Prime Up: Gators Headed to SEC Media Days

The Gators went 10-4 in 2015, Coach Jim McElwain's first leading the program.

Prime Up: Gators Headed to SEC Media Days

Friday, July 8, 2016 | Football, Chris Harry

The league's annual preseason football gathering cranks up Monday in Hoover, Ala.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The first bead of sweat won't drop on the practice field for another three weeks, but it's mid-July and it's hot out there which means anticipation for another college football season, months in the making, is at a fevered pitch.

And 2016 SEC Media Days, as every year before it, will take the hype to another level.

The Southeastern Conference's annual dog-and-pony show of football coaches and their stars opens Monday at the Winfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala. Florida will bat second in the 14-team lineup, when Coach Jim McElwain — armed with some expectations on the heels of the program's first East Division title since 2010 — addresses the masses and works the interview rooms Monday from 3:30-5:30 p.m. (ET), accompanied by senior linebacker Jarrad Davis, redshirt senior safety Marcus Maye and junior offensive tackle David Sharpe. The four-day event will be televised live by the SEC Network.

Preseason storylines will be plentiful, but here's five that figure prominently in the conversations during Florida's three hours in front of the microphones and cameras.

Antonio Callaway (81) darts his way through the Alabama defense during the 2015 SEC Championship Game.

1) WHAT'S UP WITH ANTONIO AND TREON?
It'll be mere seconds before the subject comes up — and McElwain may take even less time to address it. To review, sophomore wide receiver Antonio Callaway, the top playmaker on offense last season, and incumbent starting quarterback Treon Harris were suspended from the team in January and were absent from any team activities through the spring semester, with McElwain declining to elaborate on their absence at every turn. In May, Callaway's status was reinstated as far as school and being allowed to use the team facilities. The status of Harris, however, remained unchanged. Callaway caught 35 passes last season for a team-best 19.4 per reception, plus four touchdowns. He also was an elite punt returner, averaging 15.4 yards with a couple touchdowns, including an 85-yarder in the SEC Championship Game against Alabama. The Gators need him, but until anything is announced when (or if) he takes the field this season remains uncertain. As for Harris, his status is even more unclear, not that he was going to be a factor in the quarterback derby anyway ... which bring us to the next item.

2) LUKE AND THE REST
The UF coaches and players love Luke Del Rio. Love his work ethic. Love his leadership skills. They loved all that about him last year, but Del Rio, the son of Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, had to sit out the 2015 season per NCAA rules after transferring from Oregon State (after transferring there following a walk-on season at Alabama in 2013). Given a chance to win the job in the spring, Del Rio took advantage and shined in the Orange & Blue spring game by completing 10 of his 11 passes for 176 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He doesn't possess an overpowering arm or wild athleticism, but Del Rio knows how to play the position — and works hard at it, both on the field and in the QB room. Del Rio will get the first crack, but Purdue transfer Austin Appleby will compete for the job, along with true freshmen Kyle Trask and Feleipe Franks, both of whom enrolled in the spring.

After an impressive spring, Luke Del Rio (14) has the edge in the UF quarterback derby ahead of Purdue transfer Austin Appleby (12).

3) ALL THINGS OFFENSE
McElwain lit up the Rocky Mountain sky with offensive fireworks at Colorado State, where the Rams ranked No. 4 in the nation in total offense his final season there. He was hired to bring that sort of explosive attack to "The Swamp" and things were on the uptick last October when the Gators began the season 6-0. Then starting quarterback Will Grier was suspended, Harris took over and the passing game promptly was grounded. By season's end, UF struggled just to complete a forward pass in a lopsided three-game losing streak to Florida State, Alabama and Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl. Out of 127 FBS programs, the Gators ranked 111th in total offense at 334 yards per game (compared to 96th the year before under Will Muschamp), 112th in rushing (126.9 per game) and 87th in passing (207.1 per game). Del Rio (or whoever is under center) figures to improve the passing game numbers, which in turn should aid in a running game, whether it's returning sophomores Jordan Scarlett or Jordan Cronkrite at tailback or powerful 6-foot-2, 242-pound junior-college transfer Mark Thompson, who had a very good spring. The offensive line, which this time last year looked like a cataclysm (with one player with starting experience out of the entire unit) looms as a strength after a platoon of six returning linemen combined to start 43 games last season, including 13 for Sharpe at left tackle. So we're not talking about a total rebuild here. Some good things are in place. Plus, the players know the system.

4) HOLES IN THE SECONDARY

The debate with LSU over that whole "DBU" deal will continue, but the Tigers didn't have two defensive backs taken in Round 1 of the 2016 NFL Draft. Cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III went 11th overall to Tampa Bay and safety Keanu Neal 17th to Atlanta [Note: For what it's worth, LSU had DBs taken in the fourth and seventh rounds]. In most places, those losses would gut a secondary, but the Gators' tradition of depth in the defensive backfield continues. Junior Jalen Tabor, who started opposite Hargreaves, is back and a preseason All-America candidate, as well as a projected first-round pick next season. On the other side, junior Quincy Wilson is an experienced and reliable replacement for Hargreaves. Maye returns at the free safety spot, where he has logged many a snap since his redshirt freshman season. That leaves a quartet of guys -- juniors Duke Dawson, Nick Washington and Marcel Harris, plus true freshman Chauncey Gardner -- to sprinkle into the rest of the spots. Each is versatility enough to play corner or safety. Plus, the Gators work from a base nickel alignment, which means all these guys are going to play. A lot.

5) HERE'S THE KICKER
Eddy Pineiro was a spring game showstopper. UF fans had seen his viral video field-goal bombs on YouTube, but then the former prep soccer player and JuCo transfer — who had never as much as attempted a kick in a football game — nailed kicks from 56, 52 and 46 yards in the O&B game (he missed from 53 and 52, though barely), and cranked seven of nine kickoffs into touchback land. Just like that, the Gators seemingly had solved the kicking woes of last season when the combination of Austin Hardin, Jorge Powell and later Neil MacInnes, a midseason walk-on (by way of an open student body tryout), combined to hit just seven of 17 field-goal attempts and miss five extra points. Pineiro, from Miami, originally committed to Alabama, but flipped his pledge in January, so his name is will come up not only for the offseason kicking buzz he created but for his decision to forsake the Hoover home state Crimson Tide.