Will Muschamp has joked this offseason that he is only coaching certain safeties this year: the ones who play well.
Muschamp won’t have that luxury when it comes to Matt Elam. It seems the sophomore safety’s best assets are uncoachable.
Muschamp, himself a former safety at Georgia, has talked this week about Elam’s instincts; he simply reads offenses better than anyone else on the team, like a safety savant.
“You’ve got to have some natural instincts to play the ball,” Muschamp said Wednesday. “We can talk about coaching that all the time. Some guys get it; some guys don’t. That’s something that certainly comes very easy to him.”
Like most members of Florida’s 2010 recruiting class, Elam stepped onto campus with plenty of hype. The No. 2 safety in the nation, according to Rivals.com, Elam failed to make an instant impact. He appeared in all 13 games last season, but he saw most of his playing time on special teams.
Of course, Elam had a good excuse: he was sitting behind senior Ahmad Black, who led Florida with 108 tackles and was named a second-team All-American.
But since Black’s departure, Elam has shown a mix of confidence and humility. During interviews, his voice is the quietest among players available to the media.
When asked last spring which player on defense hits the hardest, he said he didn’t want to talk about it, though teammates later pointed to Elam when asked the same thing.
“He reminds me of Major Wright a lot,” junior Omar Hunter said, comparing Elam to the former Gator who temporarily knocked Oklahoma receiver Manny Johnson out of the 2008 National Championship with a hit on the sidelines.
At media day earlier this month, though, Elam was not shy about calling himself the leader of an inexperienced backfield. Others on the team seem to agree.
“He’s the best thing out there,” defensive tackle Dominique Easley said. “He works hard at everything. Basically, he’s relentless every play. He doesn’t take off not one snap.”
And the defensive backs will need a leader this year.
With junior Jeremy Brown recovering from a right knee sprain and senior Moses Jenkins’ underwhelming track record, all signs point to freshman Marcus Roberson and sophomore Cody Riggs opening the season as the starting corners.
As for Elam’s back-line mate at safety? Josh Evans and Josh Shaw, who have a combined three starts, are battling for playing time.
In addition to his instincts, Muschamp praised Elam’s acceleration.
“When he sees it and he goes and gets it, he’s got that extra gear,” Muschamp said. “He had a play [Tuesday] in scout that he really closed well on. He has some things that, from a coaching standpoint, you’d like to take credit for.”
Instead, Muschamp will have to take credit for the rest of the guys, assuming they play well.
Contact Tyler Jett at tjett@alligator.org.
Sophomore safety Matt Elam is reportedly the leader of the defense and will be counted on to fill the void left by Ahmad Black.
