After a Spring camp that was riddled with communication issues, UF coach Jim McElwain brought that matter to the forefront at the team’s first Fall practice Thursday.
With the first five practices being padless, McElwain said he wants to spend the first portion of camp building the interaction among his players.
“Usually when you see a big play or a bust, it’s because somebody didn’t communicate on either side of the ball,” McElwain said. “The good thing is from a point of emphasis, we talked a lot about that.”
And with one day of camp under their belt, the Gators have shown McElwain they can work.
The first-year UF head coach praised his players for retaining knowledge from the Spring and for keeping up with their learning during the down time.
“You could tell that took that to heart as to how they must have communicated over the summer as they were going through some of these things, the player-led workouts,” McElwain said. “That was good to see. I’d would say that was the one real positive that I got out of it today.”
However, the Gators still have room to grow, specifically with communication between the quarterbacks and receivers.
McElwain said the rhythm between the two was “not great by any stretch of the imagination,” with some players needing to realize how important every rep is.
“If you can’t throw a completion against air, you’re sure as heck not going to throw one when there’s a bunch of people out there,” he said. “It’s pretty simple.”
