Over the last few seasons, the Florida Gators secondary has garnered a nickname: "No Fly Zone."
As Kirk Callahan settles into his new role as UF's defensive backs coach this Spring, it won’t be too difficult to continue to build on that tradition.
Returning starters include 2014 All-American Vernon Hargreaves III, sophomores Jalen Tabor and Duke Dawson, senior Brian Poole, and juniors Marcus Maye and Keanu Neal.
Having this kind of talented depth in the secondary is nothing short of a luxury in college football, and Callahan is grateful for the talent he inherited this spring.
"It’s a good problem to have," Callahan said. "The great thing is the competition level. Each guy brings his own little variety, his own uniqueness to it."
While the aforementioned starters were typically first or second on the defensive depth chart last season, new defensive coordinator Geoff Collins has a different philosophy when it comes to filling out a depth chart.
Instead of listing guys specifically at first or second team, he uses an "above the line" approach, meaning players above the line are included in the defensive back rotation.
"Let’s roll guys and keep guys fresh because if you sit there and play in the SEC East, you’re going to see teams that play with 10, 11 personnel, up-tempo speeds," Callahan said. "We want to, like the d-line, keep guys going in fresh because at the end of the day, we’ve got a lot of playmakers and we have to put them in position to make plays."
Callahan touched on the versatility of the group by adding there are six guys repping at the nickel spot this spring. Maye and Poole saw the most time at the nickel spot last season.
"We’ve been positioning people in different groupings to see how people play with each other," Callahan said. "One guy with this guy to see how he works with this safety and vice versa. As of right now we’ve got about six guys repping at the nickel. I mean we have six guys rolling at the nickel position that can play at a variety of different spots."
Callahan was on staff at Florida in 2010 as a staff intern and again in 2011 as a graduate assistant. In both seasons, Florida finished in the top 15 nationally in passing defense. Callahan spent three seasons at UCF before returning to Florida in January.
Callahan says that despite the Gators going 29-21 since the 2011 season, the recruiting prowess of the Orange and Blue hasn’t worn off due to the poor product on the field.
"You can sit there and say, ‘Ask anybody who was your favorite team growing up and so it was the Gators.’ I don’t think that’s been lost," Callahan said. "It’s just at the end of the day, you’ve got to win."
Follow Morgan Moriarty on Twitter @Morgan_Moriarty
Vernon Hargreaves III runs to catch a ball during practice at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
