ago was 15 opportunities, the notion that the Gators were going to be national title contenders in his first season at UF.
The Gators won the SEC East last season – McElwain’s first – with a 10-4 record.
“I would challenge us to be dramatically better”, McElwain said. And so as a unit, there’s obviously a lot of new faces there.And yet, I’ll be interested to see how they go about their daily work and how they choose to get better every day.
Florida managed to win a dysfunctional division thanks mostly to a dynamic defense.
Getting the offense turned around is another story – and the top priority. Also worth noting is that Del Rio hasn’t worked much with Antonio Callaway, inarguably Florida’s best offensive weapon. And what I’ve seen out of him from a leadership standpoint is something that I think is really good, and you know, just looking at them, they have grown up a little bit.
Quarterbacks: “I think right now the biggest thing is – and you’ve heard me talk about this, and I really believe: To play successful football at the quarterback position, the people around you, A, have to believe; and B, they have got to trust in everything you’re doing; and C, their play is elevated based on how you go about playing the position”.
While most are assuming Del Rio eventually will be named the starter, Appleby isn’t ready to concede anything.
Appleby, a graduate transfer from Purdue, completed 8-of-11 passes for 80 yards in the spring game and has 11 college starts. Now, he’s vying with former Purdue starter Austin Appleby for the starting job.
Florida HC Jim McElwain said that “nothing has been finalized” in terms of punishments for freshman WR’s Tyrie Cleveland and Rick Wells.
Cleveland and Wells, both freshmen, are facing felony charges for allegedly firing BB guns into a residential hall last month. All three will be allowed to practice.
The offensive line, which gave up an NCAA-worst 45 sacks last season, lost two of its most experienced players in Trip Thurman and Mason Halter.
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Florida offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier says it “would be foolish” not to use retired coach Steve Spurrier as a resource. “That’s maybe a lot of the excitement: to watch how much growth we’re going to have, not only where we came from the end of past year through spring, but where we’ll be from the start of camp to the end of camp”.
