Game week practice for the Florida Gators‘ 2010 season opener is officially underway and, with their first game coming on Saturday at 12 p.m. against the Miami (OH) RedHawks, coaches and players were made available to the media after practice on Tuesday. OGGOA has compiled some of the key details.
SIXTH CAPTAIN ADDED
Five Florida football players – redshirt senior linebacker A.J. Jones and seniors safety Ahmad Black, center Mike Pouncey, defensive end Justin Trattou and DE Duke Lemmens – were voted as captains by their teammates Saturday, according to head coach Urban Meyer. On Tuesday, Meyer said that redshirt senior defensive tackle Lawrence Marsh has been added, giving the Gators six captains this year.
TWO REDSHIRTS HANDED OUT
Freshmen defensive end Lynden Trail and defensive tackle Leon Orr will both be redshirted for the 2010-11 season, according to assistant head coach and defensive line coach Dan McCarney. “They’re not ready to play in the SEC, not ready to play winning football,” McCarney said, according to the Palm Beach Post‘s Jason Lieser. Ouch!
Trail would have been – at best – the seventh DE to play this season, while Orr has at least five other players in front of him. Trail, along with tight end Michael McFarland, had his black helmet stripe removed during practice on Monday.
Meyer noted Tuesday that wide receiver Solomon Patton had his stripe taken off.
QUOTE
Redshirt senior running back Emmanuel Moody on redshirt junior WR Chris Rainey breaking out: “I think he’s going to have a big year this year. We’re excited to see him returning punts as well. […] He’s making plays left and right. He’s taking them to the house sometimes. He’s making people miss, making people look foolish, breaking ankles out there. One time he made a play on Jelani Jenkins and Jelani didn’t know where Rainey was. Once he gets the ball in his hands this season, it will be electric.”
Game week practice for the Florida Gators‘ 2010 season opener is officially underway and, with their first game coming on Saturday at 12 p.m. against the Miami (OH) RedHawks, coaches and players hit the stage on Monday for their first regular season media availability. OGGOA has compiled some of the key details.
OPENING GAME INJURIES
Senior defensive tackle Terron Sanders (knee), left tackles redshirt sophomore Matt Patchan (wrist) and sophomore Xavier Nixon (knee) will all be out of action for the Gators’ home opener on Saturday. Sophomore tight end Jordan Reed, who is nursing a deep knee bruise, is questionable but not likely to play.
STARTING LINEBACKERS NAMED
Head coach Urban Meyer made it a point to single out redshirt senior linebacker A.J. Jones as the team’s only confirmed starter for Saturday. He did, however, say that two of senior Brandon Hicks, sophomore Jon Bostic and redshirt freshman Jelani Jenkins will fill in the other two spots in the starting unit with those chosen being the players whom play best during the next few days of practice. Whoever is the lone non-starter will still see plenty of time on the field.
WIDE RECEIVER ROTATION REVEALED
Junior wide receiver Denote Thompson and redshirt senior Carl Moore, as expected, are the team’s two primary starters with redshirt junior Chris Rainey taking over the slot receiver role. Meyer announced Monday that redshirt freshman Andre Debose would play the X position and back-up Thompson, while freshman standout Robert Clark – who really impressed during camp – will be the main reserve for Rainey.
FIRST DEPTH CHART RELEASED
OFFENSE QB: John Brantley – Tyler Murphy / Trey Burton RB: Jeff Demps / Emmanuel Moody – Mike Gillislee / Mack Brown FB: T.J. Pridemore – Gerald Christian WR1: Deonte Thompson – Andre Debose – Quinton Dunbar WR2: Carl Moore – Justin Williams WR-S: Chris Rainey – Robert Clark TE: Omarius Hines – Trey Burton / Jordan Reed LT: Marcus Gilbert – Kyle Koehne LG: Carl Johnson – Jonotthan Harrison C: Mike Pouncey – Sam Robey – Nick Alajajian RG: James Wilson – Jon Halapio – David Young RT: Maurice Hurt – Nick Alajajian
DEFENSE DE: Justin Trattou – Lerentee McCray / Dominique Easley DT: Omar Hunter – Lawrence Marsh / Brandon Antwine DT: Jaye Howard – Sharrif Floyd DE: Duke Lemmens – William Green / Ronald Powell SLB: A.J. Jones – Neiron Ball MLB: Jon Bostic / Jelani Jenkins – Michael Taylor WLB: Brandon Hicks – Lorenzo Edwards CB1: Janoris Jenkins – Josh Shaw / Jaylen Watkins CB2: Moses Jenkins / Jeremy Brown – Cody Riggs FS: Will Hill – Josh Evans SS: Ahmad Black – Matt Elam
SPECIAL TEAMS K: Caleb Sturgis – Chas Henry P: Chas Henry – David Lerner – Caleb Sturgis LS: John Fairbanks (FG), Christopher Guido (P) H: Chas Henry KR: Jeff Demps – Chris Rainey / Mike Gillislee PR: Chris Rainey – Janoris Jenkins
The 2010 version of the Florida Gators concluded fall practice on Saturday with a scrimmage, and while the activities were once again closed to both the media and public, some notable things did occur. OGGOA has compiled some of the key details.
2010-11 SEASON CAPTAINS NAMED
Five Florida football players were voted as captains by their teammates Saturday, according to head coach Urban Meyer. Redshirt senior linebacker A.J. Jones and seniors safety Ahmad Black, center Mike Pouncey, defensive end Justin Trattou and DE Duke Lemmens were all announced as captains.
OPENING DAY STARTING LINES SET
In addition to naming captains, offensive coordinator Steve Addazio and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin announced their starting lines for the Gators’ home opener against the Miami (OH) RedHawks. On offense, from left to right, are senior Marcus Gilbert (LT), redshirt senior Carl Johnson (LG), Pouncey (C), junior James Wilson (RG), senior Maurice Hurt (RT). Gilbert is moving from RT to LT, Hurt is moving from RG to RT and Wilson is taking over at RG. This became necessary after both first-team LTs, sophomore Xavier Nixon (knee) and redshirt sophomore Matt Patchan (wrist), were ruled out for next Saturday due to their respective injuries.
Defensively, Trattou and Lemmens will start at the ends while redshirt sophomore Omar Hunter and redshirt junior Jaye Howard occupy the tackle positions. Austin did not name a starting middle linebacker or second cornerback.
QUOTES
Meyer on the 2010-11 offense: “It’s going to look different. [...] If you’d asked me in the middle of the summer, I couldn’t tell you. It’s going to look a little different. There are going to be some things we’ve not done, including even when Chris Leak was here. So, there will be some interesting things to look at. We’ve kind of got an idea who the playmakers are on offense. We have a good feel for what we are right now. Steve Addazio has done a really good job.”
Addazio on the 2010-11 offense: “Basically, who we are isn’t going to change. You’ll see these tweaks coming out. You’re going to see more stuff, without a doubt. But our goal here is to always take advantage of the guys we have. Different guys have different talents. That’s where you’ll see the little tweaks. You’ll see change. It’s about getting the ball in the hands of the playmakers, about doing what our players can do great. That’s what we’ve always been about. Fundamentally, that is so locked in. It could come in a two-back under center formation. It could come in a lot of shapes and forms. We’re going to really get that thing spread around.”
Addazio on his excitement about the offensive playmakers: “I just really like what [Chris] Rainey has done right now. He’s electric. We’re got Trey Burton popping around in a lot of different places right now. Omarius Hines, I think he’s really going to have a breakout year. Andre Debose is ready to make an impact. He’s ready to get out there and start to go. He’s a young guy, but he’s electric. He can make plays now. Robert Clark has made a bunch of plays in camp. He’s a tough guy, an athletic, tough guy. You just like him in there.”
During an ESPN conference call yesterday, former Florida Gators quarterback now network analyst Jesse Palmer spoke at length about the upcoming college football season. OGGOA had an opportunity to participate in the discussion and got Palmer to talk a bit about the 2010 version of the team. Read it all…after the break: Continue Reading » ESPN’s Jesse Palmer on the 2010 Florida Gators
Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer, offensive coordinator Steve Addazio, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and a number of players represented the team at the 2010 Florida Media Day on Tuesday in Gainesville, FL. After the break…are some of the biggest stories and most interesting quotes coming out of the event.
Concluding the Florida Gators‘ first day of fall practice for the 2010-11 season, head coach Urban Meyer sat with reporters for quite some time to discuss a number of topics including his outlook on the team, players leaving the program and why exactly camp has been closed to both the media and fans. OGGOA has compiled some of the key points:
PERSONNEL
» Meyer announced that seniors center Mike Pouncey and defensive end Justin Trattou are the team’s two fall captains. Senior safety Ahmad Black and redshirt senior defensive tackle Lawrence Marsh may be added to the group at a later date.
» Doing some housekeeping, Meyer told reporters that redshirt sophomroe wide receiver T.J. Lawrence and the team mutually agreed to part ways. More on this here.
» He also explained that redshirt freshman tight end Desmond Parks will likely be out 2-3 weeks after previously injuring his wrist and undergoing a procedure to fix the issue.
» Meyer noted that five-star linebacker transfer Chris Martin is already working with the team in camp even though he must sit out a year due to NCAA transfer eligibility rules.
QUOTES
» Explaining to reporters that his motivation for closing practice was not about restricting their access but rather curbing the distractions that agents and autograph hounds cause his players every day, Meyer touched on two subjects in particular…
On the growing concern regarding agents: “With all that agent [stuff], and I’m hearing about parties and all this, my gosh. We just want to do the best job we can. We’re going to have a lot of discussions around here and continue non-stop education because it’s an epidemic. You hear people talking about this school and this school. That’s nuts. The good thing is the other side of it [the agents] wants to help. When I say they really want to help, there are going to be some positive things come out of this. Real positive.”
On others trying to take advantage of the players’ generosity: “We’ve had a great discussion with a group of us that got together and we’re trying to make some changes. Anything from signing balls to getting them sold on the Internet to practice, where people are showing up. In the fall, we’re going to shut it down. There are people showing up, ‘Why are you here?’ We can’t control our players’ lives, but we certainly can do the best we can. You should have the right as a player to walk from here to there without being bothered. That’s my fault for five years. That’s crazy. I tell that to my colleagues, people just mauling you and bothering you and Internet people grabbing helmets and signing this and all this, and we don’t have security saying, ‘Get the heck out of here.’ You’ll see a lot of ‘get the heck out of here’ from now on and let the kids go practice and concentrate on football. Big-time rules. I’m concerned about stuff where you get NCAA violations and scumbags that are involved that shouldn’t be involved. One way to control it is, get out.”
» On the team’s goal for the 2010-11 season: “This is a year of accountability and development. If that happens, we’ll have a good team.”
» When told about redshirt junior running back Chris Rainey‘s “prima donna” comments in the morning, Meyer quipped that it was the team’s “fault for letting him speak” while noting that Rainey’s comments were “absolutely wrong.” “Rainey said that? Chris Rainey won’t speak to the media again this year,” Meyer added in a joke-serious tone.
“I can name some other things he said to the media that were absolutely inappropriate, and that goes in the same category, believe it or not. So, take that for nothing. Inappropriate, wrong, non-thought out, which he does quite often. I love Chris Rainey, but when I ask him a question, I give him a whole day to think about it and write it down 100 times.”
Thursday begins fall practice for the Florida Gators, and the team will be going into the 2010-11 season with more questions than answers for the first time in recent memory. From reserves taking over as starters to freshmen trying to make an impact right away, head coach Urban Meyer and his revamped coaching staff will be taking a close look at each and every player stepping on the field over the next few weeks
OGGOA is here to provide you with a preview of exactly what you should watch for and pay attention to, even though practice is closed to both the media and public.
