Despite the start Florida’s tight ends have had this year, no one is talking about the person coaching the position: Greg Nord.
The Gators’ tight ends have found a revival of sorts in head coach Jim McElwain’s offense and Nord, who has been coaching since 1979 when he started out as a grad assistant at Kentucky, is one of the reasons why they’ve had early success.
Nord also coached one of the most productive tight ends in NCAA history in Ibn Green when Nord was coaching at Louisville.
Green was a two-time All-American and at the time, set the NCAA record for most receptions in a career for a tight end.
Nord said the tight ends on the Gators’ roster are as athletic as the ones he’s coached in the past like Green.
"I’ve been fortunate in my career that I’ve had a chance to coach a lot of great tight ends, to be honest about it, and they compare favorably with some of the good ones," Nord said.
Through the first two games, Florida’s tight ends have caught 11 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns.
But Jake McGee hasn’t had the opportunities C’yontai Lewis and DeAndre Goolsby have had, as he’s the only one without a touchdown grab in the first two games.
However, Nord did tease on Wednesday that there’s been a play implemented this week to get McGee involved in the offense.
"There’s something in the game plan this week that’s going when we get it called," Nord said, "and it’s the coverage we’re expecting y’all be talking about it next week."
Hardin struggling with consistency: Austin Hardin continued his up-and-down performances against East Carolina on Saturday.
After making both of his field goal attempts in the season-opener, the Atlanta native missed two field goals against the Pirates.
Hardin is now 14-27 in his career in field goal attempts and has struggled with kicks from long distances as he’s just 4-of-13 from kicks 40 yards and beyond.
But Nord, who is also the special teams coordinator, said Hardin has to live up to the old cliché that kickers have to have short-term memories.
"What you’ve got to do is forget the kick you just missed and do what you do right every time, rather than try to fix just went wrong the last time," Nord said. "What happens to you is you start overcompensating."
While Hardin has continued his struggles kicking field goals, one thing he's improved on is kicking the ball out of the end zone during kickoffs.
After having just 38 touchbacks on 121 attempts the past two seasons, Hardin already has 13 touchbacks in 17 attempts through two games.
Hardin said Nord has allowed him to show off his strong leg, something the previous coaching staff didn’t allow him to do.
"He’s kept open conversations about what my strengths are and what I can do," Hardin said.
"Something that he’s really allowed me to do is showcase my leg strength. We’ve worked on hitting a lot of touchbacks this year."
Alex Anzalone update: Coach Jim McElwain confirmed on Wednesday that starting linebacker Alex Anzalone will be out for the Kentucky game after injuring his right shoulder against ECU.
It’s the same shoulder Anzalone hurt during the 2013 season.
"That’s a big loss. I mean that guy’s a good player. We need to get him back," McElwain said.
"That will be one of those deals, you know, as it goes down the road, we’ll see kind of where it’s at."
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UF tight end Jake McGee runs a route during Florida's 31-24 win against East Carolina on Sept. 12, 2015, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
