Florida Gators media day: 5 quotes that stood out and why

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators reported for fall camp on July 30 and held a media day before they hit the field at 10 am on Tuesday, July 31. Here are five quotes that stood out to me and why I think we should pay attention to them.

Billy Napier on competition

QUOTE: “This camp will be the most competitive camp that we’ve had since I’ve been at the University of Florida, and we have more competitive depth,” he said. “We have more experience.”

I’ve said that this is the most talent and depth the Gators have had on a roster in the Billy Napier era and here the coach is agreeing with that sentient. The Gators will have competition all over the field for starting jobs and for reps.

Gators Online has spent the last two weeks breaking down the depth chart at each position. There is competition for backup running back, third receiver, starting middle linebacker, safety, third corner, both interior starting spots on the offensive line and at right tackle. This camp will be huge for a lot of players if they want to earn their playing time or a starting role.

Offense depth chart projections
Defense depth chart projections

Justus Boone on doubters

QUOTE: We’re not worried about trying to prove anybody wrong. We’re just looking to prove ourselves right. Like I said, we just want all our work to not go in vain.”

This is becoming a mantra for the team. The Gators have worked hard this offseason. They added thousands of snaps of experience through the transfer portal. They have the best roster that they’ve had in years and, still, they have been picked to finish 12th in the SEC and Las Vegas set their win total at 4.5 games.

I really like this mentality. Prove the people who are in it with you right. The guys who woke up at 5 am to go run and lift with you. The person next to you in the huddle who you’ve seen put it the work. Prove him right, prove yourself right. Don’t let that work go in vain or be belittled by people on the outside who don’t believe.

Jake Slaughter on the OL

QUOTE: “Five equals one is the way we want to play ball on the offensive line. It’s really ‘seven equals one’ if you count two tight ends and the quarterback makes it ‘eight equals one,’ but, you know, we say ‘five equals one’ because there’s five offensive linemen. It’s the way we want to play ball. We play together, we play smart, we play with great technique and the big thing there is terrific effort. That has kind of been our motto. We take a great deal of pride in it. It’s just our thing.”

The offensive line has had the 5=1 motto since Rob Sale arrived in 2022. Unfortunately, last year, it was impossible to get just five healthy offensive linemen consistently. That will be a huge deal this season. Can the Gators find those starting five guys and keep them healthy enough to play week in and week out?

Joe Houston on fixing little things that created massive issues

QUOTE: “I think controlling what we can control in the future is improving everything. We’re constantly working for ways to improve. We’re going to implement a launch pad for substitutions and communication relative to the block team and the punt team, on the field and the field-goal unit. There’s going to be issues that you come into as you go through the landscape of the season, and we put in measurements to improve those miscommunications.”

It became a joke on social media that Florida was going to use a mat to help organize their special team’s units. What was the actual joke is that Florida struggled to get 11 men on the field with any kind of consistency in 2023. The “launching pad” that Houston is referring to can be bought at a local Dick’s Sporting Goods for less than $500. Teams in the NFL use them. Other college teams use them. Ivy League teams use them (according to former Cornell football player JD Pickell)

I spent all of 2023 screaming that there was a simple solution for an issue that was continuing to make Florida the butt of jokes. It’s good to see that they brought someone in who agreed.

Tyler Miles on the Florida Gators’ strength gains

QUOTE: “It was a lot of fun, to be honest. We had a lot of highs. It was just really a lot of fun to grow the relationship more with everyone on the team. When you’re an assistant or you’re in sports science, you might only see a certain group of guys but when you’re in charge of it all, you have to make that connection with everyone so it was a lot of fun. The buy-in was really easy. It was easy from the get-go and we kept that going all summer. It really made my life easy and a lot of fun throughout the summer. It’s probably the most fun I’ve had in a summer in my entire career.”

The offseason program was huge for the Gators. Under new leadership, Tyler Miles got the most out of the Florida Gators this summer. Injuries are down, personal records were set in the weight room, and fat loss is enough to make an Ozempic commercial.

• The Gators have 45 players who can lift 300 pounds in the power clean, up from 15 when they started the program over the winter.
• Florida’s average in the squat is 425 pounds, up from around 365 pounds at the end of winter.
• In speed training, the Gators have two players who can run 23 mph, 15 running 22 mph, 43 running at 21 mph, and 63 who can run 20 mph. Miles said that based on input from those on the strength staff, the highest number of players they recall running 22 mph at anyone’s previous job was five.
• The Gators gained 575 pounds of muscle and lost 475 pounds of fat across the roster.

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