The most interesting thing Jim McElwain said at his press conference on Tuesday came toward the end. UF’s third-year coach had already been asked about the team’s injuries, its quarterback battle and every other pertinent thing when a question came up about why he liked to use athletes — like receiver Dre Massey and true freshman Kadarius Toney — at quarterback.
He said he picked it up during his time at Eastern Washington before launching into a tangent that ended with him telling reporters the Eastern Washington coaching staff is currently visiting Gainesville, staying in his garage and sleeping on inflatable beds.
“You might want to ask them about that,” McElwain said. “They’re sleeping in my garage. That’s what you do at that level.”
The staff is in Gainesville to watch how the Gators run practice and learn from them. And if they stick around for a couple days, they’ll be joined on the sideline by Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio, who is missing Spring practice due to injury and will have shoulder surgery today, McElwain announced, though he wasn’t concerned about Del Rio’s future.
“He’ll be fine,” he said. “It’s not major.”
Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier reiterated as much after practice, saying that even though Del Rio is missing spring practice, he’s still in play to be the team’s Fall starter. Nussmeier added that he feels good about where the team is at with its quarterbacks.
“(I) feel good about the group,” he said, “where we’re at and where we’re headed.”
Shannon’s defensive scheme taking shape:
When UF defensive coordinator Randy Shannon coached at Miami, he started one game with 28 straight blitzes. Two weeks later, he said he didn’t blitz once the entire game.
Both Shannon and McElwain emphasized the importance of a solid pass rush on Tuesday.
The coaches said developing pass rushing skills on the defensive line will make Florida less reliant on the blitz, putting less pressure on a young secondary.
“If you’re blitzing and all of a sudden you’re not getting there, then your DBs are hanging on the line,” Shannon said.
“If you can get home with four, you’ve got it good.”
Since Spring practice started, Shannon’s been fixated on the game plan, saying it’s too early to judge individual players’ performances.
“We’re running around and having fun in shorts,” he said. “We’ll know when we start getting in scrimmage time and pads time.”
Shannon’s been spending his time as DC making the defense simpler.
He believes the better the players understand, the faster they can play, and the faster they can play, the more mistakes they can cover up.
Part of that means more defenders will make play calls, coordinating between each other to make adjustments on the field.
“If everybody’s on the same page no matter what we call, we’re all gonna play the same defense,” Shannon said. “We always said if everybody’s wrong, everybody’s right.”
UF quarterback Luke Del Rio rides the bike during Florida's 13-6 win against Vanderbilt on Oct. 1, 2016, at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.
