While Florida Gators basketball was participating in the 2013 SEC Tournament, the football team held a pair of open spring practices on Friday and Saturday that OGGOA was unable to cover at that time.

Below is a smattering of notes and opinions from the InsidetheGators.com staff, which was in attendance at the practice sessions and delivered six premium reports (as well as two free roundtable discussions) following the proceedings. Each tidbit below has been re-written by OGGOA, but the parts in quotation marks are the specified writer’s own words. Corresponding articles have been linked accordingly.

FREE: Friday Practice Roundtable | Saturday Practice Roundtable

It is important to note that Friday’s gathering was a shirts-and-shorts practice while Saturday’s was the team’s first in full pads this spring.

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

OFFENSE

» Sophomore right tackle Tyler Moore had a rough day overall and was beat off the edge consistently by some of Florida’s most talented rushers like sophomore Buck linebacker Dante Fowler, Jr. and senior defensive end Dominique Easley. [Bryan Holt, InsidetheGators.com]

» In addition to senior wide receiver Solomon Patton, who took nearly all of the Gators’ jet sweeps when he was healthy in 2012, four other pass catchers got a chance to run the ball on that play including sophomore Raphael Andrades, junior Loucheiz Purifoy and freshman Demarcus Robinson. [Bryan Holt, InsidetheGators.com]

» Good news for redshirt senior WR Andre Debose who “showed flashes of the player Florida fans have wanted him to be for four years. Debose is as fast as ever and showed the kind of ball skills that have been missing on a jump-ball catch over Brian Poole.” [Bryan Holt, InsidetheGators.com]

Continue Reading » Gators open spring practice notes and opinions

Tags: Alex Anzalone, Alex McCalister, Andre Debose, Antonio Morrison, Brian Poole, D.J. Humphries, Dante Fowler, Demarcus Robinson, Dominique Easley, Gideon Ajagbe, Hunter Joyer, Jeremy Brown, Joey Ivie, Kent Taylor, Loucheiz Purifoy, Marcus Roberson, Matt Jones, Raphael Andrades, Ronald Powell, Skyler Mornhinweg, Solomon Patton, Tyler Moore, Tyler Murphy, Will Muschamp

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.

Continue Reading » 3/13: Muschamp on first day of spring practice, Easley, Purifoy, Powell, Robinson

Tags: Alex Anzalone, Antonio Morrison, Brent Pease, Daniel McMillian, Demarcus Robinson, Dominique Easley, f, Gideon Ajagbe, Joey Ivie, Kelvin Taylor, Loucheiz Purifoy, Max Garcia, Michael Taylor, Rhaheim Ledbetter, Ronald Powell, Tyler Moore, Will Muschamp

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

Readers may be excited to take a first look at the Florida Gators 2013 spring practice depth chart (see below). Don’t be. As he explained in each of his first two springs with the program, head coach Will Muschamp repeated Wednesday that he does not put a lot of stock in the spring’s first depth chart. In fact, back in 2011, he said it is “not worth the paper it is printed on.” In other words, the depth chart below is just a starting-off point for 2013 and plenty can change between now and the start of the season. Nevertheless, below is the depth chart as it was presented on March 12.

“Obviously we gave you a depth chart. I know it’s just the most critical thing that’s going to happen in the next 12 months of your year,” Muschamp said Tuesday.

RELATED: Muschamp, Pease on offense | Muschamp, Durkin on defense, team

Florida omitted players who are injured and not participating at all in spring practice. A list of those players can be found at the end of this post.

OFFENSE

QB: 6 Jeff Driskel, 10 Tyler Murphy, 17 Skyler Mornhinweg
RB: 24 Matt Jones, 33 Mack Brown, 21 Kelvin Taylor
FB: 43 Hunter Joyer, 29 Rhaheim Ledbetter* OR 25 Gideon Ajagbe*
WR (X): 1 Quinton Dunbar, 4 Andre Debose, 11 Demarcus Robinson
WR (Z): 15 Loucheiz Purifoy*, 88 Solomon Patton^, Raphael Andrades
F Position: 8 Trey Burton, 13 Latroy Pittman, 30 Mike McNeely
TE: 88 Clay Burton, 87 Tevin Westbrook, 18 Kent Taylor, 84 Colin Thompson

LT: 70 D.J. Humphries, 63 Trip Thurman
LG: 76 Max Garcia, 64 Kyle Koehne
C: 72 Jonotthan Harrison, 64 Kyle Koehne
RG: 67 Jon Halapio^, 64 Kyle Koehne
RT: 73 Tyler Moore, 98 Quinteze Williams*

Continue Reading » Florida Gators 2013 spring practice depth chart

Tags: Alex Anzalone, Alex McCalister, Andre Debose, Antonio Morrison, Austin Hardin, Brad Phillips, Brian Poole, Bryan Cox, Chaz Green, Clay Burton, Cody Riggs, Colin Thompson, D.J. Humphries, Damien Jacobs, Daniel McMillian, Dante Fowler, Darious Cummings, Darren Kitchens, Demarcus Robinson, Dominique Easley, Drew Ferris, Gideon Ajagbe, Hunter Joyer, Ian Silberman, Jabari Gorman, Jaylen Watkins, Jeff Driskel, Jeremi Powell, Jeremy Brown, Joey Ivie, Jon Halapio, Jonathan Bullard, Jonotthan Harrison, Kelvin Taylor, Kent Taylor, Kyle Christy, Kyle Crofoot, Kyle Koehne, Latroy Pittman, Leon Orr, Loucheiz Purifoy, Mack Brown, Marcus Maye, Marcus Roberson, Matt Jones, Matt Rolin, Max Garcia, Michael Taylor, Mike McNeely, Neiron Ball, Quinteze Williams, Quinton Dunbar, Raphael Andrades, Rhaheim Ledbetter, Ronald Powell, Skyler Mornhinweg, Solomon Patton, Tevin Westbrook, Todd Fennell, Trey Burton, Trip Thurman, Tyler Moore, Tyler Murphy, Valdez Showers, Will Muschamp

Spring practice for the Florida Gators football program begins on Wednesday, March 13 and lasts for 15 practices concluding with the 2013 Orange & Blue Debut spring game on Saturday, April 6 at 1 p.m. Below is the second half of OGGOA‘s new two-part series that takes a look at the team on a position-by-position basis.

PART ONE: Offense

DEFENSIVE TACKLES
Returning starters (0/2): None
Fresh faces: Junior Darious Cummings, redshirt freshman Quinteze Williams

The Gators have plenty of holes to fill on the defensive side of the ball and it will be up to new defensive line coach Brad Lawing and assistant defensive line coach Bryant Young to figure out how to plug up the middle. With Sharrif Floyd set to become a top-five pick in the 2013 NFL Draft and Omar Hunter finally graduating after five years at the school, Florida will be looking to replace both of its starters. Senior Damien Jacobs, a junior college transfer who played in 12 games during his first season with the Gators, likely has the edge for one of the jobs but will still go up against Cummings (a 2013 JUCO transfer from the same school as Jacobs), Williams and redshirt junior Leon Orr, all of whom will compete for the two positions.

DEFENSIVE ENDS
Returning starters (1/2): Senior Dominique Easley
Fresh faces: Redshirt freshman Bryan Cox, Jr., redshirt freshman Alex McCalister, freshman Joey Ivie

Easley started all 12 regular season games at defensive tackle in 2011 and will be used inside some in 2013 despite starting 11 games at defensive end last season. His flexibility leaves the door open for a number of other players to make an impact. Sophomore Jonathan Bullard earned a pair of starts in 2012 and got rave reviews from the coaching staff; he is next in line to start and/or see major field time as a pure defensive end. McCalister, who won three Scout Team Player of the Week awards and was named Most Valuable Defensive Scout Team Member at the team banquet in Dec. 2012, was praised by head coach Will Muschamp at the end of the season.

Florida’s defense also features a Buck, which can line up with his hand in the dirt as a defensive end or upright as a linebacker. (For the purpose of this feature, Buck has been included in this position group.) Redshirt junior Ronald Powell was praised as much as any member of the team in the 2012 offseason but wound up missing the entire campaign with consecutive ACL tears. Lerentee McCray started in his place but graduated after his redshirt senior season. Though Powell will not participate in spring practice, he will retake his role as starter in the summer assuming he is medically cleared. He will be joined by sophomore Dante Fowler, Jr. – Powell’s heir apparent – and McCalister.

Continue Reading » Gators 2013 Spring Football Preview: Defense

Tags: Alex Anzalone, Alex McCalister, Andre Debose, Antonio Morrison, Austin Hardin, Brad Lawing, Brad Phillips, Brian Poole, Bryan Cox, Bryant Young, Cody Riggs, Damien Jacobs, Daniel McMillian, Dante Fowler, Darious Cummings, Darrin Kitchens, Dominique Easley, Drew Ferris, Jabari Gorman, Jaylen Watkins, Jeremi Powell, Jeremy Brown, Joey Ivie, Jonathan Bullard, Kyle Christy, Kyle Crofoot, Leon Orr, Loucheiz Purifoy, Marcus Maye, Marcus Roberson, Matt Rolin, Michael Taylor, Neiron Ball, Quinteze Williams, Rhaheim Ledbetter, Ronald Powell, Valdez Showers, Will Muschamp

Athletes care about their uniform numbers and now that Florida Gators football team is a month away from beginning spring practice, it was time for the eight 2013 early enrollees to choose theirs. Below is the list according to the school’s spring roster:

TRANSFERS
» No. 55 – Darious Cummings (Titusville, FL), junior defensive lineman
» No. 73 – Tyler Moore (Clearwater, FL), redshirt sophomore offensive lineman

FRESHMEN
» No. 9 – Matt Rolin (Ashburn, VA), freshman linebacker
» No. 11 – Demarcus Robinson (Fort Valley, GA), freshman wide receiver
» No. 13 – Daniel McMillian (Jacksonville, FL), freshman linebacker
» No. 21 – Kelvin Taylor (Belle Glade, FL), freshman running back*
» No. 34 – Alex Anzalone (Wyomissing, PA), freshman linebacker
» No. 91 – Joey Ivie (Dade City, FL), freshman defensive lineman

* Kelvin Taylor’s father, Fred Taylor, also wore No. 21 at Florida.

Tags: Alex Anzalone, Daniel McMillian, Darious Cummings, Demarcus Robinson, Joey Ivie, Kelvin Taylor, Matt Rolin, Tyler Moore

P Johnny Townsend: commit No. 30 | OL/TE Trevon Young: commit No. 29 | JUCO DT Jarran Reed: commit No. 28 | DT Jay-nard Bostwick: commit No. 27 | Muschamp discusses class; assistants evaluate signees | Video interviews with coaches | “Closing”, quarterback situation

Courtesy of the University of Florida‘s University Athletic Association:

EARLY ENROLLEES (8)

Alex Anzalone • Linebacker
6’3″ • 220 • Wyomissing, PA (Wyomissing Area)
PRIOR TO FLORIDA: Helped Wyomissing High to its first Class AA state championship in 2012, finishing 16-0, a school single-season record for wins…Selected to the 2013 Under Armour All-American Game…Finished his senior year with over 1,000 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns from the fullback position and registered more than 100 tackles…Earned a spot on the 247Sports Class of 2013 All-America team…Named senior Class AA Player of the Year as part of the 2012 Pennsylvania Sports Writers All-State Team…As a junior, was named first team all-state, all-region and all-county…In 2011, ran for over 900 yards and scored 13 touchdowns and was named to the all-state team…Invited to “The Opening”, an all-star summer prospect camp held on the Nike Campus…Chose Florida over Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, USC, UCLA, Miami, Tennessee, Pitt, Stanford, Georgia and Florida State…Coached by Bob Wolfrum.

Darious Cummings • Defensive tackle
6’1″ • 310 • Titusville, FL (Astronaut/Florida St./East Mississippi CC)
PRIOR TO FLORIDA: Played in all 10 games during the 2012 season at EMCC, tallying 26 tackles (12 unassisted) with 4.0 TFL (12 yards), 3.0 sacks, two quarterback hurries and one forced fumble…EMCC finished 8-2 on the year and ranked 15th in the final NJCAA poll…Anchored a defense that allowed just 74.2 rushing yards per game…Notched a season-high four tackles twice during the season, against Pearl River CC and Itawamba CC…Played under head coach Buddy Stephens at EMCC…Spent two years at Florida State before transferring to EMCC…Played in three games as a true freshman and two games as a sophomore before suffering an injury that caused him to miss most of the 2011 season…Totaled seven tackles in five career games at FSU…Missed the spring of 2012 at FSU after arthroscopic knee surgery and then transferred to EMCC in the summer of 2012…Entered his senior year of high school with 159 tackles, including 22 for loss and 15 sacks…Was the first commit in FSU’s 2010 signing class…Was a Florida Super 75 selection by the Times-Union…Named to SunStateFootball.com all-state first team in 2009…Attended the same high school as former Gator football players LB Wilber Marshall, WR Cris Collinsworth and TE Aaron Walker…Chose Florida over offers from Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Arkansas.

Continue Reading » Florida Gators 2013 National Signing Day bios

Tags: Adam Lane, Ahmad Fulwood, Alex Anzalone, Alvin Bailey, Antonio Riles, Caleb Brantley, Cameron Dillard, Chris Thompson, Daniel McMillian, Darious Cummings, Demarcus Robinson, Jarrad Davis, Jarran Reed, Jay-nard Bostwick, Joey Ivie, Jordan Sherit, Keanu Neal, Kelvin Taylor, Marcell Harris, Marqui Hawkins, Matt Rolin, Max Staver, Nick Washington, Octavius Jackson, Roderick Johnson, Trenton Brown, Tyler Moore, Vernon Hargreaves

Released Tuesday, the fifth and final edition of the Rivals250 for the class of 2013 is filled with players verbally committed to play for the Florida Gators next season. Though seven Florida commits are part of the top 100 players in the group (list released Monday), seven more are ranked among the top 250 recruits in the nation.

Below is a breakdown of where the Gators’ commits are ranked:

2 7 – DB Vernon Hargreaves (Tampa, FL)
28 22 – LB Alex Anzalone^ (Wyomissing, PA)
38 2 – RB Kelvin Taylor (Belle Glade, FL)
52 4 – WR Demarcus Robinson^ (Belle Glade, FL)
63 38 – WR Alvin Bailey (Seffner, FL)
64 17 – DB Keanu Neal (Bushnell, FL)
67 10 – DB Marcell Harris (Orlando, FL)
123 30 – LB Daniel McMillian (Jacksonville, FL)
132 29 – DT Caleb Brantley (Crescent City, FL)
136 19 – WR Ahmad Fulwood (Jacksonville, FL)
164 36 – DB Nick Washington (Jacksonville, FL)
197 2 – LB James Hearns (Tallahassee, FL)
198 3 – DE Joey Ivie (Dade City, FL)
224 6 – DE Jordan Sherit (Tampa, FL)

^ New commitment since last update.

Notes:

» Florida has received a commitment from a top-five player in three of the last four recruiting cycles. The Gators have also picked up the No. 2-ranked prospect in each of the last two years (offensive tackle D.J. Humphries, 2012).
» Anzalone added a fifth star and is Florida’s second five-star pledge.
» 10 of 14 players dropped an average of 14 spots in the rankings.

Expand: Full list of Florida's 2013 commitments as of Jan. 22, 2013:

Commitment	Pos.	Rivals	ESPN	Overall
V. Hargreaves	DB			2/3
Alex Anzalone*	LB			28/97
Kelvin Taylor*	RB			38/8
D. Robinson*	WR			52/53
Alvin Bailey	WR			63/77
Keanu Neal	DB			64/65
Marcell Harris	DB			67/68
Daniel McMillian*	LB			123/33
Caleb Brantley	DT			132/42
Ahmad Fulwood	WR			136/110
N. Washington	DB			164/154
Joey Ivie*	DE			198/-
Jordan Sherit	DE			224/-
Matt Rolin*	LB			-/80
Jay. Bostwick	DT			-/286
Adam Lane	RB			-/175
Marqui Hawkins	WR			-/199
Max Staver	QB			-/263
Cam Dillard	OL			-/-
Antonio Riles	DE			-/-
Rod Johnson	OL			-/-
Ch. Thompson	WR			-/-
Oct. Jackson	DT			-/-
Jarrad Davis	LB			-/-
Trevon Young	TE			-/-
John Townsend	PK			-/-
Dar. Cummings*	DT			JUCO
Jarran Reed	DT			JUCO
Trenton Brown	OL		NR	JUCO
Tyler Moore*	OL			CC

* Early enrollee (spring 2013)

Tags: Ahmad Fulwood, Alex Anzalone, Alvin Bailey, Caleb Brantley, Daniel McMillian, Demarcus Robinson, James Hearns, Joey Ivie, Jordan Sherit, KeanuNeal, Kelvin Taylor, Marcell Harris, Nick Washington, Vernon Hargreaves