GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Two weeks ago, Dan Mullen told reporters that he was looking for an 'Alpha Dog' to step up.
"That's great to have those guys. Those come few and far between," the Gators head coach told the media earlier this month. "There's guys that have the opportunity to do it. Now they might not be as great as the guy that it's just a pure, natural thing. But they can be good enough to go do it."
"You've just got to have some dog in you," said receiver Van Jefferson. "Like coach Mullen said, some people lead by example and then some people that talk and have great leadership skills. So I think you've just got to learn to lead and not to follow."
Maybe Florida does already have these 'Alpha' guys on the roster.
Maybe we should not look any further than the wide receiver room to find them.
"I watch Freddie Swain and Josh Hammond go at it like everyday in practice, in summer workouts, stuff like that," said quarterback Emory Jones. "So I mean like them guys I always gonna turn to when the pressure hits, I’m always gonna turn to those type of guys cause I trust them, I see that they put the work in. Everything falls back to your work.”
In a deep receiver room, Hammond and Swain are often forgotten. Honestly, the two receivers are probably the most consistent receivers on the roster but they do not garner much attention.
Yet they make an impact off and on the field.
“It definitely contagious because like you see that and then you want, like you know how you feel from seeing that so you want other people to feel that same way from you so you obviously gonna like try to go harder," explained Jones. "And those guys gonna keep you motivated, they gonna try to pump you up too. So definitely make the team better having those type of guys there.”
"Freddie, I mean, he's just a guy, he always tells you if you do something good, 'Good play, good play,'" added quarterback Feleipe Franks. "If you do something bad, he'll tell you, you know, you need to improve. You always want positive reinforcement, whatever you're doing. Whether you do something bad or good. So I think that is the most important thing they're doing."
Nothing goes unnoticed to Swain.
According to Swain, his 'aha' moment came in 2017 in the 17-16 loss to LSU, when he came up short on a big third down play in the fourth quarter.
"I ran an under route and I caught the ball and it was two yards, I got tackled," Swain said. "I caught it at four (yards) and I went back and I got tackled and we ended up having to punt. I think from there on, kind of changed my mindset on details.
"When I was playing before I wasn't really paying attention to that, but now I understand the game of football for real, so I look if it's 3rd down, 1st down; I look at down and distance."
Swain now uses that lesson to help teach the younger group of Gators coming in.
"Coming in as a player you really don't look at the depth of routes and why you should go this deep, why you should be at this yard or be on this level," Swain said. "But as you get to know the offense there's a reason why you should be that depth or you should be three yards in front of this receiver because it's all tied together.
"I like to lead by example. So I try to do it and I try to get others to follow," he added. "So if they see me or Josh that has a voice on the team, they see me trying to coach somebody who's not really a leader like that then maybe they'll pick up, 'OK, maybe I can try to pick somebody up and we can get to the same level.' That's how you grow as a team."
"I don’t really speak that much, honestly. I speak when I have to, I would say," said Hammond. "I probably speak more within my position group than I do within my whole team.”
Hammond is entering his final season as a Gator. The South Florida native says he has seen a different offense this fall camp.
"We have been through the whole season so Mullen knows what we are good at and what are not good at, what plays we excel at and what player we did not excel at," he said. "You can see we more fluid and poised within he offense and Feleipe is not afraid to make checks, Kyle is not afraid to make checks, Emory is not afraid to make checks. Guys are not afraid to make changes to their routes."
With his veteran status, Hammond makes sure he helps cultivate that confidence in the younger receivers.
"Just trying to teach them the ropes, make sure they know what they’re doing because I’ll be gone after this year," said Hammond. "Make sure they know what to expect, what the standard is for Florida, what Coach Mullen expects, what Coach G [Billy Gonzales] expects and make sure they perform at that level now so that when I’m not here they still perform at that same level and they know what to expect. It’s not a learning curve they have to learn because they will already know. They will be ahead of the game. They’ll know what to expect. They’ll know the offense. They’re getting all the reps now. They’ll know the offense. They’ll be able to play fast and execute.”
Both Swain and Hammond were hesitant to describe themselves as an "alpha dog." However they have both been singled out by their teammates. They both understand what it takes.
"Heart and passion, " said Swain. "Really passion for the game and love of your team. Anybody can try to tell you what to do. For guys to relate, you have to see me go through something or see me do something for me to follow. Because you don't really want to follow somebody who hasn't really done it. But if you see somebody go through it and actually do it, I feel like they will listen to you or try to pick pieces from your game in that way."
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