Florida is looking to a new head coach to bring the program back to prominence in the Southeastern Conference and the nation after a 7-5 season a year ago.
Former Colorado State Head Coach Jim McElwain takes over for Will Muschamp, who is now an assistant at Auburn.
“I think part of the experience of being in this conference is realizing it doesn’t happen just overnight,” said McElwain, who was once the offensive coordinator at Alabama.
“It’s something that we know,” he continued. “We go to work every day, every time we wake up, our responsibility is to try to go out there and win. There’s never been a game that we haven’t been in that we don’t think we’re going to go out and be successful, and that’s really what it’s all about. We’ve got a ways to go, and yet there are some good things in place.”
Vernon Hargreaves III
One of those things in place for the Gators is two-time All-SEC First Team defensive back junior Vernon Hargreaves III, who also picked up several All-American nods a year ago.
“I don’t think we lost our confidence in winning,” he said. “Right now, we are focused on the little things, like getting guys on time to meetings and workouts, and staying out of trouble. It’s the little things that lead to the big picture.”
“The main message Coach McElwain has emphasized so far is to do what is right,” he added. “He’s really focused in on us doing what is right both on and off the field.”
Hargreaves led the conference in pass breakups a season ago with 13 to go with 50 tackles and three interceptions. Senior linebacker Antonio Morrison is the top tackler back with 101 last fall.
There are questions on offensive as only four starters return. Junior Kelvin Taylor had 565 yards rushing with six touchdowns. For his career, he has 1.073 yards with 10 scores. He was on the All-SEC Freshman Team in 2013.
Another junior, Demarcus Robinson, had 53 catches for 810 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Sophomore quarterback Treon Harris started at the end of last season. He completed 55 passes in 111 attempts for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns. He is competing with red-shirt freshman Will Grier.
Brandon Powell
Another player hoping to have an impact is sophomore Brandon Powell, who is moving from running back to wide receiver.
“The most difficult transition has been learning the route depth,” he said. “I might drift a bit in certain routes or not run at a certain depth. That’s really the biggest transition for me because I’ve never played receiver before.”
Powell, who gained 70 yards with a touchdowns last year, is excited about both quarterbacks.
“They both work well with the wide receiver group and they are on us,” said Powell, who had 15 catches for 147 yards in 2014. “If we drop a ball or run a bad route they both get on to us. They both are taking the leadership and know that this job is up in the air.”
“They’re competing against each other, but they aren’t talking bad about each other,” he added. “They both are pushing everybody and pushing the receivers to do their job and getting the extra work in. They’re both doing a good job.”
The Gators opened the season with a pair of non-conference affairs at home against New Mexico State (Sept. 5) and East Carolina (Sept. 12). Florida travels to Kentucky to begin SEC play on Sept. 19.
Editor’s note: Quotes, photos and logos courtesy of CollegePressBox.com.