Get to know Wesley McGriff and Daquan Newkirk

The Florida Gators have benefitted from a coaching change out on the plains. Florida added secondary coach Wesley McGriff and a transfer from former Auburn defensive lineman Daquan Newkirk.

With coaching vacancies to fill and depth needed along the defensive line, both additions will be important for the Gators in 2021.

Gators territory reached out to Bryan Matthews of Auburn Sports, Tom Green of AL.com, and Josh Vitale of the Montgomery Advertiser, to get a scouting report on both new additions.

Here's what Dan Mullen had to say in a release announcing the hire.

Bryan Matthews: Wesley McGriff, who goes by Crimedawg, will bring a lot of energy and a lot of experience to Florida’s coaching staff. He’s got NFL experience and can coach up any or all of the positions in the secondary really well. Former Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele really respected McGriff’s coaching acumen and his ability to motivate his players. I wouldn’t call him a great recruiter, but he’s a really good evaluator and does a good job of building relationships.

Tom Green: Wes McGriff -- aka Coach Crime (or Crimedawg) -- is a valuable addition to Dan Mullen's staff thanks to a wealth of experience coaching in the SEC (Florida is his seventh stop in the conference, spanning five different schools), more than 30 years of coaching experience overall and a strong reputation as a recruiter who has ties throughout the southeast and in Florida (thanks to a prior stint as an assistant at Miami). During his most recent tenure at Auburn, the Tigers last season were 29th nationally with nine interceptions after finishing the 2019 season with just 10 in 13 games and ranking 61st in FBS. The Tigers' secondary overall finished this last season 30th in passes defended (43) after ranking 44th a year ago with 59.

Josh Vitale: McGriff is thought of more as an on-field coach than a recruiter, though he did play in signing three four-stars in the 2020 class. That comes from time in the NFL, where he coached defensive backs for the New Orleans Saints for three seasons. He coached a few players at Auburn that ended up getting drafted, too, including cornerback Noah Igbinoghene and safety Daniel Thomas.

Bryan Matthews: DaQuan Newkirk really played a full season of football in 2020 for the first time in quite a while. He was banged up for much of his time at Auburn including two separate Achilles injuries. I’ve always looked at him as a jumbo athlete with a lot of upside. He played running back in high school. If he can followup a full season of playing with a great offseason, I think he could have a more productive 2021. He’s worth the risk whether Florida is counting on him to start or just provide depth.

Tom Green: Daquan Newkirk is an interesting pickup for Florida. He's a veteran presence at defensive tackle with a fair amount of SEC experience -- including nine starts last season -- yet while he'll be a graduate transfer for the Gators, he doesn't have an overwhelming number of reps in his career. That's not at all due to his talent, but rather that much of his Auburn career was spent battling two separate Achilles injuries -- the first one in the spring of 2018, shortly after arriving at Auburn, and the second the following spring. It was a brutal bout of misfortune that limited Newkirk to just nine games over his first two seasons at Auburn. Still, he was often regarded as one of the strongest players on Auburn's roster (in 2019, Derrick Brown -- who went on to be a first-round pick for the Panthers last year -- said Newkirk had more upper-body strength and benched more than him, adding that he had "cannons for arms"). He also has a fair amount of athleticism for his size -- 6-foot-3 and 317 pounds -- despite the history of Achilles injuries. That's because when he was in high school, Newkirk also excelled as a running back, rushing for 752 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior at The First Academy in Orlando (while playing at 255 pounds). But Auburn recruited him first as a defensive end, originally in 2017, but he made a detour at junior college, packed on even more size, and eventually signed as a defensive tackle. He was finally able to stay healthy last season, and he showed some of that long-awaited potential, appearing in 10 games and finishing with 28 tackles, including three for a loss while making nine starts at defensive tackle.

Josh Vitale: Newkirk's numbers in his third season at Auburn don't jump off the page (28 tackles, three tackles for loss, 1 1/2 sacks), but that was really his first healthy season in the SEC. He played each of the first two after recovering from offseason Achilles surgery. So, when healthy, he's a productive player big and strong enough to play inside but also athletic enough to play end in certain situations. He may not be a star, but he could be a good piece of a rotation.