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Now in his third season with the Gators, junior Amari Burney is playing his fourth position in Florida's defense.

The four-star athlete arrived at UF as a safety in 2018. After his first day of practice, he was moved to the nickel position.

“They kind of saw me as a big-body, so they moved me to STAR to really make plays with the run game and cover a little bit. And then my sophomore year, I played STAR and linebacker,” said Burney, who primarily lined up at Florida’s MONEY spot (weak-side linebacker).

“Then this year, they felt like we needed somebody that can cover very well because we're going to run a little bit of different schemes. So we kind of moved me to inside linebacker.”

Burney said he likes his new position, but was very critical of his play in the first two games Monday. He made six tackles against South Carolina, which tied his career-high in an SEC game, but had opportunities to make more stops.

“I’ve got to step it up. These past two weeks have been unacceptable for me, personally,” Burney said. “Just talking with the coaches, my parents, watching film, it's been unacceptable on my part just being a starter and not doing my job.

“Just the plays I'm leaving on the field, not making the plays that I want to make. Doing the wrong things on the field, not being physical, not getting off blocks, things like that.”

After appearing in eight games last year with three starts, this is Burney’s first season as a full-time starter. That expanded role, coupled with the spring he missed to practice at inside linebacker, has made the transition harder on him.

“It’s different. No excuses, though,” Burney said. “This is mainly my first year actually being out there on the field for first and second down. I usually come in on third down.

“But nothing new, just gotta get more physical, get more aggressive. Learn from Ventrell [Miller], learn from James [Houston], people that have been playing the position for all their life and get better every week.”

Burney’s improved leverage and quicker reads has enabled him to make the switch inside, according to Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. Despite his new position, Grantham said he can still mix and match Burney to play MONEY-backer or STAR depending on the type of offense Florida is facing.

“Because of his skill set and his talent, it gives us that flexibility. Plus, he’s a really smart guy learning what to do,” Grantham said. “He’s a little bit older, in the sense of being a little bit more technician as an inside backer. Understands a little bit quicker reads, little bit better on change of direction things where it looks like it’s going right and then all the sudden it’s going left based upon guards and things like that.

“He’s been a little bit quicker in reaction to those things. He’s done a really good job of really honing in on his leverage, meaning ‘Where’s my help, and where do I need to funnel guys when I’m covering guys?’ And I would say he’s really tried to craft himself into being an expert in those kinds of things as a linebacker.”