At the conclusion of the 2015 SEC Championship Game on Dec. 5, a 29-15 loss for Florida at the hands of Alabama, an emotional Jarrad Davis sat at his locker with his head down and had plenty of thoughts running through his head.
Then when the media arrived in the locker room, what the passionate Gators linebacker announced caught many by surprise.
"As a winner, you always want to leave your mark wherever you go,” explained Davis at the time. “For me, I don't feel like I've done enough here at the University of Florida. I really want to come back and I really want to get this game, get this ring, and hopefully play for a national championship. I know we have the talent on this team to do it. We just have to be headed in the right direction.
"You have to make that decision, and this game right here kind of set it in stone for what I want to do."
Davis proved to be a man of his word and stuck with his decision to return to Florida for his senior season, despite receiving some considerable interest from NFL teams and possibly having the chance to land as an early-round pick if he chose to declare early. He and safety Marcus Maye’s decisions to return to Florida for their final seasons are a huge boost to Florida’s defense, which is aiming to maintain elite status after a strong 2015 campaign.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am about that,” Florida head coach Jim McElwain said Monday at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala. “Two guys who are going to get their degrees at the end of the year. That’s something that’s invaluable. And yet, they chose to come back and help us get a little bit better. They’ve been two great leaders. I’m sure excited they chose to do that.”
The return of Davis is an important one for a relatively young group of linebackers. After Alex Anzalone suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against ECU in the second game of the season, Davis stepped into a starting role and flourished, bouncing back from a sophomore slump in 2014. He finished with 2015 campaign with 98 tackles, 11 TFL, 3.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.
“It’s a really good system for linebackers," Davis said of defensive coordinator Geoff Collins' schemes. "We came in and they set it up to where linebackers are going to be able to thrive in this system. It’s something that they’ve showed us early on that we didn’t kind of really buy into until like maybe fall camp. We were there for spring, and it was something that was new. It was different than (Will) Muschamp’s system and what (D.J.) Durkin had us doing, but once we bought into it, we just thrived.”
Davis and Antonio Morrison were the "heart and soul" of the Gators defense last year, as coined by McElwain, but with Morrison graduating it's now Davis' responsibility to continue to lead by example. He certainly won't be complacent with the successes he achieved as a junior.
“People tell me all the time that I had a great season last year," Davis said. "That’s all fine and dandy. I really do appreciate the congratulations, but last season is last season. I set a bar with myself for what I did last season. With me coming back, I’m trying to do nothing less than what I did last year. To shoot for what I did last year … that’s average. That’s like, ‘OK, I’m comfortable.’ I don’t want to be comfortable. I kind of like being uncomfortable, facing adversity, taking the hard route.
"Coming back may have not been the easiest thing for me to do to complete my ultimate goal, which is to compete in the NFL, but I’m going to take full advantage of the opportunity that I have to come out this year and just blow away what I did last year and try to be one of the top guys to do it this year in all of college football."
Meanwhile, Maye's return was a key one at a safety position with promising talent but some question marks. Nick Washington and Marcell Harris have showcased flashes of potential throughout their Florida careers, but how consistent they'll be this upcoming season remains to be seen. Chauncey Gardner is fresh of an impressive outing this spring as an early enrollee, but as a freshman he still has plenty of room to grow.
Maye, who broke out last season for 82 tackles, two interceptions, six pass breakups and a conference-leading five forced fumbles, will be counted on plenty to help bring stability in the secondary. He and Davis are two key cogs for this Florida defense in 2016 and help the Gators' chances at making a repeat run at Atlanta.
It's clear to see why McElwain is so happy to have them back.
"We both had an opportunity to leave early, but we talked to each other, felt each other out about the situation," Maye said. "We made sure we were behind each other no matter what decision each other made. We both decided to come back, and ever since then we've been side by side with each other, pushing each other every day. We're both excited for our upcoming season."
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20/16 FOR 2016 SERIES:
PT. 1: Return of Powell from foot injury adds weapon to slot
PT. 2: Lewis brings pass-catching threat to tight end position
PT. 3: Dawson aiming to make impact at nickelback spot
PT. 4: Pair of five-stars should play key roles as sophomores
PT. 5: Anzalone's health a question mark moving forward
PT. 6: Goolsby poised for strong season at tight end position
PT. 7: Cox an underrated presence along UF defensive line
PT. 8: Sharpe an important leader along Gators offensive line
PT. 9: Callaway, Cleveland promising faces of wide receiving corps
PT. 10: High expectations surround Tabor entering junior year
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