Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
McElwain has plans for tough training camp
GAINESVILLE — The high-fives were flying. The hoots and hollers were reverberating. The energy and enthusiasm were palpable.
The scene Thursday inside the Florida Gators’ indoor practice facility when the team’s veterans took the field was unlike anything third-year coach Jim McElwain had seen on Day 1 of a new season.
“I kind of felt that, too,” McElwain said of the vibe. “I think that they feel like they have something to maybe prove.”
Prove to their naysayers, but also to their head coach.
The Gators have been underdogs since McElwain arrived. But even now as two-time defending SEC East champions, UF was picked to finish behind Georgia — losers of three consecutive games in the rivalry.
When practice opened Thursday, he planned to push this team harder than his previous two at UF. On Wednesday, the coach told his players the theme of preseason camp would be, “Sweat the small stuff.”
“This camp is going to be uncomfortable for our guys,” McElwain said. “There is no detail small enough to be overlooked. It’s going to be hard and that’ll be intentional.”
The Gators’ Sept. 2 season opener against Big Ten power Michigan at the Dallas Cowboys’ home stadium creates a sense of urgency unlike the past two seasons when UF opened at home against lightweights New Mexico State and UMass, respectively. The Wolverines opened No. 9 in the preseason coaches’ poll released Thursday — seven spots higher than the No. 16 Gators.
Increased depth and competition within the roster also will ratchet up the intensity level.
“If there was one thing that I would say about this year’s camp that may be a little bit different than in the past, it is the true competition at so many position groups,” McElwain said. “It’s something that we were looking for.”
Entering Thursday, all eyes were on the quarterback battle.
Redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks, who ended the spring the front-runner for the quarterback job, took the initial snaps with the first team offense.
“He deserves it,” McElwain said. “He was the guy that came out of spring obviously No. 1.”
Luke Del Rio, who opened last season under center before season-ending injuries set in, also worked with the first team.
Malik Zaire, the newcomer to the group, made an impression on his coach with his ability to move in the pocket — an element neither Franks nor Del Rio offer.
“He does really have some good feet,” McElwain said of Zaire. “He’s got some real good pocket awareness. When it [the defense] did break down, he actually made them pay a little bit.”
The next four weeks McElwain will push, prod, cajole and challenge his players every chance he can.
“What I really want to see is I want to see our guys strain,” he said. “And I don’t want to see them give up.”