During Florida’s game against Bowling Green on Saturday, television cameras caught offensive coordinator Brent Pease yelling profanities after an unsuccessful play.
Although Pease was in the coaches booth and his cursing was inaudible, he apologized for his language on Tuesday, adding that he had to explain himself to more than just the media and fans.
“My mom let me know,” Pease said. “My mother said to be careful and I need to watch my mouth. I had my mouth washed out with soap when I was like 9. It’s not going to happen now.”
Pease said he doesn’t normally think about cameras following him during games, and that repressing his emotions out in the heat of the moment can be difficult.
Senior guard James Wilson said he was not bothered by it, only surprised Pease’s mother demanded an apology.
“What coach doesn’t cuss?” Wilson said. “But he got caught, that’s horrible.”
Handling the atmosphere: Texas A&M’s Kyle Field is known as one of the toughest road environments in college football, but the Gators aren’t worried about being intimidated by the Aggies’ crowd, also known as The 12th Man.
“It’s really no different from here,” Wilson said. “We’ve got loud fans; they’ve got loud fans.”
Both Pease and Muschamp have coached in the stadium before. Muschamp visited College Station as the defensive coordinator at Texas, and Pease coached in Kyle Field when he was the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Baylor. Pease said some of the fan traditions can be disconcerting if you pay too much attention to them.
“The thing I do remember is in the third quarter and you look up there and they’re all swaying,” Pease said. “You can’t look or you’re going to get like vertigo.
“Those stands start moving. It can get loud. They’re into it and they get their little yell people going and all the kissing going on if they’re scoring. It’s a great atmosphere to play in.”
Purifoy working both ways: Sophomore Loucheiz Purifoy will see time at wide receiver after earning one of the starting spots at cornerback to open the season.
Purifoy lined up at wide receiver multiple times in the Gators’ win against Bowling Green on Saturday, and coaches say he will continue to play on offense.
While Florida’s wide receivers have struggled over the last two seasons, Pease said playing Purifoy on offense is a credit to his ability, not a response to the play of the other skill position players.
“It’s not an indictment on anyone,” Pease said. “We’ve done it everywhere I’ve been. We took the fastest kid and tried to use his strengths. He’s a very talented kid. They’re always eager to do it. You’ve got a chance to catch a ball. It’s fun. They’re into it.”
Although he was primarily recruited as a cornerback out of Pensacola Pine Forest High, offense is not new to Purifoy.
He also played quarterback and running back before coming to Florida, and Muschamp said the skills that allowed Purifoy to succeed offensively in high school will translate to Pease’s scheme.
“Loucheiz is a guy that’s got good vertical speed and he’s got really good ball skills,” Muschamp said. “We’re trying to get more explosive at the position. He’s certainly a guy that can do some things for us, and that role will continue to grow as we move forward.”
Gators fall in rankings: Florida checked in at No. 24 in the latest Associated Press poll, released Tuesday.
UF entered the season ranked 23rd.
Contact Josh Jurnovoy at jjurnovoy@alligator.org.
Loucheiz Purifoy, looks to the sidelines during UF's win against Bowling Green University on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
