Florida football players, coaches gearing for competitive fall camp

Report day for Florida football fall camp brought more optimism that third-year coach Billy Napier has espoused throughout the summer.

The Florida Gators will begin their third fall camp under Napier with 14 returning starters on offense and defense, led by quarterback Graham Mertz, and more than 41,000 snaps of experience.

“This camp will be the most competitive camp that we’ve had since I’ve been at the University of Florida,” Napier said. “We have more competitive depth. We have more experience. Certainly, we have a challenge in front of us that we look forward to.”

Florida will begin the first of its 17 practices over a 22-day stretch on Wednesday to help prepare for its season opener on Aug. 31 at The Swamp against state-rival Miami (3:30 p.m., ABC).

Napier addressed the team on Tuesday morning, and he expects 120 of the 132 scholarship and walk-on players on the roster to take part in fall drills.

“There’s never going to be a carbon copy team,” Florida center Jake Slaughter said. “I feel like this team has definitely shifted. We want to start fast and finish strong, that was a big thing this summer that we pushed. I feel like a lot of guys are ready to go out and compete. There’s going to be a ton of competition across the board.”

Slaughter said there isn’t an added sense of urgency opening against the Hurricanes, the first of 11 power four conference opponents on UF’s bear of a 12-game schedule. ESPN’s Football Power Index has rated UF’s schedule as the most difficult in college football.

“There’s going to be a sense of urgency regardless,” Slaughter said. “Being ready for the beginning half or the back half of the schedule isn’t something we consider I feel like. There’s always going to be a sense of urgency to play our best ball day one.”

How Florida football fall camp will be structured

Napier said…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/florida-football-players-coaches-gearing-195347278.html

Author : The Gainesville Sun

Publish date : 2024-07-30 19:53:47

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