Greg Knox is raising young children and if things go well, he’ll get some good running backs out of it.
When Dan Mullen hired Knox as the Florida Gators new running back coach in January he intentionally chose not to watch any film on the guys he was inheriting. Everyone was starting over and the only thing he would know about their game was what they told him.
“What they tell me is that resume. If you tell me you fumble the ball, then that's what I'm putting down on the paper. They get a blank piece of paper and they get a chance to build their resume with me."
Their film from 2017 would have been a good marker for their talent. The group as a whole was one of the more productive ones for the team, averaging 156.4 rushing yards per game. Adarius Lemons in particular made a late season push to cap off a promising freshman season. He finished with 136 yards on 19 carries, with 89 of those coming in the second to last game against UAB. Now in spring practice, the sophomore’s name is spoken often—as Knox yelling at him with some “tough love” served as the soundtrack for the first two practices and continues while the coach pushes Lemons and others to a potential he’s still evaluating.
That’s part of raising young men though; teaching them how to walk and not letting them stay down when they fall.
"I'm trying to get them to graduate to the next level,” explains Knox.
“I talk about, 'You're at this level now. It's like we're taking baby steps. Stop crawling now. Let's start walking. And by the season we want to be running.' So I'm pushing [Lemons] to try to reach another level that's he's capable of."
The key to learning how to walk—then run—is taking account for each step there at the beginning. Anyone who’s every oohed and awed over a baby taking their first steps knows, they’re always tentative at first, each step deliberate as they think about what needs to happen next. Then before long they’re running down the hallways and wrecking havoc. This of course is the end goal for Knox’s backs as well.
“We’re going from one install to the next, so what you did one day we don't do the next. We're moving forward, so they're getting better at picking it. They're doing better at studying, and that's the key.
"It'd be easy to get left behind. Very easy. You've got to stay on top. I talked to them about going home at night, 'Put your iPad on your bed and just thumb through your plays, step through your plays, so that way you stay up on top of everything."
Through six practices thus far Knox is also teaching his unit—and by default the rest of the team—how to listen, literally. Five years ago while at Mississippi State with Mullen, Knox decided to make a change. He was yelling at his guys at practice, usually out of necessity so they could hear him on the other side of the field. Then he’d go into his office, call recruits and realize he had no voice. The solution was simple and impactful.
“I got a bullhorn and I’ve been using it the last five years where it saves my voice. Now when I come off the field I can call recruits and talk to recruits.”
And while conversations with recruits may have inspired the idea, it’s his current players on the field who are hearing the brunt of that voice. Everyone can hear him now says Knox, who also coaches special teams.
“Oh, they don’t have any excuses, trust me…I talk to everybody. Everybody out there on that field there at special teams can hear me. I need to make sure they know what’s going on.”
Perhaps the most important thing Knox is teaching his young gaggle is how to take responsibility. Jordan Scarlett returns to the fold having missed the entire 2017 season while suspended as part of the credit card fraud ring. He hasn’t appeared to miss a step on the field, running stronger than ever. He isn’t the lead back yet though according to Knox who points out there’s still a loaded backfield that includes the teams leading rusher last season Lamical Perine (562 yards, 136 carries and eight touchdowns), Lemons and early enrollee Dameon Pierce. Then Malik Davis (526 yards, 79 carries and two touchdowns) could possibly return to competition this fall as his recovery from knee surgery moves along. So simply running well isn’t enough for Knox, who says he still needs to see more out of Scarlett; he wants to see a guy with something to prove.
“He's getting there though. He's working hard at learning the little things, and I'm trying to get him to take that extra step. You know, to be that leader, to become that next guy."
This is why Knox called Scarlett in for a hard talk about where the redshirt junior currently stands with the program and what he expects from him moving forward.
"We talked about [him being on a short leash]. We had a meeting on that [Sunday night] about him taking advantage of this second opportunity. I think he understands the situation and understands the urgency of it and he's trying to get it right."
"It's just that we're in the middle of spring practice and just keeping him focused on what's going on and focused on the academic side of getting that degree."
No matter who is in Knox’s spotlight though—Scarlett, Perine, Lemons, Pierce, Davis eventually, etc.—they all pay the same price for wrongdoing. If you hit a hurdle, do it again and lower the shoulder. If you run a route wrong, do it again. If you make one wrong angle on a turn, run it again. And if you do anything else wrong, well that elicits a tough love punishment that teaches technique and draws groans from even the coach.
“You're usually rolling or running…they would rather run than roll. I would, too, because I did it myself just so I would know the pain of it. I would rather run than roll."
Rolling consists of starting at one end of the field, tucking the ball in to learn how to hold on while on the ground and then rolling on your side to the other end of the field.
“You want to throw up,” laughs Knox.
The punishment comes usually as the result of a fumble (this coaching staff is no different than others in preaching that turnovers lose a game) but Knox is fair and consistent in his discipline. Rolling can be imparted as the result of any mistake. On Monday, for example, the guys didn’t properly hydrate. Strength and conditioning coach Nick Savage stands outside the gate before every session and “gently” reminds players to stop and get Gatorade and/or water. If Knox’s backs don’t listen, heads will roll, pun intended.
“You have to be hydrated before you come to practice. If they don't reach a certain level before they step on this field, they roll. They know that."
By the end of spring practice there will be a lot of things this unit knows, besides just how to roll—and subsequently, not fumble. They’ll have learned how to walk, how to run, how to listen, how to take responsibility and how to take ownership. It’s all apart of raising young men and in the mean time, the Florida Gators will get a loaded running back unit as well.
