3/13: Muschamp on first day of spring practice, Easley, Purifoy, Powell, Robinson
Florida Gators football competed its first official day of 2013 spring practice on Tuesday, and head coach Will Muschamp met with the media after its conclusion to discuss some of the highlights from the day’s activities.
GETTING BACK INTO THE GROOVE
“First day in shorts. That’s not how you play football,” Muschamp said after coming in from the practice fields. As Florida looks to replace a number of starters and develop its roster, the coach was pleased with what he saw from the team on Wednesday, especially on the offensive side of the ball now that it is entering year two under offensive coordinator Brent Pease.
“Good to see offensively from a standpoint of guys teaching fundamentals and technique as opposed to scheme,” he said. “Anytime you’re new… Brent and them coming in last year and changing some things and teaching scheme as opposed to honing in on the fundamentals and technique of the positions and what we need to do. That makes us even better than obviously a year ago at this time, which we need to be. That’s refreshing.”
He was also pleased with the Gators’ attitude and top-notch work ethic, which continued from the offseason program. Muschamp added that he is proud of where Florida is at this time but does have a few specific areas of concern.
“Definitely we got to have some question marks inside answered, linebacker depth answered and safety. That’s where we’ve got some serious question marks defensively,” he said.
All-in-all though, the day was a net positive for the Gators. “You only get 15 [spring practices] and you either get better or worse, and I thought we improved,” he said.
ANSWERING THE DEFENSIVE QUESTION MARKS
Florida lost a lot up the middle in the offseason. Gone are both of the Gators’ starting defensive tackles, both of the starting inside linebackers and both of the starting safeties. Though Muschamp is comfortable with his defensive backs and believes that flexibility in the secondary will allow safety play to not be an area of concern, he is less enthused with the defensive front seven.
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