In Bid for Playing Time, Conliffe Won't Back Down When Doubled

Elijah Conliffe is getting a lot of work at nose tackle in new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham's 3-4 scheme. (Photo: Alex de la Osa/UAA Communications)

In Bid for Playing Time, Conliffe Won't Back Down When Doubled

Tuesday, August 7, 2018 | Football

By: Ethan Hughes, FloridaGators.com correspondent

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Most defensive linemen dream of making big-time plays -- sacks on third down, stuffing running backs in the backfield, forcing fumbles.

They want to see their name in the newspaper, the record books, on SportsCenter's top 10 plays and the first round of NFL Draft boards. They want the glamour, the fame and statistics.

They want to play defensive end or maybe the three-technique tackle spot, but never nose tackle.

Players usually need a little convincing to agree to play nose tackle, which consists of lining up across from the center and smashing into at least two 300-pound men on every play.

Not Elijah Conliffe.

The sophomore from Hampton, Va., not only plays the crucial nose position in new coordinator Todd Grantham's 3-4 scheme, but he embraces the role. At 6-foot-4 and 317 pounds, he has the frame for the position and the right attitude to be successful.

Conliffe said he is practicing at both nose tackle and three-technique, a tackle position that lines up on the outside shoulder of a guard and includes more freedom to make plays. However, he said he prefers to play nose.

"I've been playing it all my life pretty much, and I like it because it demands double teams if you're playing it right," he said after practice Monday. "I want to be that kind of guy."

Outside of specialists, nose tackle might be the least glamorous position in football, but it's critical to success in a 3-4. The math is simple: there are five offensive linemen, and only three defensive linemen. Somebody needs to eat up multiple blockers to free up the ends and linebackers to make the highlight plays.

"I guess getting [double teams] every day at practice, it just makes me better," he said. "You really have to stay low with those and work on your stability. Working on that's really going to make me a better player overall.

"Seeing [your teammates] make plays after you eat up a double team or something, it makes you feel you're helping out your teammates. They are where they want to be, and you're helping out yourself as well."

Conliffe said Grantham encourages players to take on double teams in the meeting room by pointing out players who effectively handle them in practice.

Conliffe struggled to get on the field last year, appearing in eight games and making just two tackles.

"He's worked hard," Coach Dan Mullen said. "I think he's learning to play physical, but if you know me, you guys will see from me, I love rolling guys through. We're going to play a lot of guys, so he's going to play. He's going to get an opportunity to play and then what he does with that, that's going to be up to him with how his effort and performance is out there on the field."

Conliffe believes a better offseason strength and conditioning program, new coaches and some things he learned from a former teammate will make a difference in 2018.

After he and fellow sophomore defensive tackle T.J. Slaton struggled to start spring practice, he said they got more conditioned and technically sound between the second and third scrimmages. He continued to improve his conditioning over the summer.

"The first session we had, the holding the rope, was really hard for me," he said. "Teammates around me, pushing me through, so I ended up getting through it."

While Nick Savage, director of strength and conditioning, runs a program that is physically demanding, a big theme among Gators players in recent days is the mental aspect of the program. Redshirt freshman defensive end Zachary Carter said Conliffe's improvement is as much mental as physical.

"This offseason, he really worked hard with Coach Savage," Carter said. "Like I said about the mental thing, that's a big piece of everything, so I felt like he took the mental part, and now he's applying it on the field. He's looking good."

When a new strength coach comes to a program, there's always concern over whether the players will buy in to a new way of doing things. Most of the Gators were recruited by a different staff and had become accustomed to less strenuous and demanding summer workouts. Conliffe said Savage keeps them motivated through the struggles.

"Just continually giving us examples, telling us how we can be a championship team if we work hard," he said. "So, we all just pitch in and push each other to get to where we need to be.

"There's a lot of juice in the weight room, and that's what really pushes us and keeps us going."

Conliffe and the rest of the defensive line also have the benefit of being coached by Grantham and defensive line coach Sal Sunseri, who brought a combined 21 years of NFL coaching experience to UF.

"They really have, I guess, a wider view of things," Conliffe said. "So, they know exactly what it takes to get to the next level and what they're expecting, so they always continually ask it out of us."

At Louisville, Grantham coached defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, who was taken by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 2016 draft. He coached defensive tackle John Jenkins at Georgia, who was also taken by the Saints in the third round in 2013. Sunseri is fresh off a three-year stint with the Oakland Raiders, where he worked with 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Khalil Mack.

Conliffe hopes to join them in the NFL someday.

"I've watched a little bit and I've seen the hand placement, like he's teaching us now," he said. "I've seen the drills he runs them through [in the past]. He is really preaching that every day in practice."

He said he used his time watching from the sideline in 2017 to pick up some pointers from former Gator and current Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Taven Bryan.

"I learned get-off is the best thing that makes a D-linemen really great, is to get off," he said. "And his hands, great."

He said he continues to talk with Bryan frequently.

"[He tells me to] just keep working on my get-off, my twitch," Conliffe said. "You've got have fast-twitch and good hands."

In the portions of practice open to the media, Conliffe has been working extensively with the first unit. He said he felt better getting off the ball in spring than he ever had. Now, his goal is consistency.

He might not put up huge numbers, be named All-SEC or be talked about a lot by fans and media, but for the Gators defense to return to its form of two or three years ago, Conliffe will need to be a large reason why.

And he's perfectly OK with that formula.