UPDATE: Florida announces hiring of Brad Lawing to two positions

South Carolina Gamecocks defensive line coach Brad Lawing will be hired to a similar position with the Florida Gators, according to multiple reports on Saturday originating with one from FootballScoop.com.

As of Monday morning, neither school has confirmed the move, though it was reported over the weekend that Lawing was finalizing his agreement with the Gators.

A long-time Gamecocks assistant, Lawing had spent 17 years at the school divided over two separate stints. He first worked at South Carolina from 1989-98 as a defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.

Lawing departed USC and spent four seasons at Michigan State (1999-2002) and three more at North Carolina (2003-05) with the same job description. Upon returning to Columbia, SC, he continued his high level of coaching and led a Gamecocks defensive front that has been one of the best in the Southeastern Conference recently.

A spot on Florida’s staff opened up last week when defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was hired away by the Seattle Seahawks and linebackers coach and special teams coordinator D.J. Durkin was named as a replacement.

Durkin will continue coaching linebackers, which left open coaching positions for defensive ends and special teams.

Lawing will likely coach the entire defenisive line with a focus on the ends, leaving the defensive tackles for current assistant defensive line coach Bryant Young.

Head coach Will Muschamp noted Friday during a press conference that he had “a lot of different avenues to travel down” as it pertained to making his next hire.

“I’ve been in situations where you have a special teams coordinator that coaches everything like D.J. did. I’ve been a part of staffs where we’ve been very successful in special teams where each coach had a part [of the special teams unit to coach]. I’ve been down a lot of those roads. The bottom line is we’re going to find the best fit for the University of Florida, and we’re going to make it work,” he said.

If Lawing’s hiring becomes official, it would appear as if the Gators have decided to coach special teams by committee, a stark departure and certainly a risk for a unit that has been arguably the best in the nation over the last few years.

Tags: Brad Lawing, Bryant Young, D.J. Durkin, Dan Quinn, Seattle Seahawks, SEC, South Carolina Gamecocks, Will Muschamp

Florida Gators defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has left the team to take the same position with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.

Just hours after former Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley was named the new head coach in Jacksonville on Thursday, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll tabbed Quinn as his replacement.

Quinn undoubtedly saw a fantastic opportunity to coach arguably the NFL’s best defense, one which surrendered the fewest points in the league this past season. Before joining the Gators, he coached the Seahawks’ defensive line from 2009-10.

His name also popped up as a candidate for the Jacksonville, Cleveland and Philadelphia defensive coordinator openings. Quinn turned down an opportunity to leave Florida and join Tampa Bay following the 2011 season.

“My wife Stacey and I loved our time in Gainesville,” Quinn said in a school release. “The last two years have been an awesome experience, working for Will [Muschamp] and Mr. [Jeremy] Foley and with a bunch of talented, great players and coaches. Even though we’ll be in Seattle, we look forward to keeping track of the Gators in the future.”

After serving as a collegiate defensive line coach from 1994-2000, Quinn spent 10-straight years in the NFL coaching the same position for San Francisco, Miami, the New York Jets and Seattle. Deciding to return to college was not a decision he took lightly.

“There was [trepidation] on my end because when you’ve done one thing for 10 years and you’re kind of settled, I certainly enjoyed [Seattle] and had a great time working with Pete Carroll and John Schneider, the GM there,” he said on Nov. 7, 2012.

“There was hesitancy, not from coming back to college or coming here or working with Will, but I enjoyed what I was doing there and was happy. I thought the opportunity was too unique to pass up and that’s why I wanted to come do it, and I’m certainly glad that I did.”

He continued, “I had been a defensive line coach for 10 years. For me the chance to, as a play caller and coordinator, lead a bigger group of people, that was one [reason] for me. And then at a place like this, I thought, ‘Where else would you rather do it?’”

Continue Reading » Dan Quinn leaves Florida for Seattle Seahawks

Tags: Bryant Young, D.J. Durkin, Dan Quinn, Jeremy Foley, NFL, Seattle Seahawks, Will Muschamp

Florida Gators junior defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd has been a revelation this season now that he is playing in his natural position inside and no longer spending most of his time on the field at defensive end.

A potential first-round pick in the upcoming 2013 NFL Draft (should he decide to end his college career one year early), Floyd is known for being as thoughtful and insightful off the field as he is powerful and dominant on it.

As part of a team appearance at the 2013 Sugar Bowl on Saturday, Floyd answered plenty of questions from the media. Here are seven of them:

Continue Reading » Floyd on Bullard, Fowler, 2012 rebound, Young

Tags: Bryant Young, Dan Quinn, Dante Fowler, Dominique Easley, Draft, Jonathan Bullard, Neiron Ball, NFL, Omar Hunter, Sharrif Floyd, Will Muschamp

With the team beginning preparations for the 2013 Sugar Bowl against the Louisville Cardinals in New Orleans, LA on Jan. 2, No. 3 Florida Gators defensive coordinator Brent Pease and redshirt senior defensive tackle Omar Hunter sat down with the media to discuss the team’s defense and how it is shaping up for the bowl game.

FOWLER IS “SPECIAL,” POOLE IS IMPRESSING

Head coach Will Muschamp has propped up sophomore cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy all season for making great strides in his game during practices leading up to the 2012 Gator Bowl. Asked Wednesday who has made similar strides so far in these bowl practices, Quinn pointed to two players in particular.

“In the front seven, one that is really coming on that you can see is [Buck linebacker] Dante Fowler. He’s played all year. He’s playing really at a high level right now and to me you can see the momentum, the confidence and the understanding at a faster rate. That part has been exciting,” Quinn said. “On the back end, one guy that has caught my attention that is doing a good job right now is [CB] Brian Poole. I’d say those two players are really ones to me that have caught my eye, and I thought they’ve had a good camp in terms of the work and stuff they’ve put in.”

For players like Purifoy last year and Poole this year, Quinn said it is all about growth and development. Freshmen may not pick up terminology or technique in the few practices before the season begins, so the coaching staff may not have the necessary confidence in them to play them early. As the season goes on, the players are able to pick up a lot more and are then able to display the improvements they have made in bowl practices when younger players get more time on the field.

Asked to point out players that have impressed him in bowl practice, Hunter named Purifoy, Fowler, junior DT Damien Jacobs, freshman defensive end Jonathan Bullard and sophomore CB Marcus Roberson. He had plenty of praise for Fowler in particular.

“That kid’s special. He’s special. He’s what I wanted to be my freshman year. He is very special. He’s going to be a great player here. Quick, powerful guy,” Hunter said. “I think he can play inside at three-technique; I think he can play outside at the end. He can cover tight ends. He’s just a special athlete, special football player. He’s learning the system more than anything. He’s getting smarter. He’s a smarter football player than he was when he first came in. These practices [are] where the coaches can help the younger guys more because the seniors know everything.”

Read the rest of this post…after the break!
Continue Reading » 12/19: Quinn and Hunter talk practice, juniors

Tags: Brian Poole, Bryant Young, Damien Jacobs, Dan Quinn, Dante Fowler, Dominique Easley, Draft, Jelani Jenkins, Jonathan Bullard, Loucheiz Purifoy, Louisville Cardinals, Marcus Roberson, Matt Elam, NFL, Omar Hunter, Ronald Powell, Sharrif Floyd, Sugar Bowl, Tyler Murphy

1 » Florida Gators junior center Patric Young recently sat down for a one-on-one interview with two-time national champion Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls. The two discuss playing at Florida, what it takes to succeed and much more.

2 » The NFL on Thursday announced 13 first-year eligible modern-era players nominated for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Among those listed is current Gators defensive line coach and former San Francisco 49ers defensive end Bryant Young, who played in the league from 1994-2007. Young, the No. 7 overall pick of the 1994 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame, was a four-time Pro Bowl selection, four-time All-Pro, Super Bowl XXIX champion, NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 1999 and member of the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 1990s. Also up for induction is former Florida tackle Lomas Brown, who played in the NFL with five different teams from 1985-2002 and has been on the list of nominees for five years.

Tags: Bryant Young, Chicago Bulls, Joakim Noah, Lomas Brown, NBA, NFL, Patric Young, Pro Football Hall of Fame, San Francisco 49ers

Head coach Will Muschamp met with the media on Monday following the first weekend of fall practice for the Florida Gators. Muschamp spoke about a number of hot topics concerning the team including how much material the players retained from the spring after spending the summer working on strength and conditioning.

HIGH MARKS ON RETENTION AND CHEMISTRY

Though the team has only had three practices together, Muschamp said Monday that he has been pleasantly surprised with how well the team has retained the information given to them in spring by the coaching staff.

“I do want to compliment our players on the retention from spring. It was very evident on the first three days on both sides of the ball the retention we have for spring, which credits our players and the job they did this summer,” he said.

“We are far ahead of – after three practices, mind you – where we thought we would beat this point on both sides of the ball. Not just on defense but on offense, too. That’s a great credit to our players and the buy-in that they had throughout the summer. Again, there’s just three practices so let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, but we are far ahead mentally then I thought we’d be at this point and certainly what Brent [Pease] thought as well.”

He also noted that the team is getting along much better than it was a year ago.

“A lot of that has to do with the staff’s been here a year. There’s a little bit more understanding of what to expect,” Muschamp said. “I think there’s a lot of things that are a little better. Let’s find out and talk to me after practice 18.”

LITTLE RUST FROM INJURED PLAYERS

Muschamp said he was impressed with how redshirt sophomore linebacker Neiron Ball (head) and sophomore cornerback Marcus Roberson (neck) have been practicing early on this fall mostly because neither appears to have a mental block after serious health scares nearly cost them their careers last season.

“Any time you deal with the neck or the head, in my coaching career, you always worry about how a player will come back. But both of those guys, it doesn’t seem like it’s slowed them down. They’re both playing very fast and very physical, and I’m very pleased with both of those guys how they’ve come back,” he said.

He also spoke about the positive mentality and increased level of focus that Ball, Roberson and junior Buck linebacker Ronald Powell (who is not yet back in practice but working hard in rehabilitation) are showcasing.

“I think every injured player has a different appreciation of what they have and what God’s blessed them with. There’s no question that those two young men went through a very difficult time. With Marcus whether or not he was going to play football again, and Ronald of when he’s going to play football again,” Muschamp said.

“Neiron Ball – talk to Neiron. Here’s a young man that, at one point, was a pretty bleak outlook on things as far as ever playing football again. Any young man that has that taken away from him for a period of time or maybe forever, they certainly have a greater appreciation of maybe having the opportunity of what God’s blessed them with and playing a great game.”

Read the rest of what Muschamp had to say on Monday…after the break!
Continue Reading » 8/6: Muschamp praises retention, chemistry

Tags: Brent Pease, Bryant Young, Damien Jacobs, Dan Quinn, Dante Fowler, Earl Okine, Latroy Pittman, Marcus Roberson, Matt Jones, Mike Gillislee, Neiron Ball, Ronald Powell, Tim Davis

With the Florida Gators set to begin 2012 spring practice on Wednesday, head coach Will Muschamp and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn met with the media Tuesday to discuss a variety of topics concerning the team’s defense.

RELATED: Muschamp, Pease talk Florida Gators offense | Spring depth chart

PRIORITIES FOR 2012

Just as offensive coordinator Brent Pease listed his five offensive philosophies heading into the season, Muschamp took time before answering questions on Wednesday to discuss – in detail – his three priorities for the Gators on both sides of the ball this year.

(1) As we hit spring, the emphasis to me as a team [is on] turnover margin. We’re minus 12 last year. We’re 113th in the country. It’s really a minor miracle we won seven games. You can’t win games turning it over and not getting turnovers. When I was at Texas my second-to-last year, I think we led the country in turnovers. We emphasize it. It’s not like we’re all of a sudden going to start emphasizing it. Dan talks about it with our defense every single day. We’ve got to find different ways to emphasize it. I don’t know what if you do the same things you’re going to get the same results. We had 15 dropped interceptions, so we had 15 times where we have both hands on the ball. And we’ve got to finish plays. We’re going to do more ball drills. We’re going to do some things that we’ve got to do to get the ball in position for our offense and let Brent and the guys have a chance. That’s a huge point of emphasis.

(2) We need to make a lot more explosive plays, but we need to limit them on defense, but turnover margin is really the emphasis we’re looking at. Ball possession, security of the ball offensively, big emphasis.

(3) Mental and physical toughness. We had some discipline issues and that falls on my shoulders – 41 what I would call ‘discipline penalties,’ jumping offsides, false starts, 23 false starts, 18 offside penalties defensively, so that’s almost half of our penalties. Those are things we will not tolerate. We’ve got more depth on our football team now. There were some opportunities last year where a guy would jump offsides and we didn’t have anybody else to go to. That guy won’t play anymore, so we’ll get him out of the game and put somebody else in there. [...] The physical toughness of stopping the run and being able to run the ball when you need to, and again, not being hardheaded, we’re trying to run the ball. When they load the box, you’ve got to be able to create some match ups outside and win, but to do the things you’ve got to do to win games, and we’ll talk a little bit about that further.

» Quinn on improving turnover margin: “There’s really two kinds of turnovers. There’s one that I’ll call a conscious effort: You strip the quarterback, you’ve got a big hit on the running back. Then there’s some that are just an unconscious effort: There was an overthrown ball, you picked it [up]. We’ve got to do a much better job of the conscious effort, making a big emphasis on taking the ball away. As coach had talked about, it’s something that we address a lot. So what did I do this offseason that was an important part for me, to call some other clubs and say what are some of the things you’re doing that you guys played so well to get the ball away. I talked to the guys at San Francisco; they had a terrific turnover margin this year so important for me to reach out. Are you doing anything different? [...] It’s awareness for the players, and I emphasized it, and as Will said, if you can do the same thing you’ll get the same results. We’re going to challenge, do some different drills for it, and we’re going to improve in that area.”

» Quinn on mental and physical toughness: “The off season program was the first step in that, and that’s what you’re trying to do. Let’s face it, everybody in the country is talking about being a tough, physical team. Who wouldn’t want to be on a tough, physical team? We all would be. How do you put that into action? And I think it starts in the weight room. [...] There’s something that you get accomplished when you go through a physical offseason program that you come out the other end and you feel a little stronger, and you feel a little more ready to take on a different role on the field. And then when you get out on the grass it’s the competition, and I think that’s one of the really exciting things about coaching at a place like here that there’s some really good competition on the other side of the ball. I think you gain something from that as a player when you have to go against a certain player, whether it’s covering him or taking him on at the line of scrimmage or in that physical element. So that’s one of the things that I’m looking forward to is competition going forward into spring practice.”

Read more about the defense’s players and the coaches’ philosophies…
Continue Reading » Muschamp, Quinn talk Gators team, defense

Tags: Bryant Young, Damien Jacobs, Dan Quinn, Dominique Easley, Earl Okine, Graham Stewart, Janoris Jenkins, Jelani Jenkins, Jeremy Brown, Jon Bostic, Leon Orr, Lerentee McCray, Marcus Roberson, Matt Elam, Neiron Ball, Omar Hunter, Ronald Powell, Sharrif Floyd, Will Muschamp

Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp held a press conference after his coaching staff received 23 National Letters of Intent on National Signing Day.

Opening statement:

“I’m real pleased with how recruiting went. Any time you get to this day, it’s a combination of a lot of hard work and effort by our staff. I think our staff did an outstanding job. You got to improve your program where you know you need to improve your program. Of the 23 players that joined our program today, 14 are line of scrimmage players – mid-skill and big-skill guys. We saw very easily in our season this year we struggled on both lines of scrimmage consistently being able to run the ball and stop the run. I certainly feel like we’ve addressed our most pressing need on both lines of scrimmage. We’ll develop playmakers and depth on both lines of scrimmage.

“I’m really excited about the guys we’ve got in that group and also eight skill guys, which includes a quarterback. We’d like to sign a quarterback every year. I think that’s important. A kicker, Austin Hardin, a guy that came in and did an outstanding job for us. We’re real pleased about him.

“We’ll know about this class in two or three years. I’ll tell you the same thing I did last year: Football is a developmental game, and you got to develop he players. I’m really excited about Jeff Dillman and Jesse Ackerman and our strength staff, our coaching staff – the job that they do in getting our players in here and doing a nice job with them. We’ll know a lot more about this class in two or three years. At the end of the day, this is a developmental game. We’ll be able to address that. It’s not about winning in February. It’s about winning in the fall and developing your football team and addressing your needs, and I think we’ve done that.”

» On Florida recruiting so well in the state of North Carolina: “D.J. Durkin, first of all, is our area recruiter for that area. He does a really nice job of recruiting, period. It was a full team effort. [...] We honed in on the guys we want and the guys we feel like can come and make a difference in our program, and we go after those guys.”

» On three/four-star defensive end Alex McCalister: “Alex McCalister is a guy that came to our camp, he broad jumped over 10 feet, close to a 40” vertical leap. A guy that is 6’6” and 220 lbs., his best football is ahead of him. That’s a very, very explosive athlete and a guy that hasn’t played a whole lot of football.”

» On flipping five-star DE Dante Fowler: “You recruit through this process and sometimes when you get there on signing day, you’re leaving it up to the young man and his family to make a decision. I think Dante had a good fit here at Florida as far as his position was concerned, his opportunity was concerned. We’re excited to add another good pass rusher to our program.”

Continue Reading » Will Muschamp on Florida’s 2012 recruiting class

Tags: Alex McCalister, Austin Hardin, Brent Pease, Brian Poole, Brian White, Bryan Cox, Bryant Young, Colin Thompson, D.J. Durkin, D.J. Humphries, Dan Quinn, Dante Fowler, Jafar Mann, Jeff Dillman, Jeremi Powell, Jessamen Dunker, Jesse Ackerman, Jonathan Bullard, Kent Taylor, Latroy Pittman, Marcus Maye, Matt Jones, National Signing Day, Quinteze Williams, Raphael Andrades, Skyler Mornhinweg, Will Muschamp