Florida Gators redshirt sophomore tackle Chaz Green and sophomore fullback Hunter Joyer met with the media on Wednesday to discuss the season opener set for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against the Bowling Green Falcons.

2011 WAS ALL THE MOTIVATION THE GATORS NEEDED

Ending the 2011 regular season with a paltry 6-6 record was enough motivation for Florida to work hard this offseason, Green said on Wednesday. In fact, he said the players did not even need the coaches reminding them how poorly they played to know that things had to change quickly.

“The year we had, there wasn’t much that needed to be said. We kind of just knew the mindset. We came in and everybody was hungry; everybody knew what we had to do. It wasn’t about talking or about pointing fingers. Everybody knew we didn’t have a good year. We have to get back to where we can be, where we should be,” he said.

One thing that did stick out the team’s mind, however, was head coach Will Muschamp calling them soft near the end of the regular season. Though he would only speak for his unit in particular, Green noted that the offensive line knew they needed to do better.

“I think we took that personally as a team,” he said. “We can only worry about us as the O-line. We realized there were things we had to improve on. We worked on that in the spring and feel that we’re stronger, ready to go.”

NOTES AND QUOTES

» Green said that he may be on the first team for the season opener, but he considers himself one of three starters (along with senior Xavier Nixon and redshirt junior Matt Patchan, who is out for the game) and not two. “It’s not really a ‘starter;’ it’s three guys that can rotate – three starters,” he said.

» Green on the quarterback competition: “There’s just so much [other stuff] that we got to worry about. Both guys we respect a lot. Whoever they go with, we’re fine with. We like both guys. They’re both great quarterbacks.”

» Green on freshman guard Jessamen Dunker: “He’s just one of those guys…you know he’s an O-lineman. He’s a nasty guy.”

» Green on if redshirt junior G Jon Halapio would be a good defensive tackle: “I think he’d be all right. Maybe short yardage, goal line, run stopper. He ain’t rushing no quarterback though, I’ll tell you that.”

» Joyer on the defense: “They’re looking great. I think they’ll be one of the top defenses in college football this year, to be honest. All the linebackers, defensive line, defensive backs are doing great as well.”

» Joyer on if the motions and shifts will continue the offense’s pre-snap penalty issues from a year ago: “I think our penalties will be way down this year.”

Tags: Chaz Green, Hunter Joyer, Jessamen Dunker, Jon Halapio, Matt Patchan, Will Muschamp, Xavier Nixon

Though things could still change over the next five days, the Florida Gators on Monday morning released the team’s first official depth chart for the 2012 season. As was noted by head coach Will Muschamp last week, sophomore quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel will both play against the Bowling Green Falcons though who will take the first snap has not yet been determined.

Florida omitted players who are not participating in the season opener, therefore the below depth chart is not the “best case scenario” version. A list of those players can be found at the end along with some additional explanations.

QB: Jeff Driskel OR Jacoby Brissett
RB: Mike Gillislee, Mack Brown
FB: Hunter Joyer, Trey Burton
WR (X): Frankie Hammond, Jr., Latroy Pittman/Andre Debose
WR (Z): Quinton Dunbar, Solomon Patton
F: Trey Burton, Omarius Hines
TE: Jordan Reed, Clay Burton

LT: Xavier Nixon, Kyle Koehne
LG: James Wilson, Ian Silberman
C: Jonotthan Harrison, Sam Robey
RG: Jon Halapio, Jessamen Dunker
RT: Chaz Green, Trip Thurman

Click to expand and check out the rest of the week one depth chart.

Tags: Andre Debose, Antonio Morrison, Bowling Green Falcons, Chaz Green, Clay Burton, Damien Jacobs, Dante Fowler, Darrin Kitchens, Dominique Easley, Drew Ferris, Frankie Hammond, Hunter Joyer, Ian Silberman, Jacoby Brissett, James Wilson, Jaylen Watkins, Jeff Driskel, Jelani Jenkins, Jessamen Dunker, John Crofoot, Jon Bostic, Jon Halapio, Jonotthan Harrison, Jordan Reed, Kyle Christy, Kyle Crofoot, Kyle Koehne, Latroy Pittman, Leon Orr, Lerentee McCray, Louchiez Purifoy, Mack Brown, Michael Taylor, Mike Gillislee, Neiron Ball, Omar Hunter, Omarius Hines, Quinton Dunbar, Sam Robey, Sharrif Floyd, Solomon Patton, Todd Fennell, Trey Burton, Trip Thurman, Tyler Murphy, Xavier Nixon

With the 2011-12 athletic season now in the books and the 2012-13 season about to begin, the focus has shifted to the return of Florida Gators football. For the second-straight year, OGGOA will take a look at every player of substance on the roster, counting down by jersey number, in this series: The Countdown.

77 – Ian Silberman (Orange Park, FL)
Redshirt sophomore guard
6’5” 303 lbs.

Quick Bio: Silberman enrolled early in January 2010 coming out of high school as a four-star recruit. He was the No. 8 player at his position nationally according to Rivals but only saw action in the season opener that year.

2011 Season: Though he bulked up some between his freshman and sophomore years, Silberman was moved to guard and only appeared in three games as a reserve.

2012 Outlook: Silberman has gained 19 lbs. since last season but has not been spoken about much other than as a third-string reserve on the offensive line. He will play plenty of special teams though, according to head coach Will Muschamp.

76 – Max Garcia (Venice, FL)
Junior offensive lineman
6’4” 307 lbs.

Quick Bio: A two-sport athlete in high school who competed in shot put and discus in addition to playing football, Garcia committed to Maryland and despite not seeing much action as a freshman started at left tackle in all 12 of the team’s games during his sophomore season.

2012 Outlook: Due to NCAA transfer rules, Garcia is being forced to redshirt and will miss the entire 2012 season. Coaches, however, have noted that he is playing quite well during practice and they are very high on his potential to be an impact player in 2013.

Check out five more players in this edition of The Countdown…after the break!
Continue Reading » The Countdown: Florida Gators roster (79-70)

Tags: Chaz Green, D.J. Humphries, Ian Silberman, Jeff Dillman, Jessamen Dunker, Jonotthan Harrison, Matt Patchan, Max Garcia, Sharrif Floyd, Will Muschamp, Xavier Nixon

Head coach Will Muschamp met with the media on Monday following the Florida Gators‘ first scrimmage of the fall. He spoke about a number of topics including what was learned this weekend, the quarterback competition and how players are progressing.

REVIEWING THE SCRIMMAGE

Offense
Muschamp said the Gators offensive unit accounted for 11 “explosive plays” (more than 12 yards on the ground, 15 through the air) over the course of the scrimmage and that they were equally split between the running and passing games. He also pointed out that he was pleased with how the unit got in and out of the huddle and went through the scrimmage, giving special praise to the running backs.

“Offensively we ran the ball very well. Mike Gillislee, Mack Brown had his best scrimmage since he’s been here, and Matt Jones – all three ran the ball extremely well. Very pleased with those guys getting the ball north and south.”

Defense
While the offense did well overall, it also put the ball on the ground four times and the quarterbacks combined for three interceptions (though he would not say who threw them). That also means the defense did well in one of the No. 1 areas in which it had to improve from last season – turnovers.

There were also 11 missed tackles on the afternoon, a number that Muschamp said was unacceptable but also choked up to the rust of just getting into the new season.

Special Teams
Nothing in particular stood out in this area for Muschamp though his instance the some of the younger players on the team contribute to this unit perhaps means there is not as much desire to play on special teams as there was previously at Florida.

“Special teams we need more young guys to step up and contribute,” he said. “We’ve got some really good athletes in this freshman class and they need to step up. They need to come to the table and understand that that’s part of…one-third of the game and it’s very important here at Florida – controlling the vertical field position of the football game.”

QUARTERBACK COMPETITION ADDRESSED
Click to expand and read the rest of this post.

Tags: Chaz Green, Dante Fowler, James Wilson, Jon Halapio, Jonotthan Harrison, Jordan Reed, Kent Taylor, Kyle Koehne, Mack Brown, Marcus Maye, Matt Jones, Mike Gillislee, Omarius Hines, Raphael Andrades, Will Muschamp, Xavier Nixon

Florida Gators fans in Palm Beach County were visited by a head football coach for the first time since 2008 and came away both enthusiastic and impressed on Thursday when Will Muschamp dropped by the Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds to discuss his first season at the helm and his expectations for 2012.

After a 20-minute opening statement, Muschamp took questions for another half hour and stuck around to sign autographs for all of he nearly 200 fans in attendance. Below is a recap of some of the more newsworthy and interesting topics that Muschamp covered (and were not included in stories here and here):

» The competition between sophomore quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel has not slowed down at all. “I have the utmost confidence in both guys. They’re working extremely hard here in the offseason. It’s going to be critical – it’s got to become their football team. And their competition will make each other better which will make our offense better and is going to make our football team better,” he said. “Jacoby and Jeff are both guys we can win a championship with. I do know that. [...] We can win with both. I’d like to name a starter. If we have to play both, we will play both. We’re going to do what it takes to win games at the end of the day. If one guy will distance himself then certainly we will name him the starter.”

» Muschamp said Florida had a legitimate opportunity to match-up against and win every game but two in 2011. “There’s a fine line between winning and losing,” he said. “Last year we played two football teams that were better than us in Alabama and LSU. The rest of the games we had our opportunities. Whether it was maturity or coaching or whatever you want to say it was, at the end of the day we didn’t get the job done. 7-6 is not acceptable at Florida; neither is 15-11 – that’s what we’ve been the last two years.”

» Junior safety Matt Elam’s groin continues to be an issue for the Gators but Muscahmp is confident it will be all healed by the time summer rolls around. “He twinged it in the latter part of spring. We really needed to look at the young safeties Valdez Showers and Jabari Gorman – get those guys a lot of reps. Matt’s a good football player. I know what he can do,” he said. “I pulled him the last three practices before the spring game. I just felt like it was another opportunity for someone else to get the reps. I saw him in the weight room [Wednesday]. He looks great and is working hard. He’s a guy that is very instinctive, has great ball skills, toughness. He can cover; he can play in man and zone. He does a lot of things for our football team.”

» His pair of freshman offensive linemen are impressing him: “Jessamen Dunker from here in Boynton Beach and D.J. Humprhies from Charlotte, North Carolina are two really good players. I’d recruit them again. Glad they’re on our football team.”

» Muschamp said he learned plenty of lessons after his first season as a head coach but in the end you cannot change what happened, you can only move forward. “There’s a lot to be learned through last season. You can’t go back and re-do and press the reset button and start over. That’s not what you do. You learn from it, you move forward, and I think our guys have learned from it,” he said.

Continue Reading » Muschamp gathers Gators in West Palm Beach

Tags: Antonio Morrison, Chaz Green, D.J. Humphries, Dominique Easley, Gator Gathering, Jabari Gorman, Jacoby Brissett, James Wilson, Jeff Driskel, Jeremy Brown, Jessamen Dunker, Jon Bostic, Jordan Reed, Matt Elam, Matt Jones, Matt Patchan, Neiron Ball, Ronald Powell, Sharrif Floyd, Valdez Showers, Will Muschamp, Xavier Nixon

1 » Florida Gators junior Buck linebacker Ronald Powell tore his anterior cruciate ligament during the 2012 Orange & Blue Debut and photographer David Carr happened to capture the moment about one second before the injury occurred. As you can see below, courtesy of InsidetheGators.com, Powell was pulling up from attacking the ball carrier as he believed freshman LB Antonio Morrison had him tackled. However, redshirt sophomore tackle Chaz Green kept playing through the whistle (as he should) and shoved Powell in the back to get him away from the play. Powell planted his left foot at the same time as the push and tore his ACL as a consequence.

Click to expand and read four more BITS in this post.

Tags: Antonio Morrison, baseball, Brian Johnson, Chaz Green, Draft, Gabi Wiegand, Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, Kitty Cullen, lacrosse, Mike Zunino, MLB, New York Giants, New York Jets, Nolan Fontana, Nora Barry, Ronald Powell, Will Hill

A handful of Florida Gators spoke on Thursday about how they and the team as a whole is coming along heading into the 2012 Orange & Blue Debut on Saturday, April 7. The scrimmage will air live on Sun Sports and FOXSportsFlorida.com at 1 p.m.

FLOYD STILL PLAYING DEFENSIVE END

It was quite obvious during the 2011 season that junior Sharrif Floyd was not completely comfortable playing defensive end and succeed at a higher level by playing defensive tackle. However with two solid players on the inside and lacking players on the outside, Floyd bit his lip and played end to help the team. Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn noted at the beginning of the spring that Floyd is indeed better suited to play inside and that he would see more work there this year although he would also continue playing end for depth reasons. That is not necessarily what is happening on the practice fields.

“It’s one of my best springs since I’ve been at Florida,” Floyd said Thursday. “I’m still out at defensive end and getting better at each day at it. Now I understand it so it’s no problem with me anymore.”

It may not be a “problem” for him but Floyd nodded in agreement when asked if he preferred to play inside. “We’re still low on numbers right now so it’s still about what we have and what we need,” he explained. “As of now, in our base front, I’m the D-end. In the nickel front, I’m the defensive tackle. It hasn’t been that way throughout spring ball because of numbers so right now I’m at D-end. Ideally, getting ready for the season, I should be inside for good or, depending the way it goes, I’ll be playing both.”

WILSON READY FOR HIS FIRST SPRING DEBUT
Click to expand and read the remainder of this post.

Tags: Chaz Green, Cody Riggs, Dan Quinn, James Wilson, Louchiez Purifoy, Marcus Roberson, Matt Patchan, Orange & Blue Debut, Sharrif Floyd, Xavier Nixon

You may be excited that, in a few lines, you are getting a look at the Florida Gators 2012 spring practice depth chart. Don’t be. As he explained one year ago, head coach Will Muschamp does not put a lot of stock in the spring’s first depth chart, referring to it in 2011 as not worth the paper it was printed on. In other words, it is just a starting-off point for 2012 and plenty can change between now and the end of spring, the start of summer, the beginning of fall or when the season starts. Nevertheless, below is the depth chart as it was presented on March 13.

RELATED: Muschamp, Pease talk offense | Muschamp, Quinn talk defense

Florida omitted players who are injured or limited and not participating in spring practice. A list of those players can be found at the end along with some additional explanations.

QB: 12 Jacoby Brissett OR 6 Jeff Driskel
RB: 23 Mike Gillislee, 33 Mack Brown
FB: 8 Trey Burton OR 43 Hunter Joyer
WR (X): 4 Andre Debose, 89 Stephen Alli
WR (Z): 1 Quinton Dunbar, 83 Solomon Patton
WR (Slot): 85 Frankie Hammond, Jr., 13 Latroy Pittman
TE: 11 Jordan Reed, 20 Omarius Hines* OR 88 Clay Burton

LT: 71 Matt Patchan*, 73 Xavier Nixon
LG: 66 James Wilson, 50 Sam Robey*
C: 72 Jonotthan Harrison, 64 Kyle Koehne*
RG: 67 Jon Halapio, 74 Jessamen Dunker
RT: 75 Chaz Green, 71 Matt Patchan*

Click to expand the remainder of Florida's 2012 spring depth chart.

Tags: A.C. Leonard, Andre Debose, Antonio Morrison, Brad Phillips, Caleb Sturgis, Chaz Green, Clay Burton, Cody Riggs, Cole Gilliam, D.J. Humphries, Damien Jacobs, Darren Kitchens, De'Ante Saunders, Dominique Easley, Drew Ferris, Earl Okine, Frankie Hammond, Gideon Ajagbe, Graham Stewart, Hunter Joyer, Ian Silberman, Jabari Gorman, Jacoby Brissett, James Wilson, Jaylen Watkins, Jeff Driskel, Jelani Jenkins, Jeremy Brown, Jessamen Dunker, John Crowfoot, Jon Bostic, Jon Halapio, Jonotthan Harrison, Jordan Reed, Josh Evans, Kedric Johnson, Kyle Christy, Kyle Koehne, Latroy Pittman, Leon Orr, Lerentee McCray, Louchiez Purifoy, Mack Brown, Marcus Roberson, Matt Elam, Matt Patchan, Michael Taylor, Mike Gillislee, Neiron Ball, Nick Alajajian, Omar Hunter, Omarius Hines, Quinton Dunbar, Ronald Powell, Sam Robey, Sharrif Floyd, Solomon Patton, Stephen Alli, Tommy Jordan, Trey Burton, Valdez Showers, Willie Bailey, Xavier Nixon