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Following Florida’s season opener, Kyle Pitts’ social media accounts were flooded with direct messages congratulating him on his career-high performance.

The usual family members and friends reached out, but he also heard from a few UF legends — one of whom caught him by surprise.

“The interesting one, I would say, was Chandler Parsons. Because he plays basketball,” Pitts said. “He’s an old Gator, so that one guy who reached out and said I did a good job. He did. And the Pouncey’s.”

The Pouncey twins, Maurkice and Mike, started on Florida’s 2008 championship team as sophomores before becoming first-round picks and Pro Bowl linemen. Parsons played for the Gators from 2007-11, leaving as the program’s first SEC Player of the Year recipient and enjoying a nine-year NBA career.

Pitts will likely find himself in their shoes after this season.

He went off against Ole Miss with eight receptions for 170 yards, the highest single-game mark by a Gators tight end since Ben Troupe in 2003 (121 yards vs. FSU). His four touchdowns were the most in a game by an SEC tight end since 1999 and tied a school record.

“I would say my favorite (score) is the one down the middle,” Pitts said, referring to his 71-yard TD to start the second half. “Because I always dream of me, one on one against a linebacker. And I feel like, once I see it, I just start smiling. I was happy because that’s what I dream about.”

Did Pitts say anything Rebels linebacker Jacquez Jones as he ran away from him with the stiff arm?

“I was just like, ‘Better luck next time.' ... The stiff arm, that was something I pulled out at the last second.”

UF offensive coordinator Brian Johnson said Pitts is able to take over a game and still “really hard to cover” with two defenders on him. Johnson revealed that Pitts was actually Van Jefferson’s backup during his freshman season, but he knew the 6-foot-6, 240-pound pass catcher would develop into an elite tight end.

“It was fairly early on,” Johnson said, “I mean, it was in training camp his freshman year. It was just a matter of him kind of growing into the position. Our first year in ’18, we played him a little bit more outside just because he had so much talent — a huge catch radius, he’s fast, he can get in and out of breaks.

“He was a guy that as a young player, he played behind Van and really had a chance to learn from him. We put him in the game, he made some plays. He continued to develop and grow, and now he’s in a position where he’s one of the best players in America.”

Brett Heggie was the best lineman in the SEC on Saturday.

The league recognized Florida’s center as the Offensive Lineman of the Week for his performance against Ole Miss. It’s his third time earning that honor from the SEC, also being recognized last season and in 2017.

“It’s definitely a big honor, man,” Heggie said. “I think a lot of the credit should go to the other four guys. Just being able to communicate and put me in good spots to execute and pick up blocks throughout the game. And just be on the same page, that's huge.”

Heggie admits the reduced crowd in Oxford helped out. The linemen were able to talk clearly and hear each other, he said, adding that the atmosphere felt like a scrimmage and was “just oddly quiet.”

How did he get amped up to play?

“You look across the line of scrimmage and see a different name on the jersey, and that’s really all I need,” Heggie said. “There’s no noise, and I’m not used to that. The past four years, obviously, it’s always been hostile wherever we’ve been. And it was different.”

So was Florida’s starting five, which featured graduate transfer Stewart Reese at right guard and Heggie switching positions. He took reps as the starting left guard to open camp, but UF coach Dan Mullen said Monday “he was forced to play center” after the knee injury to Ethan White.

Heggie, the nation’s No. 5 center in the Class of 2016, took the move in stride.

“Throughout quarantine, I prepared for all three interior positions. I didn’t know where I was going to end up when we got back for minicamp,” Heggie said. “We were kind of splitting reps and then [Ethan] was playing more of center. He really picked up everything with the playbook, was great with communicating, fundamentally was doing really well. I just hate to see him go down like that, but he’ll bounce back. … When that happened, I was just ready to play.

“Coming in, I played center all throughout high school and my first year here I played center. Then I kind of got away from it the next couple years playing guard. But I've always been ready and practicing snapping just in case, because I never knew what was going to happen. And obviously preparing for it this year with Nick Buchanan leaving, I just got my opportunity and I have to be prepared every week.”

* Heggie on blocking for Kadarius Toney: "You don’t know where he’s going. The one play we ran, I was blocking to the right, and I looked back to the left, and he’s like running with one hand on the ground. And the next thing you know, he’s gone. You never know where he’s going to go. He’s just a playmaker, and you never know what’s going to happen with him. Just a big playmaker for us.”

* Mullen on how his time as a college TE influences the offense: "Well, you know, I'm biased to those guys, right? I mean, I was a quarterback and a tight end really in my football career. So you know, and you wonder why our quarterback threw six touchdowns and four of them to our tight end? I'm just biased to those guys I guess, is what it must be. ... To me, it's really about having an offensive system that can highlight players and make sure you're putting them in position to do that and play to their strengths. That's what we've always tried to do."

* Mullen on the play of his running backs: "Really a pretty good day for the backs. To create depth within the team, it was good to get all those guys in the game. I was pleased with how Malik [Davis] played. That’s what we weren’t seeing last year, some of that explosiveness and make-you-miss and foot-in-the-ground and change-in-direction. And I think you’re seeing that now again. I thought [Dameon] Pierce ran hard, and it was great to get Nay’Quan [Wright] some real game reps. He did a really nice job catching the ball out of the backfield.”