Will Muschamp tried to build Florida into what Alabama is on the field, with a style of play ready to line up and mash opponents into submission using unbalanced lines and "God’s play."
Jim McElwain is doing the exact opposite.
Instead of beefing up the program between the lines, he’s focusing on what’s happening behind the scenes, hiring a slew of quality control coaches, men that will never actually do a bit of real coaching.
"Obviously they can’t coach on the field and they won’t, that’s not how it is," McElwain said. "And yet, some of the value as far as looking forward to some film breakdown, things like that, is huge. And getting another set of quality eyes on your product that can kind of sit back and see a little bit from afar and bring some really good value to what you’re trying to accomplish. I think we’ve done that in those spots. We’re not filled up yet. We kind of (are) pretty close."
Mark DeBastiani, Marquel Blackwell and Marc Nudelberg are among those that have joined UF’s staff in recent weeks, each coming from a different coaching background.
Former Florida quarterback Chris Leak was a quality control assistant but McElwain has yet to announce if Leak will have a role in the new regime.
There are still more names to add behind the scenes, but for now McElwain is content to build the program he wants piece by piece.
"The one thing you’ll find out about me is I’ve got a lot of patience in this," McElwain said. "Until you see your team and really see what it is, maybe you don’t know exactly what part you kind of need to help the organization. That’s part of the discovery of where we’re at as a total organization. To see what we need to fill there."
Injuries springing up as practice opens: The Gators enter Spring so thin along the offensive line they will not hold a traditional spring game because of it, opting for a game that has offensive and defensive scoring.
Offensive lineman Trip Thurman (shoulder) will not participate in contact drills, McElwain said.
Tight end Jake McGee will also be held out of contact drills as he recovers from a broken leg suffered in the first game of last season.
Linebacker Antonio Morrison is "attacking his rehab," from knee surgery following his gruesome injury suffered in the Birmingham Bowl, McElwain is pleased that Morrison is still around the program while hurt, attending meetings and drills.
Florida’s head man was not concrete about other injuries to the progression of Bryan Cox and Jarrad Davis, only saying that they’re "hurt."
Finding another Fowler?: With Florida’s best pass rusher departing for the NFL, the Gators have a void to fill.
Besides the unquantifiable, taking up double teams and creating for others, Dante Fowler had 8.5 sacks, led UF with 15 tackles for loss and was fourth on the team with total tackles at 60. Fowler’s motor and leadership are irreplaceable and McElwain won’t try to do so.
Instead, he’ll call on the rest of the defense to raise their game and pick up the slack.
"You don’t replace a Dante Fowler," McElwain said. "The guy is going to be a top 10, whatever, a top-five pick in the National Football League. That’s a pretty good league, by the way. So you don’t replace that guy.
"What you do is the positions around that guy have to elevate their play to make up for that production. So that’s kind of how I see that when you lose dynamic playmakers on either side of the ball. And so I never want to ask somebody to be somebody they’re not."
Follow Richard Johnson on Twitter @RagjUF
Florida football coach Jim McElwain speaks to media members during a press conference on March 10 in the Southeast End Zone meeting room at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
