SIX BITS: Austin, Hines, Moore, Okine, Jones

By Adam Silverstein
September 2, 2010

1 » New Florida Gators defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is confident, so much so that he has won over players like junior safety Will Hill. “He came in and was very direct and straightforward,” Hill said, according to The Miami Herald. “He has a lot of high expectations. We come out ready, he tells us what to do and we just do it. Nobody is bumping heads or anything.” Even though Austin lost a lot of playmakers from Charlie Strong’s unit last year, he knows Florida’s defensive prowess is not being ignored. “I don’t think anyone will overlook us,” Austin said. “They may because we did lose so many quality players, but we had quality players [behind them] in the program.” His philosophy? “Guys are going to be aggressive and take the fight to the other team. That’s the mentality. On defense, you never want to sit back. You want to dictate the offense, not have the offense dictate to you.”

2 » In case you didn’t know, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Omarius Hines is a beast. So much so, in fact, that the 224-pounder is taking snaps at a hybrid tight end role that he will be featured in this season. “I will play tight end and some slot receiver,” Hines said of his position. “It will create mismatches because I’m fast and strong and stuff, so the linebackers won’t really be able to catch me. He has plenty of fans on the team, too. “He’s one of the strongest guys on the team,” redshirt senior Emmanuel Moody admitted, per the Herald. “I don’t know if you’ve seen his physical physique, but they call him the Greek [god].”

3 » Redshirt senior WR Carl Moore, who has been up-and-down since transferring to Florida, feels he is ready to take on the challenges of being a primary pass-catcher this year. “I can say that when I first got here, I was a little more selfish. I didn’t understand the system and how it had to be. Now I understand everything and I’m all in.”

4 » As OGGOA noted briefly yesterday via Twitter, redshirt sophomore Earl Okine, who was previously a defensive end but was moved to TE during fall practice, is back working at DE now that the team feels more comfortable at the other position. Okine played some TE in high school but is better suited on the defensive front.

5 » Freshman running back Malcom Jones, a preferred walk-on who led his high school team to a 2009 District Championship on 1,449 yards and 14 touchdowns, chose to try his luck with the Gators rather than take a scholarship to Florida International, Jacksonville, Toledo or Tennessee-Martin, according to Clay Today.

6 » Interesting column published by The Gainesville Sun’s Pat Dooley on Thursday, taking a look at how everything seemed to change for Florida football 20 years ago in 1990. As he notes, the Gators were “a bit of a joke” before then, producing top-level talent but never actually winning anything substantial. “No team in college football has won more games the last two decades than Florida. A program that could not get to 10 wins in a season [prior to 1990] has averaged 10 wins a season over the past two decades. Gator teams have won almost 80 percent of their games, 83 percent if you don’t count the Ron Zook years.” Read the rest…

Photo Credit: Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

3 Comments

  1. Gatorbuc15 says:

    COLLEGE FOOTBALL STARTS TONIGHT!

    YEAH BABY!

  2. UF_84 says:

    What a great article by Pat Dooley. As a kid of the late 60’s and 70’s and a student at UF in the early 80’s I remember all of that heartache well. It has made the past 20 years that much more sweeter. I have a 14 year old son who has no idea what it”s like to lose to Georgia regularly or to grumble “Wait til next year” after yet another devastating late season loss took away any chance at an SEC title. Much gratitude to the ol’ ball coach for bringing this program to it’s full potential.

    Can’t wait to see ya’ll in the Swamp on Saturday. Go Gators!!!

  3. Bob says:

    I’m with you UF_84! Loved Dooley’s article and can never understand why newer Gator fans don’t have the disdain for Georgia that I do. The Gator Bowl used to be where Gator dreams went to die…

    Caught my first game in the Swamp (the artist formerly known as Florida Field) in 1979, UF vs. Bama. We lost 40-0 and don’t think we even crossed the 50 yard line once. Dad said as we left, “Son, you just saw the #1 team in the country today, and it wasn’t the Gators.” I wanted one of those #1 foam fingers and he said only when the Gators got to be #1, a promise he never thought he’d have to fulfill.

    In 1985, when we were #1 for a week before UGA killed us in Jax, he didn’t have the heart to buy one after that game.

    But the promise was fulfilled in 1997, thanks to the Ol’ Ball Coach who I actually sent a letter of thanks to (and who actually wrote me back!).

    Go Gators!!!

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