Florida Gators
SEC Coaches Classic - Day 3
Collins cross-trains as many players as possible for when adversity strikes
Wednesday, September 2, 2015 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Preparing for a game without one of your starting safeties and potentially both your starting safeties would cause some defensive coordinators angst.
Florida's Geoff Collins isn't a member of that club.
With Marcus Maye suspended for Saturday's opener due to University Athletic Association policy and Keanu Neal questionable with a left leg injury, Florida's secondary is not as deep as usual.
Defensive lineman Alex McCalister is also suspended Saturday due to UAA policy. Still, don't expect Collins to lose a wink of sleep preparing for his Gators debut.
“We don't worry about who starts or who's not starting or who's playing,” Collins said. “The expectation: If you step on that field and you're in the orange and blue, you're expected to play at a high level. Our kids understand that, they embrace that.”
After four seasons at Mississippi State, Collins was surprised at the intensity of the defense he inherited, calling the players some of the most competitive he has been around.
While Maye, Neal and McCalister all figure prominently into the plans, Collins is confident the Gators have stockpiled enough talent to get along fine.
The system he installed is built to use a lot of players.
“The way we do things is basically every kid on defense has to learn the whole defense,” Collins said. “We really don't care about positions — Mikes or Wills or Sams or nickels or safeties. They're lining up everywhere. We'll have guys lined up all across the board. We have very interchangeable [roles].”
Collins said he adapted his approach as an assistant as Western Carolina early in his career. The team lost its starting strong-side linebacker to an injury and his backup was “the sixth-best linebacker we had.”
“We learned just to cross-train them to make them learn and play a lot of different positions so we can just roll them in and out,'' he said
