McElwain on Mission to Get Offense to Believe
Saturday, August 15, 2015 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The season is creeping closer and closer by the day, and on Thursday night, that reality started to sink in deep for first-year Gators head coach Jim McElwain.
As he retired for the night, McElwain knew that on Friday -- 22 days from Florida's season opener Sept. 5 -- he would get a better gauge on his team as it held the first scrimmage of preseason camp at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
McElwain did not sleep like a baby.
“I'll be quite honest with you, I kind of didn't sleep last night thinking this could be a disaster,'' he said.
McElwain spoke those words to the media about 10 minutes after he walked off the field on a typical sun-soaked, humid August afternoon in Florida.
In the previous two-plus hours, McElwain saw enough rays of hope to think the Gators have what it takes to have success if they dig deeper and believe.
“It actually turned out pretty darn good,'' he said. “I guess that's comforting.”
The Gators ran 109 plays and 26 special-teams plays Friday, testing every facet they could.
Will Grier, Treon Harris and Josh Grady each took significant snaps at quarterback. Kelvin Taylor and Jordan Scarlett got plenty of carries. The receivers -- new and old -- had ample chances to make plays.
And the defense, well, it did what it has done for the past several seasons.
The defense is ahead of the offense at this stage of spring camp. That old adage has run deeper than usual the past four seasons as Florida featured one of the nation's top defenses under former head coach Will Muschamp.
As the defense soared, the Florida offense sputtered under the direction of three coordinators in four seasons.
McElwain is ready for more balance. He wants the offense to believe in itself as much as the defense does.
If that transformation can take place, then he could have a better team than most expect.
“There's some offensive pieces here, especially with some of these young guys,'' McElwain said. “And yet we've got to get over the hump from the psychological standpoint. It's OK to care. It's OK to compete. It's OK to get out there and just let it all happen.
“That's where we've got to get offensively a little bit. Because there's times they allow a negative play to affect the next couple plays. To develop a really good offense and core defense, you've got to have a short memory. You've got to come back and compete. One of the things we've got to do is continue, especially some of those guys we would have to say are veterans on the offensive line, is just keep competing on every single down.”
Tight end Jake McGee understands where McElwain is coming from.
McGee experienced offensive success at Virginia prior to transferring to Florida a season ago. His season was over in the first game because of a leg injury.
However, he has been around the program long enough to sense that few outsiders have much faith in Florida's offense. Some of that can creep into the locker room.
McElwain wants the players to kick the doubts out the door and out of their heads.
“That's something that he's been really preaching, especially to the offense,'' McGee said. “There's not a lot of people expecting a lot from us. That's something you put in the back of your head and you build on it.”
In Friday's scrimmage, the offense certainly had some highlights. McElwain praised running back Kelvin Taylor for his running, showing more ability to cut up field rather than dance toward the sideline.
Grier led the Gators on a long scoring drive early, capped with a touchdown pass to redshirt freshman tight end C'yontai Lewis. Brandon Powell hauled in a long reception, and receiver Chris Thompson broke loose after a short catch to race for a score. Later in situational drills Lewis added another touchdown catch on a throw from Harris.
“We had a good first series as a 1 offense,'' McGee said. “It's getting better and better. I think we're in a place that's a pretty good place and we're going to keep continuing from there.”
Defensive back Brian Poole, while confident the defense had a better day Friday, admitted at seeing some progress from the offense.
“They're getting better, they really are,'' he said. “You can see a difference in their attitude and what they are trying to get done out there.”
On the flip side, McElwain saw too many dropped passes for his liking and some turnovers that could have been avoided.
With two weeks remaining in preseason camp, the coaching staff will continue to install more of the offense and push the players to believe more in themselves as a unit.
“Very pleased as to where we are at this point,'' McElwain said. “Keep loading the wagon and teaching, and as we get closer to game time, we'll start slowing that part down and start pulling out the pieces that we're going to use in the game plan for the first game.”
