In his third year at the helm of the Florida Gators, head coach Will Muschamp was forced to hire three new position coaches and find a new defensive coordinator as adjustments were made to the coaching staff following the 2012 season.

According to information released by Florida on Wednesday, offensive coordinator Brent Pease received a $100,000 hike in his annual salary as well as a one-year contract extension. Pease also earns annual retention bonuses of $100,000.

New special teams coordinator/outside linebackers coach Jeff Choate will be paid $290,000 in his first year on the job ($100,000 higher than the contract he signed to be defensive coordinator at UTEP). Additionally, offensive line coach Tim Davis and tight ends coach Derek Lewis each received $25,000 salary bumps.

The figures for defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, wide receivers coach Joker Phillips and defensive line coach Brad Lawing were previously released on March 1.

A look at the coaching staff’s 2013 salaries compared with their counterparts in 2012:

2013 Coach	2013 Salary	2012 Coach	2012 Salary
Will Muschamp Head Coach	$2.75M (5 years)*	Will Muschamp Head Coach	$2.75M (5 years)
Brent Pease Offensive Coordinator / QB	$590K (3 years)^	Brent Pease Offensive Coordinator / QB	$490K (3 years)
D.J. Durkin Defensive Coordinator / ILB	$490K (2 years)~	Dan Quinn Defensive Coordinator / DL	$510K (2 years)
Jeff Choate Special Teams Coordinator / OLB	$290K (1 year)	D.J. Durkin Special Teams Coordinator / LB	$340K (2 years)
Brad Lawing Assistant Head Coach / DL	$390K (3 years)	Bryant Young Assistant Defensive Line	$230K (1 year left)
Brian White Running Backs	$290K (1 year)	Brian White Running Backs	$290K (1 year)
Tim Davis Offensive Line	$300K (1 year)	Tim Davis Offensive Line	$275K (1 year)
Joker Phillips Wide Receivers / Recruiting	$265K (2 years)	Aubrey Hill Wide Receivers / Recruiting	$230K (1 year)
Travaris Robinson Defensive Backs	$230K (1 year)	Travaris Robinson Defensive Backs	$230K (1 year)
Derek Lewis Tight Ends	$215K (1 year)	Derek Lewis Tight Ends	$190K (1 year)
Jeff Dillman Strength & Conditioning	$215K (1 year)`	Jeff DIllman Strength & Conditioning	$215K (2 years)

* Muschamp received a one-year contract extension through the 2017 season.
^ Pease received a one-year contract extension through the 2015 season.
~ Durkin received a $150,000 raise as he moved from special teams to defensive coordinator and agreed to a new two-year contract.
` Dillman is in the second year of a two-year contract signed in 2012.
- Florida generally signs most of its assistant coaches to one-year renewable contracts (Choate, White, Davis, Robinson, Lewis).
- The Gators are spending $275,000 more in salary than the program did in 2012.

Universal contract notes and bonuses:
- All coaches receive a $10,000 bonus from Florida’s contract with Nike
- All coaches receive use of a car and other tangible incentives
- BCS National Championship Game appearance – up to 30 percent increase
- Other BCS bowl game appearance – 20 percent increase
- SEC Championship Game appearance – 10 percent increase
- Non-BCS bowl game – 10 percent increase
- Bowl game with less than $2 million payout – one month’s salary increase

The Orlando Sentinel and multiple other media outlets obtained the salary information referenced above directly from the University of Florida.

Tags: Brad Lawing, Brent Pease, D.J. Durkin, Derek Lewis, Jeff Choate, Joker Phillips, Tim Davis, Will Muschamp

With the 2013 Orange & Blue Debut now officially in the books, OGGOA is here to take a look at what happened Saturday afternoon on Florida Field inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium during the Florida Gators spring game practice and how head coach Will Muschamp felt about the team and his players after the conclusion of the day’s events.

OFFENSE: STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS
* Separate story on passing game (quarterbacks, wide receivers) to be posted Sunday.

Running Backs
A starter emerges: Sophomore Matt Jones did not see a lot of action on Saturday by design. Why? Because Jones has played so well throughout the spring that he has all but officially been named Florida’s starter in the backfield. “Matt has really had an outstanding spring. We have a good comfort level where he is as a player,” Muschamp said. “He’s a physical runner. He understands our protections. He’s got great hands in the throwing game. There’s no question he’s an all-around back. He can do everything for us and he’s shown it to us for 14-straight practices.”

Four-deep with a freshman shining: Behind Jones there are three other players competing for carriers – redshirt junior Mack Brown, freshman Kelvin Taylor and sophomore walk-on Mark Herndon. On Saturday, Brown barely got any carries with the vast majority of snaps going to the latter two players. Unlike Jones, it did not look like the coaching staff was resting Brown. Taylor looked dynamic and Herndon made it quite clear why the coaches have praised him throughout the spring with multiple nice runs including a touchdown scamper from inside the 10-yard line. Though Taylor started slow, he showed nice patience running between the tackles, looked decent in pass protection and showed shiftiness breaking a tackle and moving the ball to the outside. Late in the scrimmage, he had a 15-yard run off-tackle and later scored a red zone touchdown from eight yards out when he stuck the ball over the goal line.

Asked about Taylor after the game, Muschamp gushed about how impressive he has been just 15 practices into his Gators career. “Kelvin’s got a really strong lower body. He runs through contact extremely well. He’s got natural instincts in the run game. You get the turns and reps and [need to learn] the protections and all the things that you got to be able to do for us at running back, but [I’m] extremely pleased with his progress,” Muschamp said. “He’s a very talented runner. Some positions are easier than others to contribute as a freshman. That’s a natural instinct position. You get the guy the ball and let his natural instincts take over and run for daylight. And he can do that. It’s the other things we got to brush up on.”

Continue Reading » 2013 Florida Gators Orange & Blue Debut Review

Tags: Alex McCalister, Andre Debose, Antonio Morrison, Austin Hardin, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Brad Phillips, Brian Poole, Bryan Cox, Clay Burton, Colin Thompson, D.J. Durkin, Damien Jacobs, Daniel McMillian, Dante Fowler, Darious Cummings, Darrin Kitchens, Demarcus Robinson, Dominique Easley, Florida Field, Jabari Gorman, Jarrad Davis, Jaylen Watkins, Jeremi Powell, Jonathan Bullard, Kelvin Taylor, Kent Taylor, Leon Orr, Loucheiz Purifoy, Mack Brown, Marcus Maye, Marcus RObinson, Mark Herndon, Matt Jones, Max Garcia, Michael Taylor, Neiron Ball, Orange & Blue Debut, Tevin Westbrook, Trey Burton, Tyler Moore, Valdez Showers, Will Muschamp

Now two weeks into 2013 spring football practice, Florida Gators defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin met with the media on Thursday to discuss some of the latest developments surrounding the team and provide updates on specific players.

KEY TO THE DEFENSE: BUCK LINEBACKER

Head coach Will Muschamp, above all else, has stressed creating turnovers and affecting the quarterback as two of his main tent poles for a successful defense. The Gators made great strides in the former category in 2012, coming away from the season with a +15 turnover margin (30 total turnovers gained) compared to a -12 margin (14 total turnovers gained) in 2011.

As far as affecting the quarterbacks with sacks is concerned, Florida was not as successful. As a team, the Gators registered 28 sacks in 2011 and finished with just two more for 30 in 2012. Though Florida was able to apply more pressure, it did not always result in getting the quarterback to a ground.

Part of the reason the Gators were unable to make bigger strides in that area was the fact that they were not playing with their ideal personnel at the Buck linebacker position, the key to Muschamp’s defense. Redshirt junior Ronald Powell missed the entire season with a torn ACL, so Lerentee McCray stepped up as the starter and freshman Dante Fowler, Jr. got a look as well. Now with Powell expected to be healthy for the fall, Durkin is confident that Florida will be able to get more production from the position.

“Scheme is one thing but when you got the guys out there that are hard to block, that’s another thing. It adds another dimension to it. With those guys, we really feel good about our one-on-one match-ups. When we get those guys one-on-one, we should be winning more than we’re losing,” he said Thursday.

Powell is not healthy enough yet to practice, but the Gators appear confident that he will be able to suit up when fall practice rolls around.

Continue Reading » 3/28: Durkin talks Gators defense, evaluations

Tags: Antonio Morrison, Brad Lawing, Cody Riggs, D.J. Durkin, Damien Jacobs, Daniel McMillian, Dante Fowler, Darious Cummings, Jabari Gorman, Leon Orr, Loucheiz Purifoy, Marcus Maye, Ronald Powell

Through the 2013 NFL Draft from April 25-27, Florida Gators safety and 2012 leading tackler Josh Evans will be keeping fans up-to-date on his Path to the Draft via a weekly blog entry exclusively here at OGGOA.

Evans’s fifth entry covers his second return to Gainesville, FL during the offseason, the Pro Day workout on Tuesday and what his plans are for the next three weeks as he continues to workout and meet with teams.

I came back up to Gainesville late last week and the first thing I did was settle in to my place and meet up with a massage therapist to get my hamstring rubbed down. It’s just a strain. It’s something I felt during the combine. It’s kind of nagging, but it feels alright. Once I get to top speed, it is sometimes hard to maintain without it giving out. But I’m feeling better each day and we have a phenomenal training staff here at Florida so I know they’ll get me back to 100 percent in no time.

Over the weekend I also worked out a bit, did a few starts and warmed up, nothing too big because the Pro Day was in a couple of days. So I basically just worked on my flexibility and made sure I was good to go. I also met with San Francisco on Monday and had a great talk with them.

A lot of people noticed how I now have a yellow stripe in my hair. I got that done two days ago just to do something a bit different. I don’t plan to have it long, but I wanted to have it for Pro Day because I figured it would definitely help me stand out on the field.

As far as Pro Day goes, I was pretty comfortable the whole time. Any time you come back to your home field, The Swamp, there’s always that comfort you have being around your teammates and seeing the coaching staff you’ve dealt with for the last few years. I did not feel nervous; however, you still want to go out there and perform well in front of the head coaches, general managers and scouts. It was a pretty good day to get out there and run around, and I felt like all went well.

We were all concerned a bit when we first got out there saw it was raining because you don’t want to run on a wet field if you can help it. We try not to use excuses of course, but to be honest, the field was wet. The balls were even wet sometimes. We managed to overcome the obstacle and all performed well.

Continue Reading » Josh Evans – Path to the 2013 NFL Draft: Pro Day

Tags: combine, D.J. Durkin, Draft, Jeff Dillman, Josh Evans, NFL, Pro Day, Travaris Robinson, Will Muschamp

Nineteen former Florida Gators football players – including five that have been off the team for more than a year – participated in Pro Day at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on a rain-covered Florida Field in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday.

Representatives from all 32 NFL teams were in attendance though many head coaches and general managers remained at their teams’ headquarters considering Pro Day was being held on the same day as the start of NFL free agency for the 2013 season.

“It’s an exciting time. That’s how Pro Day is supposed to look at Florida,” head coach Will Muschamp said after the event. “All 32 teams are here and that’s how it ought to be. As we continue to do a good job evaluating in recruiting and developing our players, which we will, our Pro Days will continue to look that way. Really proud of these guys that worked out today and appreciate all their contributions to the University of Florida. I want to congratulate our staff on doing an outstanding job developing these guys.”

“I think they’ve all worked extremely hard,” he continued. “They understand what’s at stake. These guys are at a great time in their life. Here they are the verge of playing in the arena on Sunday. That’s something, as you look at, you’re a football player and taking that next step. They understand what’s at stake. I’m proud of what I saw today just form the standpoint of how they worked and how they conducted themselves, the positive feedback I’ve gotten from general managers, head coaches, assistants and the National Football League of the character of our guys and how they handled themselves at the combine. All of it has been ultra-positive. I’ve been real pleased about that.”

Below are evaluations on and quotes from many of the Gators that participated on Tuesday. Defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, linebacker Lerentee McCray and tight end Jordan Reed did not work out but will in a separate, private Pro Day event on March 22 in The Swamp. Reed did still participate in some on-field drills Tuesday.

Muschamp had nothing but high praise for Floyd when asked about him potentially going in the top five picks. “Turn on the tape,” he said. “The guy can anchor, he can play the run, he’s got great initial quickness, he can rush the passer. He’s everything you want from an inside player. The NFL teams, they don’t like to project. I’ve been there; I know. They want to see guys that play in 3-4 and 4-3. They’ve seen him play two-gap. They’ve seen him play nose. They’ve seen him play four-technique, They’ve seen him play one-gap, three-technique, five-technique, nine-technique. They’ve seen him play outside; they’ve seen him play inside.

“From a general manager prospective, talking to his owner and telling him he wants to spend money on a player – a clean player that has no issues off the field – that’s a very smart pick, in my opinion. You got a guy that can be a very dominating player that has got so many positive things surrounding him and he’s been exposed positionally to so many different things within our scheme.”

Other former Gators in attendance to root on the younger guys included wide receivers Reidel Anthony and Riley Cooper, defensive end Carlos Dunlap, linebacker Mike Peterson, running back Chris Rainey and linebacker Brandon Siler.

Safety Matt Elam

» NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock (via Florida’s website): “On tape he plays so close to the line of scrimmage, especially in their nickel package, he’s on the slot. He’s quick-footed, an aggressive tough kid. What I saw today was what I wanted to see, his ball skills, especially on deep balls. I could see him open his hips, take angles like a deep half or deep third. I thought he really helped himself today.”

Continue Reading » Former Florida Gators shine at 2013 Pro Day

Tags: Brandon Antwine, Brent Pease, Caleb Sturgis, Carl Johnson, D.J. Durkin, Draft, Earl Okine, Frankie Hammond, James Wilson, Jelani Jenkins, Jon Bostic, Jordan Reed, Josh Evans, Lawrence Marsh, Matt Elam, Mike Gillislee, Moses Jenkins, NFL, Omar Hunter, Omarius Hines, Phil Trautwein, Pro Day, Sam Robey, Scott Peek, Will Muschamp, Xavier Nixon

With the Florida Gators set to begin 2013 spring practice on Wednesday, head coach Will Muschamp and new defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin met with the media Tuesday to discuss a variety of topics concerning the team’s defense.

RELATED: Spring depth chart released | Muschamp, Pease on offense

A NEW MAN IN CHARGE…

Durkin will be entering his fourth year as a member of the Gators’ coaching staff but will begin the 2013 season with a brand new task – coordinating a defense. After spending his career as a position coach and special teams coordinator, Durkin is now the man in charge of Florida’s defense and realizes he has plenty of work ahead of him.

» Durkin on becoming the defensive coordinator: “I’m very excited, excited because of the guys I get to work with both players and coaches. I think it’s a great opportunity. I’m very excited about it. It’s a new challenge. I’ve been doing special teams for a while, so any time you do something for that long, you kind of get in your routine and get to the normalcies of it and all that. It’s exciting for me to have a new challenge and some different things to work on and do.”

» Durkin on his defensive philosophy: “The number one thing that it comes down to is, and I think you’ve seen the identity of our defense, what we as a staff want to build here. We want to be tough, blue-collar team. We want to play with unbelievable effort and enthusiasm in what we’re doing. That’s the way I coach. That’s my personality. That’s what I hope I’ve carried over to our special teams while I’m here and it will be the same thing with our defense. We got a great system in place. We’re not changing terminology and all that. Coach Muschamp, it’s his system and he’s a great defensive mind. It’s been great for all of us to learn that system. To me, that is what this game is all about, being a blue-collar team, both mentally and physically tough, playing with great enthusiasm and great attitude. “

Continue Reading » Muschamp, Durkin discuss Florida Gators defense

Tags: Alex Anzalone, Alex McCalister, Antonio Morrison, Austin Hardin, Brad Lawing, Brad Phillips, Brian White, Bryan Cox, Bryant Young, D.J. Durkin, Daniel McMillian, Dante Fowler, Darrin Kitchens, Dominique Easley, Jeremi Powell, Joey Ivie, Joker Phillips, Jonathan Bullard, Kyle Christy, Michael Taylor, Neiron Ball, Ronald Powell, Travaris Robinson, Will Muschamp

In his third year at the helm of the Florida Gators, head coach Will Muschamp was forced to hire two new position coaches and find a new defensive coordinator as adjustments were made to the coaching staff following the 2012 season.

According to information released by Florida on Friday, new defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin had his pay bumped up to $490,000 per season.

It was also announced that wide receivers coach Joker Phillips signed a two-year contract at a rate of $265,000 per season and defensive line coach Brad Lawing jumped aboard with a three-year contract paying him $390,000 annually. Lawing also received a $50,000 signing bonus and will receive another $50,000 as a retention bonus if he remains with the team through the end of his contract and into 2016.

A look at the coaching staff’s 2013 salaries compared with their counterparts in 2012:

2013 Coach	2013 Salary	2012 Coach	2012 Salary
Will Muschamp Head Coach	$2.75M (5 years)*	Will Muschamp Head Coach	$2.75M (5 years)
Brent Pease Offensive Coordinator / QB	$590K (3 years)^	Brent Pease Offensive Coordinator / QB	$490K (3 years)
D.J. Durkin Defensive Coordinator / ILB	$490K (2 years)~	Dan Quinn Defensive Coordinator / DL	$510K (2 years)
Jeff Choate Special Teams Coordinator / OLB	$290K (1 year)	D.J. Durkin Special Teams Coordinator / LB	$340K (2 years)
Brad Lawing Assistant Head Coach / DL	$390K (3 years)	Bryant Young Assistant Defensive Line	$230K (1 year left)
Brian White Running Backs	$290K (1 year)	Brian White Running Backs	$290K (1 year)
Tim Davis Offensive Line	$300K (1 year)	Tim Davis Offensive Line	$275K (1 year)
Joker Phillips Wide Receivers / Recruiting	$265K (2 years)	Aubrey Hill Wide Receivers / Recruiting	$230K (1 year)
Travaris Robinson Defensive Backs	$230K (1 year)	Travaris Robinson Defensive Backs	$230K (1 year)
Derek Lewis Tight Ends	$215K (1 year)	Derek Lewis Tight Ends	$190K (1 year)
Jeff Dillman Strength & Conditioning	$215K (1 year)`	Jeff DIllman Strength & Conditioning	$215K (2 years)

* Muschamp received a one-year contract extension through 2017.
^ Pease is in the second year of a three-year contract signed in 2012.
~ Durkin received a $150,000 raise as he moved from special teams to defensive coordinator and agreed to a new two-year contract.
` Dillman is in the second year of a two-year contract signed in 2012.
- Florida signs most assistant coaches to one-year renewable contracts. Therefore, retained coaches are listed with their respective salaries from the 2012 season until the university releases new contract information in August.
- The Gators are spending $65,000 more in salary than the program did in 2012.

Universal contract notes and bonuses:
- All coaches receive a $10,000 bonus from Florida’s contract with Nike
- All coaches receive use of a car and other tangible incentives
- BCS National Championship Game appearance – up to 30 percent increase
- Other BCS bowl game appearance – 20 percent increase
- SEC Championship Game appearance – 10 percent increase
- Non-BCS bowl game – 10 percent increase
- Bowl game with less than $2 million payout – one month’s salary increase

The Florida Times Union and multiple other media outlets obtained the salary information referenced above via an open records request.

Tags: Brad Lawing, D.J. Durkin, Joker Phillips, Will Muschamp

1 » Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp is set to make 10 appearances at local Gator Clubs (eight in the state of Florida and one in Atlanta, GA) as part of the team’s four-week 2013 Gator Gathering schedule. The events are open to the general public; however, tickets are sold for each speaking engagement with proceeds benefiting the individual Gator Clubs and the university. Below is the full schedule but you can check out Florida’s official release about the speaking engagements here.

April 2 – Gainesville Quarterback Club
May 1 – Titletown Gator Club (Gainesville, FL)
May 2 – Tampa/Pinellas County Gator Clubs
May 7 – Polk County Gator Club (Lakeland)
May 8 – Central Florida Gator Club (Orlando)
May 14 – Gator Club of Jacksonville
May 15 – Atlanta Gator Club
May 20 – Jacksonville Quarterback Club
May 23 – Fighting Gator Touchdown Club (Gainesville)
TBD – Daytona Quarterback Club

The Florida head coach normally speaks at 10 Gator Clubs and a couple other events. This year, four assistants will each be taking care of one Gator Club speaking engagement including three on the same day.

May 7 – defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin – Southwest Florida Gator Club (Fort Myers)
May 7 – defensive line coach Bryant Young – Panhandle Gator Club (Panama City)
May 7 – wide receivers coach Joker Phillips – Palm Beach County Gator Club
May 14 – offensive line coach Tim Davis – Space Coast Gator Club (Brevard County)

2 » Now having completed his four days at the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine, Gators defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd has put himself in position to be a top-five overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Unanimously considered the best three-technique tackle in the field, Floyd interviewed with a number of teams at the event and will now visit with teams privately as they determine whether or not to select him. On the second day of his combine trip, Floyd met with the media and provided plenty of honest answers about his childhood and life as a football player up to this point.

Floyd was asked if he believes his game resembles another NFL player’s and revealed that he did not watch professional football growing up but could definitely single out one player. “I haven’t really watched the league in a long time,” he said, “I first started watching it in 2007, but I did get to know Ndamukong Suh in 2010, so we have a good relationship, and I’ve watched him play a couple times.”

He also explained why he has not watched a lot of NFL games. “It wasn’t that there was no interest, I just didn’t know nothing about it, so there was no reason to watch it,” he said. “Even when I started playing there was no interest in watching it because I liked to play it instead of sitting down and being still and watching a game while all my friends were jumping around and getting excited for no reason. It just wasn’t a preference of mine, but now it is so I watch it and play it now.” What was he watching instead? The Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, he said.

Tags: Bryant Young, combine, D.J. Durkin, Draft, Joker Phillips, NFL, Sharrif Floyd, Tim Davis, Will Muschamp