How well are Jarrad Davis and Alex Anzalone playing and do they feed off of each other?
“They do, they really do. They’re playing very well. Both of them really intertwine with each other. J.D. sets the front, but also Alex echoes the front for him. So J.D. makes the call and Alex echoes the call. Both of them really know what each other is doing all the time. And we always tell both of them guys, if you can really click with each other all the time, great things will happen. Those guys have done a tremendous job on and off the field helping the young guys that we have to really pick things up. I like seeing those guys fly around and have fun, and they’ve been doing a great job this season.”
Do they remind you of other LBs you’ve coached?
“There have been a lot of guys I’ve (something) with. It reminds me of when I had Michael Barrow, Darin Smith and Jesse Armstead at Miami. And some other guys. Those guys do a great job of playing. You love to see them flying around and how they handle things.”
Do you see Davis taking his game to another level this year?
"He did. The one things that we looked at this offseason was how we can improve each player. One thing that we continue to stress upon JD was how we can improve his fundamentals and his tackling. Jarrad missed a lot of tackles last year and he worked on it this offseason. He worked on some different drills, but also as far as simple technique-wise. We always tell him, 'Stay bent. Stay in football position all the time.' You don't necessarily in practice have to make contact, but if you're always bending at the knees when something happens or a running back does something or a receiver does something or a tight end, you're able to react because you're always in football position. But I think by us emphasizing that and he emphasizing it himself in practice, over-exaggerating those things, it helped him achieve goals that he didn't achieve last year.
"He's at a high level right now. Really, really at a high level. Does a great job of communicating, getting guys lined up. He's really, really feeling it now. The one thing that you can always see in the middle of a game or in practice, if something happens wrong, you can see it right on film how his head will go down or he'll grit his fists like that was me. I didn't fit the right way, I didn't see something the right way. So he sees right then and there after the play has happened. So he's able to fix things when you have guys that can do that right away."
How important is it for David Reese, Daniel McMillian and Kylan Johnson to be ready this week?
“Every week everyone has to be ready. It just depends on the game. They’ve done a great job of really picking up the defense now There’s always that fourth of fifth game of the season when you have true freshmen coming in and should be ready to play. At this point and time, they’ve done a great job handling the stress of it but also handling the school aspect of it. So, now they’re fresh, they’re mentally ready. Should see them a lot this week, playing and things like that. Give them a shot at it.”
Do you feel for McMillian for what he’s gone through with injuries?
“Yeah, it is frustrating for me as a coach because you continually always want to give a player an opportunity show his talent, his craft. Daniel did a tremendous job for us in the offseason, then all of a sudden the injury bug hit him. But, it’s like anything else, he’s been positive, he’s bounced back, he’s doing a lot of great things in practice how. Two weeks in a row he’s put together practices. I’m predicting great things for him for this upcoming game.”
What's your evaluation of Kylan Johnson?
"The one thing we said as a staff is at worst he can be a linebacker. He had big bones, really big bones. Very athletic back in Dallas. A big guy that can run, is athletic. We said, 'If he doesn't make it at safety, he can be a great linebacker.' And he's done a tremendous job. He plays both outside linebacker (positions). He started off at the weakside linebacker, now he's playing the strongside linebacker. So anytime a guy can have the knowledge to do what he does and contribute and play both positions, that adds depth to the group that you have."
How much does it help that you can tell recruits they can play right away?
"It's a reality, if you just look at our depth. We can say, OK, whoever comes in as freshmen class, just take my position at linebacker. You're coming in second team All American because of the depth situation. Say you only need six guys. Well the depth alone, whoever comes in going to be second team. So in they mind, they see those things, but then all of the sudden they see, well you have this guy. The reason why this guys is here is because we think he can contribute and play at the University of Florida. If you're coming in, our job is to take his job. If you take his job, we're a better football team. If he keep his job, we're still a better football team. But every year he's gonna have an opportunity to take someone else's job.
"Depth wise, you continue to build your depth. In recruiting we gotta take more guys at each position. You'll never be satisfied with just saying I'm happy with these four or five guys or these six guys. You always want to continue to bring in somebody that can contribute, somebody that can take somebody else's job because you can build depth that way. And also, if you know as a player, that somebody's behind me, I'm gonna get it wrong. That's just normal. And sometimes guys get in a rut when you don't have nobody behind that particular person. They take it easy. So continue to build that depth through recruiting, continue to stress to get the best guys on the football field at all times. Then you'll see guys really exceed to another level."
