Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida coach Will Muschamp’s image of success is displayed in a single photo.

It’s a picture of LSU’s 2003 national championship team on which Muschamp served as defensive coordinator/linebackers coach. It didn’t hit home how special the picture was until a player sent it to him for him to sign.

As his eyes ran over every face and number appearing in front of him, he truly understood what he was seeing.

Not only was this a team talented enough to win a national championship in the nation’s toughest conference, it was a team with enormous heart and character, he thought. Muschamp saw people willing to take the selfishness out of being a part of a team sport, people who understood their roles and were willing to come together for the common purpose of building a championship-caliber team.

“At the end of the day, you win with good people,” Muschamp said.

What Muschamp also saw was a group of players willing to lead, not just themselves but their coaches. So as Muschamp embarks on his second season in Gainesville, he’s hoping to see more of that attitude from the Gators.

The notion of putting more on the team was echoed by men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan at a recent football banquet, when he used the analogy of climbing a mountain. There are three ways to reach the top: One, everyone runs together. Two, the coaches guide. Three, the coaches jump on the players’ backs.

Muschamp is going for the third way.

“Coach Muschamp has told us all along this team has to be ours,” rising sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel said. “If it’s the coaching staff’s team, then we’re not going to go anywhere.”

Added linebacker Michael Taylor: “We’re not counting on the coaches to step in. We’re running it ourselves.”

That’s what the Gators struggled with in Muschamp’s debut season. He took over a program that had fallen well below standards in 2010 and continued to tumble under his watch. Offensive ineptitude bled over from the previous season, and discipline continued to be a major issue (10 player arrests have occurred during Muschamp’s short tenure).

Last spring was filled with awkward transitions of coaches and philosophies, and Muschamp had to reach a team that really wasn’t sure who he was. Honestly, he wasn’t sure what he had, either.

This spring, things have changed and comfort has arrived. Staff changes have been made, but those inside the program think they’ve been for the better.

Muschamp has his guys and he’s starting to get his players.

“I really like our locker room right now,” Muschamp said. “I like where we’re headed. We’re not perfect, but we got guys who understand what it takes to be successful.”

You wouldn’t know it by last season’s resume. The Gators limped to a 7-6 finish, and for the first time since 1971, Florida had no position players on the first-team All-SEC team. This month, Muschamp said Florida’s 2011 struggles will really show in this year’s NFL draft. With only two players being invited to the NFL combine (tied for the fewest since it moved to Indianapolis in 1985), the Gators might have only two or three players taken.

To Muschamp, that’s simply unacceptable.

“We need to do a better job recruiting,” he said. “We need to do a better job developing players. We need to do a better job coaching.”

Strides have certainly been made. Muschamp’s first real recruiting class ranked fourth nationally by ESPN recruiting services, and it focused more on building power, aggression and line production.

Muschamp has to wait to put his hands on the bulk of Florida’s 2012 class, but for now he’s concentrating on those already on campus. Before and during spring, Muschamp saw the transformations he wanted from his players, especially when it came to toughness.

Months removed from labeling his team -- and himself -- as soft, Muschamp said he hasn’t seen the lazy, tentative habits that hurt Florida last season. So far, soft hasn’t been an issue.

It’s still very early in terms of finding out exactly what kind of team Muschamp has, but just being around his players you can sense a difference. Leaders are emerging, confidence is brewing and players are buying in. It appears things are changing in Gainesville.

“We want to come out with that mindset that nobody can mess with us; we’re ... going to be the best team in the country, best team in the land, and get back to that glory that we’ve had in the past,” Taylor said. “We’re definitely capable of it.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- At the beginning of spring practice, GatorNation brought readers' attention to five questions, five guys under pressure and five players to watch.

With 15 spring practices behind the Gators, including Saturday’s spring game, let’s re-examine those questions and decide whether they were answered as well as take another look at those guys to see whether they handled the pressure and made any improvements.

FIVE QUESTIONS

Will there be a clear-cut starter at quarterback by the time spring practice ends?

Nope. Coach Will Muschamp said the competition between Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel will continue into the offseason -- and likely into fall practice, as well. The two played pretty well in the spring game -- Driskel completed 12 of 14 passes for 147 yards and Brissett completed 9 of 16 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns -- but neither has been able to gain separation.

What will UF's new offense look like?

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Soon after finishing its annual spring game, Florida received a commitment from Lithonia (Ga.) Martin Luther King offensive guard Josh Outlaw.

"Committed to Florida!! Go Gators!" Outlaw said in a text message to GatorNation.

The 6-foot-4, 275-pound lineman said the opportunity to play early at Florida ultimately led to his decision.

"Florida is just the place for me," Outlaw said. "It's a great place to be, and I have a great opportunity to play early there."

Outlaw chose the Gators over offers from Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, USF and Tennesse among many others. He said he is unsure if he will take other visits, but Outlaw claims he is 100 percent in his commitment to Florida.

Outlaw joins Rod Johnson as Florida's other offensive line commitment for the 2013 class.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Some quick thoughts from Florida's (quick moving) spring game on Saturday afternoon:

QBs get rolling: It took nearly the entire first half, but quarterbacks Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett eventually got things going. The pair are competing to win the starting job.

Brissett took the first snap with the first-team offense but went 0-for-2 on his first drive. One of the passes, however, was dropped by Trey Burton.

After Tyler Murphy got a series, Driskel came on and completed all five of his passes on his first drive for 34 yards.

Driskel had the better day overall, completing 12-of-14 passes for 147 yards and rushing for 19 yards and one touchdown on four carries. He led one touchdown drive, which was capped by Mack Brown's touchdown run.

Brissett completed 9-of-16 passes for 233 yards. Most of his passing yards came on two plays, a 43-yard hookup with Latroy Pittman and a 52-yard strike to Michael McNeely.

Flashers: Some players who caught my eye:

Cornerback Jaylen Watkins broke up a fade pass to tight end Jordan Reed in the end zone.

Linebacker Gideon Ajagbe blew by freshman offensive lineman D.J. Humphries to stuff running back Omarius Hines.

LB Antonio Morrison showed off his athleticism by making a tackle on a back in the flat and then showed of his toughness by combining with defensive tackle Damien Jacobs, making a tackle in the hole on a third-down play.

Jacobs started the game, but that might be because the Gators are banged up along the defensive line. He hasn't been consistent in practices throughout spring, but he's got the big body the Gators want (6-foot-3, 310 pounds) in a run-stopping tackle.

Pittman, whom UF coach Will Muschamp has praised throughout the spring, got behind the defense for a 43-yard pass play. Pittman doesn't have blazing speed -- he was timed at 4.64 seconds in the 40-yard dash at one combine -- but he was able to get a step and hauled in a perfect pass from Brissett. Pittman also was able to get behind the coverage again in the fourth quarter, but Brissett overthrew him slightly. Pittman has been steadily rising up the depth chart and has a good chance to win a starting job alongside Andre Debose and Quinton Dunbar.

What's that call? Offensive coordinator Brent Pease had one questionable call, an end-around to Dunbar on third-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Dunbar fumbled the handoff from Brissett and ended up losing 9 yards on the play.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- On the eve of my coaching debut at Florida's 2012 Orange & Blue Debut, I had the chance to sit down with Gators coach Will Muschamp to talk shop about his team and tried to get a couple of pointers on how to handle the pressure of being a college coach in the toughest conference in America.

Like most conversations between coaches, I'll choose not to repeat what advice Muschamp shared with me, but I will share that Muschamp appears to be much more comfortable with his team this year than he was at this time last spring. He was new to the head-coaching world and very new to all of his players, meaning there were plenty of bumps along the way.

"More than anything, I know the team better," Muschamp said. "I know the players better. I understand more about how they tick and what we need to do to be successful with them."

It's also easier now that his players have grown up a little. In Muschamp's debut season after leaving Texas as the defensive coordinator, the Gators were primarily made up of freshmen and sophomores -- more than 70 percent to be exact. They had less starts on defense going into the season than any other school in the SEC.

Florida also had to deal with transitioning from a spread offense to a more pro stye, and had different defensive philosophies to understand.

Now, Muschamp heads into Year 2 with reinvention on his mind -- for himself and his team.

Muschamp isn't as tense internally. He's more settled in his approach, making his understanding of his players easier. He's also made sure his guys toughened up, as new strength coach Jeff Dillman ran them through a gauntlet offseaon workout plan.

One area Muschamp sees a lot of positive change is the offensive line. With most of his line returning, Muschamp said there isn't much to teach this group. It's much better than last spring, when Muschamp and his coaches had six scholarship offensive linemen for the spring game. This line really struggled last season and as it declined, so did the offense. Muschamp said he's more comfortable with his guys upfront because they're bigger, stronger and more confident.

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