When Will Muschamp accepted the position as Florida’s head coach entering the 2011 season, he inherited many considerable problems from a deteriorating program.
Topping the list was the shortage of effective offensive linemen at his disposal.
“There’s no question,” Muschamp said, “we would have made changes if we could.”
Florida’s offensive line lacked the front-line talent required to withstand the barrage of the Southeastern Conference’s elite pass rushers. Equally problematic was the lack of depth that caused young players to be thrust into battle too early and essentially every offensive lineman to take more snaps than the coaching staff preferred.
The result was an offense that lagged against stronger, more aggressive SEC defenses.
As Muschamp enters his third season, he has now expressed more confidence in the unit charged with protecting Jeff Driskel and paving the way for UF’s stable of running backs.
“We are much deeper,” Muschamp said. “You’ve got seven or eight guys across the board that can play quality football.”
The rapid improvement of UF’s offensive line has come in two parts — more experience and the addition of several transfers.
Redshirt seniors Jonotthan Harrison and Jon Halapio, who have combined to make 60 starts for the Gators, were each young members of the 2011 unit that left Muschamp feeling uneasy.
“I’ve always been pleased with those two guys,” Muschamp said. But there is no question the pair has seen vast improvement as they have gained strength and experience.
Halapio, who has started 28 consecutive games, which is the longest streak on the team, is out with a torn left pectoral muscle but is expected to return before Florida opens its season against Toledo on Aug. 31. He will likely join Harrison, sophomore D.J. Humphries and transfers Max Garcia and Tyler Moore as UF’s first-string offensive line.
“You have to have depth because anything can happen,” Harrison said. “You can’t have the whole team suffer because of one player going down.”
The additions of Garcia and Moore have expedited UF’s offensive-line makeover.
Garcia started 12 games as a sophomore at Maryland; Moore started four games as a true freshman at Nebraska before spending one year at St. Petersburg Community College. Each has stepped in and produced quickly for the Gators.
“Tyler was a situation where he went to Nebraska, and I think he was homesick. … Max went through a coaching change at Maryland,” Muschamp said. “You got to do your due diligence of why is a young man leaving a school. Both of those being outstanding schools, so you check into it and you find out.”
After speaking with Nebraska coach Bo Pelini and former Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen, Muschamp quickly targeted Moore and Garica.
“Having those two guys is huge,” he said.
A third transfer into the offensive line, Trenton Brown, is the biggest — in terms of size — of them all. Brown, who transferred from Georgia Military College, is 6-foot-8, 363 pounds.
Brown’s story is unique. Despite his size, he focused on playing basketball during high school. It was not until his junior season that he decided to play football.
“He thought he was going to be a basketball player until he started weighing 360 pounds,” Muschamp said. “He found out very quickly he might be an offensive lineman.”
By then, many major programs that take advantage of early recruiting were full and passed on Brown. Two years later, his size was too much for the Gators to ignore.
“I feel like a child next to him,” Harrison said.
Added Moore, who is 6-foot-6, 312 pounds: “The first reaction is we felt like we were in third grade again looking up at a high schooler.”
Chaz Green, who has 19 career starts, Trip Thurman and Ian Silberman round out the list of contenders to earn snaps along the offensive line.
“This is the type of depth we haven’t seen,” Harrison said. “We definitely didn’t see this in spring ball, but it is a really good feeling to have the depth that can benefit the offense as a whole.”
Contact Phil Heilman at pheilman@alligator.org.
Junior center Jonotthan Harrison (72) waits to snap the ball to sophomore Jeff Driskel (6) during Florida's 38-0 win against Kentucky at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Sept. 22.
