For Florida fans sick of watching bubble screens and passes that fail to leave the backfield, take heart. Coach Jim McElwain understands your pain, and he has made it clear that his plan is to take shots down the field.
“As hungry as they are, I guarantee you that I’m twice as hungry to see and get after it,” McElwain said about fans’ desire for offensive improvement. “Yet, we still have to find out what (the offense is) capable of. For us, we want to discover some explosive playmakers and really stretch the field. One of the things we’ve stressed is trying to put the ball down the field vertically and not worry as much horizontally.”
That would be a significant change of approach from the past few seasons, when the offense rarely challenged opposing secondaries on deep passes and instead opted for quick, short routes to the sidelines along with plenty of check-downs.
In 2014, the Gators averaged 6.7 yards per pass attempt, finishing tied for 81st nationally. The 2013 season was no better, with Florida tying for 91stin the country with 6.6 yards per attempt.
Even in 2012, when the team went 11-2 and made an appearance in the Sugar Bowl, the number still sat at 6.6 yards per attempt, only good for 92nd nationally.
The last time the Gators ranked in the top 45 in that area was in 2009, when they were led by Tim Tebow and coached by Urban Meyer.
For a program associated with high-powered offenses, numbers like that don’t sit well with fans or players. But McElwain’s stated philosophy is bringing back some optimism.
“I’m excited,” redshirt senior offensive lineman Trip Thurman said. “We’ve never really had, you guys know, an offensive coordinator that stayed here. With McElwain being an offensive guy, I think that’s really key to getting Florida’s offense back on track the way they’ve been in the past.”
Getting back to that point is no easy task, and the offense isn’t likely to get anywhere close to the levels that Florida’s offenses were operating at under Meyer in McElwain’s first season.
But Thurman, who has been at Florida since the beginning of former coach Will Muschamp’s tenure, says he can notice the difference in the amount of emphasis put on his side of the ball.
“Obviously Muschamp being a defensive coach, I’m not going to say he didn’t worry about the offense too much but it was kind of put second to his defense,” Thurman said. “The way coach Mac has done it is kind of implemented both groups. In being offensive (minded), he likes to have his guys going full speed 100 percent of the time. I just think there’s a more heightened level of the offensive side of the ball than in the past.”
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UF coach Jim McElwain (center) watches on as quarterbacks Will Grier (7) and Anderson Proctor (17) go through drills during practice on Aug. 31, 2015, at the Sanders Practice Field.
