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There is no question that Florida has had offensive line issues under Jim McElwain.
After stepping foot in Gainesville and looking at the roster from a numbers standpoint, the offensive line was in disarray with only four scholarship offensive lineman to work with.
McElwain had to make due with a makeshift offensive line in his first season, but has since built the depth at that position to where year three could showcase how good Florida really is up front.
During the Spring and Summer, the offensive line took part in team building activities outside of football to help the unit build chemistry and really get a better understanding of knowing each other.
The comradery between the offensive line is one aspect Gators center T.J. McCoy believes that the more time the unit spends together and trusts each other, the better they can be on the field.
“Yeah, we did a lot of outings this year,” explained McCoy. “We went to Yamatos, great place if you all know about Yamatos, great place. We had some hibachi. We went to Outback and ordered some wings and cheese fries. We went fishing, catfish fishing, went to a couple of ponds in Gainesville. That was pretty fun to do.
“I wouldn’t say that, I feel like every position group interacts like that,” says McCoy. “The linebackers, they have great outings. Every position group interacts with each other very well. I would just say that’s something as an O-line we started to do. That’s something I see we didn’t do in the past a lot.”
While on and off of the field, the offensive line is one unit that is relying on trusting the ones that are around them is one of the most important keys to being successful as a whole.
“I feel like it’s just trusting each other,” said McCoy. “You know your brother’s got your back. It’s just trusting each other. You know it’s not all about football. We go on these outings and talk to each other about regular stuff. I talk to Jawaan about his parents, his family, where he comes from. It’s all about getting to know each other and then saying, you know what this guy cares about me not just the football, but he cares about my life, my school, my personal life, whatever I am going through personally, not on the field. Because I feel like when you don’t do team-bonding activities you kind of don’t know what everybody else’s agenda is. I feel like once you have these activities you know each person is, you know T.J. is this type of person and Tyler is this kind of person. You get to know this person on an intellectual level and not just football, but a personal level. And that makes the bond tighter.”
Gators are up for the challenge
Throughout the Spring and Summer, McElwain has praised the offensive line, calling them the best unit on the team.
Gators left tackle Martez Ivey is one of the leaders among the entire team, and he’s ready to prove that the offensive line has taken the next step and can show that they are as advertised.
“Just keep working hard,” said Ivey on the offensive line. “Most people was bashing us for the last two years since I’ve been here. Now they think we’re the strong point of the offense and we’re supposed to carry the load. We’re not going to shock ourselves. We know what we’ve got to do and we got to get better every single day.”
With 3 of the 5 spots solidified along the offensive line, the Gators are looking to fill both guard positions. Brett Heggie, Tyler Jordan, and Fred Johnson have been competing for the right to start, and Ivey feels comfortable with whoever is in the game.
"I feel pretty confident right now. They looked good on the first day and they were looking good all summer. To be honest with you, it doesn't matter if it's Brett Heggie in there, Tyler Jordan, Fred Johnson or anybody else we got. One-hundred percent, I'm confident with whoever's in there."
Though Ivey feels confident with all 3 players fighting for the starting positions, Heggie has opened Ivey’s eyes and believes that he can step in and contribute right away.
"His work ethic,” expressed Ivey. “He's just a hard worker. He hates to lose, and you can tell. Every time he loses a rep, he gets pissed off about it. He plays with a lot of pride."
With the unit taking pride in playing the game with a violent manner, McCoy believes that McElwain calling out the offensive line as the best unit is a challenge itself.
"I feel like whatever he says, we've got to ... I took it as a challenge,” explained McCoy on McElwain praising the offensive line. “That's one thing I know I did. When he said at SEC Media Day that we're the strength of this team, I took it as a challenge and we all did. We've just been working hard this whole summer just to get tighter and closer. We've been doing a lot of things after workouts, working on calls, working on footwork, just working overall just to be closer as a unit. We did a lot of team bonding activities, and I took it as a challenge and we're ready for the challenge and our plan is this camp is to just grow. He's been telling us, Coach Mac has been talking to us about just growing this whole camp, growing as a team, growing as a person and just doing the right things on and off the field."
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