With fall camp beginning and the upcoming season on the horizon, Florida football is optimistic about its offseason improvement. Following a strong finish to the 2024 season, the Gators entered the weight room with a competitive focus heading into the 2025 season.
The team saw a rise in leadership and accountability since last season’s slow start. Senior kicker Trey Smack said the team’s younger players greatly matured, easing the burden on veterans to constantly monitor them during practices.
“After Tennessee, something really sparked, leadership started coming in,” Smack said. “Young guys realized, 'Hey, this is the SEC. It's no joke. We need to lock in every day.' And guys who don't play were giving their 100% effort at practice every day, which helped us out.”
The 2024 addition of special teams coordinator Joe Houston was significant for the unit. Houston’s positive impact on team culture and his mentality of buying in made the Gators understand the importance of special teams.
Managing expectations for NFL-caliber players at Florida is an art, he said.
“You do the hard work and let the results come,” Houston said. “We need to be process-oriented and process-driven. That allows us to stay in the present and focus on the task we have now.”
Alongside the improving special teams unit, the defense bolstered itself since last season with newfound strength and leadership.
Senior defensive back Devin Moore said all of his lifts increased in weight this offseason, allowing him to drop 12 pounds of fat and gain 15 pounds of muscle headed into fall camp. The team’s chemistry is at an all-time high, he added, and it’s the most talented UF team he’s been a part of.
“No matter if you’re a freshman or a super senior seven-year, it’s like you guys met five years ago,” Moore said.
Moore praised sophomore defensive back Cormani McClain and freshman Ben Hanks III as young players who found accountability and comfort at UF.
“[McClain’s] definitely taking his game to the next level,” he said.
Senior edge George Gumbs Jr. also stepped up as a leader for UF, becoming faster and stronger this offseason while improving his diet.
Tyler Miles, Florida’s director of football strength and conditioning, said Gumbs kept energy high in the weight room during summer workouts.
Gumbs picked up boxing over the summer alongside fellow edge rushers sophomore LJ McCray and junior Kamran James, using the sport’s fast-paced critical thinking and physical movement to fine tune his reaction time.
“Being an edge rusher, we do a lot with hands,” Gumbs said. “So [boxing is] getting us way more comfortable, then of course it’s a workout.”
Gumbs not only physically improved in the weight room and boxing ring but also mentally off the field. He spoke fondly about last year’s alumni barbecue dinner with former Gator defensive linemen, reminding him of his team’s legacy and the standard he wants to uphold.
“It just gave me more fire than I already had,” he said. “Just going to a barbecue like that, I feel like it just added two more sacks.”
Freshman edge Jayden Woods is a player set to surprise fans this year, Gumbs said. Woods broke Gumbs’ lifting records in squat and power clean as soon as he set foot on campus.
McCray’s weight room transformation heading into his sophomore season was also impressive, Gumbs said.
“LJ had a crazy offseason,” he said. “Seeing him from the weight room standpoint, he was putting up numbers I never thought he'd do this early.”
Miles also praised McCray, who he said had one of the best offseasons on the team, gaining 40 pounds in each of his lifts and attacking the weight room with serious discipline.
Junior tight end Hayden Hansen made significant strides as a competitor and leader. Hansen said he’s striving to increase his production in the passing game and has been working on using his length to get separation.
In the first fall camp practice July 30, he caught at least five passes in the first half, he said, which is “a lot” for a tight end in Florida’s system. The offense is well-rounded without a “weak point,” he added, and the team is the closest it’s been since he arrived in 2022.
The mentoring of younger players and head coach Billy Napier’s “congregation dinners” help build team chemistry, he said.
According to Hansen, Napier has been hosting dinners where he assigns players to random seats, with about eight people to a table. The players are without cellphones and answer questions with their group like, “Who do you lean on the most?”
“You really get deep with the guys,” Hansen said. “You connect.”
With veterans embracing leadership roles and young players maturing quickly, the Florida football team is creating a culture of shared accountability. The impact of this offseason’s work in the weight room is showing up in the team’s chemistry, discipline and mentality as the Florida football team enters the new season.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.com. Follow him on X at @CuranAhern.
Curan is the men's tennis beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major. He enjoys spending his free time with pets, at the beach and fishing.
