Immediately after Florida’s Outback Bowl victory over Iowa, during his press conference Jim McElwain essentially challenged Florida’s offensive line entering the offseason after an up-and-down 2016 from the unit.

“One thing I will tell you, going through this offseason, we'll become a lot more physical up front than we were this year,” McElwain said back in early January. “I'm looking forward to getting Swamp Life going.”

Last season, the Gators took a step in the right direction in pass protection, allowing 28 sacks – as compared to 45, the worst in the country, a year ago – but the rushing offense ranked just 113th nationally. Florida struggled to get a consistent push up front in the run game, and McElwain saw much of that as the Gators’ O-linemen needing to get stronger, more physical and more aggressive in the trenches.

A step toward that goal was hiring North Texas offensive line coach Brad Davis to the same role at Florida as a replacement for Louisville-bound Mike Summers. Any spectator at spring practices hasn’t been able to miss how vocal Davis has been with his players.