Gators' Secondary Wants to Lead Way

A group of Gators defensive backs pose with assistant coach following a recent practice. (Photo: Kelly Streeter/UAA Communications)

Gators' Secondary Wants to Lead Way

Tuesday, August 21, 2018 | Football

By: Ethan Hughes, FloridaGators.com correspondent

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Since taking over as head coach in November, Dan Mullen has made it a point to bring back and embrace the traditions of the Florida football program.

At the spring game, he invited more than 150 former players to greet the 2018 squad at Gator Walk and attend the game. Two Gator Greats, defensive back Lawrence Wright and receiver Travis McGriff, caught touchdowns in the game.

Several former players have spoken to the team after practice, with the latest being tight end and former NFL head coach Mike Mularkey last week.

Mullen has brought in offensive firepower in transfer receivers Van Jefferson and Trevon Grimes and a recruiting class including highly touted quarterback Emory Jones and running back Dameon Pierce.

Players can be heard singing the fight song after practice, presumably to learn the lyrics so they can sing it with the band after games. On the field, the Gators would love to bring back another UF tradition in 2018 – stifling play by the secondary.

Dominant defensive backs are almost as engrained in the program's history as the orange and blue colors and Gator mascot. In the 1980s, it was Louis Oliver. It was Wright in the '90s, Lito Sheppard and Keiwan Ratliff in the early 2000s and Joe Haden, Major Wright, Vernon Hargreaves III and Quincy Wilson in recent years. Six Gators defensive backs have been selected in the first two rounds over the last three NFL drafts.

The peak of UF's secondary dominance came a few years ago when a brash and confident group of defenders led by Jalen 'Teez' Tabor proclaimed themselves DBU, or Defensive Back University. While this moniker has faded into the background, the standard and expectations for the position remain, and, last year, the Gators didn't live up to it.

Florida finished eighth in the SEC in pass defense, the worst ranking for the unit since 2007. As a defense, the Gators surrendered the most points per game they've allowed since 1946.

Clearly, the defense needs a turnaround, and that starts in the secondary. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham likes to dial up blitzes, which puts added pressure on the defensive backs to hold up long enough in one-on-one coverage for the rushers to get to the quarterback.

The Gators seem to have the talent for a quick turnaround, with sophomore corners CJ Henderson, a 2017 second team All-SEC selection, and Marco Wilson, a member of the Freshman All-SEC team. Junior Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was forced to play out of position at safety last year due to injuries but is back in his more comfortable nickelback role this season.

"It's not even just CJ and Marco," redshirt sophomore quarterback Feleipe Franks said. "We've got Brian Edwards, Trey Dean, all them boys. They're all just as good as mess. They're all lockdown corners. We've got good safeties. Our defense is always, you know, it's what they come here to do, ball out."

The key will be developing the starting safeties and depth at cornerback. The projected starting safeties, sophomore Brad Stewart and junior Jeawon Taylor, have a combined five starts.

"I don't think I have had one set of safeties behind me for the whole time," Wilson said. "They're always rotating. I like all those guys out there. They're all going for that spot, so this year we should have a lot of guys back there. I know they can all play. There won't just be two guys starting back there. There's going to be a lot of guys rotating, and they all have a high quality of experience, and they all have a lot of skills."

Wilson and Henderson are the only corners on the roster with significant playing experience. The top reserves figure to be sophomore Edwards and freshman Dean. The versatile Dean has drawn rave reviews from his teammates for how quickly he's picked up the defensive scheme and his competitiveness. Oh, and he might give Gardner-Johnson a run for his title of best trash-talker.

"He likes to talk, but he lives by it, and when he say he going to do something, he lives by it," Edwards said. "So, I like his swag out there."

Edwards said the corners are working together in the meeting room to make each other better.

"Marco, he'll let me know, 'Hey B, you got to stay inside leverage here or next play you got to stay outside leverage,' or he'll say, 'Move your feet,' " he said. "So, we help each other a lot and make sure we get each other better each and every day."

Grantham is known as an energetic and intense coach, and Wilson said that approach will benefit the entire defense.

"He's never going to let you relax because if you get comfortable, it's not a good deal," he said. "So, he's just always on top of us and making sure we have the play calls and we're learning the defense and we know where we need to be."

He said new cornerbacks coach Charlton Warren has introduced new techniques and schemes, but the most important thing he has learned from him is the mental part of the game. Wilson said he is able to play freer and faster without having to think about what he's supposed to do on each play.

A big emphasis for the group this offseason has been to force more turnovers. In 2017, the unit tied for ninth in the league with 17 turnovers forced. Wilson said they have worked on punching the ball out in practice.

"I think that's the most important thing on defense is you want to get the offense back out there, and you want to have their offense on the field as little as possible," he said.

Outside of the sterling freshman seasons turned in by Wilson and Henderson, the Gators' secondary turned in an unacceptable performance in 2017. And they never want to experience that again.

"We are definitely playing with a chip on our shoulder and getting back to the old Florida," sophomore safety Donovan Stiner said.