Muschamp gathers Gators fans in Gainesville

Making his first of 10 stops on his state-wide (plus Atlanta, GA) tour of Gator Clubs, Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp arrived at the Gator Gathering in Gainesville, FL on Thursday to much fanfare and excitement. He spent the evening giving a speech and answering questions about the team, meeting fans and signing autographs. Though OGGOA was not on-site (but will be for one in May), there were some newsworthy notes and tidbits from the event.

» Asked to discuss rumors of potential transfers, Muschamp said he did not anticipate a lot of defections but admitted “there may be one or two.” He will continue conducting exit interviews (something he picked up from Nick Saban and not Mack Brown) with players on Friday and Monday before concluding the session for the spring.

» Anyone concerned that junior defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd would be forced to remain on the outside most of the time this season can relax as Muschamp said specifically on Thursday that he knows Floyd “is by far a more disruptive player inside than when he’s playing on the edge.” He said that Floyd will play defensive end in some sets, of course, as will junior DT Dominique Easley once he returns this summer from his anterior cruciate ligament injury.

» Junior Buck linebacker Ronald Powell is set to undergo surgery on his torn ACL on Monday and is expected to be sidelined at least until early October. Muschamp said that doctors wanted to wait for the swelling to go down before operating and added that Powell continues to work extremely hard even while sidelined. He also indicated that redshirt senior Lerentee McCray, who had been playing Sam linebacker, would get first crack at filling in for Powell.

» Despite being absent from Florida’s roster in 2011 and not listed on the spring edition in 2012, Neiron Ball’s name was mentioned by Muschamp who said he would like to get him “back in the fold” in the fall. Ball had a blood vessel in his brain rupture prior to the 2011 season and redshirted in order to fully recover from his vascular condition. He has been cleared to workout with the team but did not see the field in the spring.

» Muschamp somewhat defended former head coach Urban Meyer when asked by an audience member if he was handed a “broken program” following the 2010 season. “You know, Urban did a great job at the University of Florida” he said. “He won two conference championships. He won two national championships, and I don’t think you do that without discipline. That’s my opinion. I know that I’m very proud to be a part of a program that he was part of. He did a great job at Florida.”

» One line Muschamp said that has gotten the most press is a relatively simple comment about where he feels the Gators are progress-wise heading into the summer and fall. “I think we’re better right now than we were at any point last year,” he said.

Information used in the above notes comes courtesy of Bryan Holt of InsidetheGators.com and Robbie Andreu of The Gainesville Sun.