Florida football co-offensive coordinator Russ Callaway recalled one of his first trips to The Swamp.
As a 10-year-old, Callaway was a ball boy along the sidelines, helping his father, Neil Callaway, who was the offensive coordinator at Alabama at the time. The Shaun Alexander-led Crimson Tide upset the Florida Gators 40-39 on that October afternoon in 1999, which began with the younger Callaway getting an earful from then UF football coach Steve Spurrier.
“He’d yell, ‘Hey, you’re putting too much air in those balls!’,” Callaway said. “You know he’d give me all of that stuff and I was just in awe that Coach Spurrier was talking to me.”
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A quarter of a century later, Callaway is now on the Florida sidelines, where he will take on added responsibility this year as UF’s co-offensive coordinator. His role in play-calling hasn’t been determined yet, but at the end of last season, he started to signal in plays from the sidelines, a step in his progression from tight ends coach.
“In what we do, that’s a big, important piece, communication,” Callaway said. “Because you’re talking to the quarterback, you’re talking to the tight end, the running back. It is a good way to kind of pick up the offense and learn, you know, the intricacies of the alignments, assignments, from the whole 11.”
But for now, Callaway views himself as part of a team leading the offense, where he will continue his responsibilities as tight ends coach.
“We have a great, cohesive unit, and I think it starts with us in that room and then transitions to the players,” Callaway said. “Because they see you talking, they see you communicating and asking questions….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/uf-football-coach-russ-callaway-220550140.html
Author : The Gainesville Sun
Publish date : 2024-03-09 22:05:50
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