Coaches look to extend their success at UF

GAINESVILLE — New Florida Gators coach Dan Mullen and assistant coaches John Hevesy and Billy Gonzales aren’t exactly strangers.

Hevesy and Gonzales were among the first two recruits Mullen landed after he was named the Gators’ 27th head coach on Nov. 26.

“As soon as [Mullen] called us and said, ‘Get ready to rock and roll,’ and there was, without any hesitation, it was, ‘Let’s get ready to go,’ ” Gonzales recalled.

Hevesy will be the Gators’ offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator, while Gonzales will be the wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator.

They are expected to collaborate seamlessly with Mullen rebuilding the UF offense, taking advantage of their familiarity with each other’s tendencies.

Mullen, Hevesy and Gonzales first worked together from 2001-02 at Bowling Green under coach Urban Meyer. During their two seasons, they helped lead the Falcons to records of 8-3 and 9-3 before following Meyer to Utah in 2003.

When UF hired Meyer away from the Utes, the trio followed. In 2004, they inherited a roster built by former coach Ron Zook and nearly turned it into a national title contender, going 9-3 with largely the same offensive playmakers. From 2004-08, the Gators’ offense improved every season. After a modest uptick between their first and second years, offensive production skyrocketed from 29.7 points per game in 2006 to 42.5 in 2007, good for third in the country.

Starting again at UF this upcoming season, Gonzales said expectations from fans remain high even though the circumstances are different.

“I think anytime you go from one program to another program, no matter what it is, if you’ve been there before or not, it’s always going to change,” he said. “There’s always different things that you have to overcome.”

One aspect the new staff will have to overcome will be the talent level of the current Gators’ roster. In the trio’s history together, running quarterbacks have played a prominent role in the offense. Even Alex Smith at Utah rushed for more than 1,000 yards during his two years as the Utes’ starter.

During the past two years at Mississippi State, the coaches started junior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, who rushed for a combined 2,359 yards in his sophomore and junior seasons.

The staff will now have to figure out how to handle returning starter Feleipe Franks and a slew of sophomores, as well as incoming freshman Emory Jones, who is ranked the nation’s No. 4 dual-threat quarterback recruit by 247Sports.com.

Hevesy and Gonzales will take a communal approach to play-calling duties, with Mullen ultimately having the final say in the matter.

“Really all the work is done before Saturday,” Hevesy said. “Then Saturday comes, ‘OK, what do we want to run? I’m seeing this, these are great run plays to run.’ Billy will do the same thing on the pass game. And then it comes down to coach Mullen, ‘OK, I like those and I like those.’ ”

Mullen has clearly won his staff ’s loyalty.

“When you start cutting your teeth, and as a grunt kind of coming up the system together, you have a lot of time between myself, him and John,” Gonzales said. “When you have no egos on the staff, you have a bunch of great guys who are all working towards the same goal, you have an opportunity to be really successful with your staff and build that continuity.”