GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gators are losing three major contributors this offseason in Jachai Polite, Vosean Joseph and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson as well as veteran leader CeCe Jefferson, but even with their departures this group feels Florida’s defense will be even better next season.
“Yeah, we lose some guys, but we’ve got guys that can replace them,” Jefferson said following his pro day. “You know, you’ve got Jeremiah Moon when he gets healthy off his injury, the new transfer from Louisville, I’ve been hearing positive things about him, Luke Ancrum, big T.J. Slaton, big Kyree Campbell, and the list goes on and on, Zach Carter.
“You’ve got guys that are real deal, bought in to the system and willing to do anything to win. Everybody knows the D-line is the head of every defense, so the quicker those guys embrace their leadership role, attack every day, the better the team will be.”
Obviously a former defensive lineman will begin with his position group, but Jefferson doesn’t believe it’s just the line that is set for next year. Across the board the Gators have playmakers ready to take the defense to the next level.
“You’ve got a lot of veterans returning,” Jefferson added. “The secondary, everybody knows what they’re doing. You’ve got some guys on the D-line that have experience. The linebacker corps, the only one that left was Vosean, so you’ve got David Reese back there commanding it. The sky is the limit for those guys.”
Commanding it all is defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who after mulling over an offer to be the Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator decided to decline and come back to continue to coach the Florida Gators.
Grantham possesses ten years of NFL coaching experience on top of multiple stops in the college game and he has really helped prepare his players for the next level on top of building the Gators defense into a much more formidable force in just a year.
"We been a part of a lot of great defenses but for Coach Grantham to come back (and) actually show us NFL defenses and put us through everything to transition from another defense to another defense, just giving us more schemes and stuff was a big help to a lot of people that I feel like left this year on our defense so at the end of the day if a coach was to come to you like 'draw this play up for me,” Joseph said. “They can make it look like another play."
Even with the loss of the leading tackler, leader in interceptions, and leader in tackles for loss and sacks, the Joseph feels the Gators are in a better spot without a doubt for 2019.
"Better than last year,” Joseph said of how talented the unit is. “We put up a lot of defense last year but I feel like this defense actually they even much do more just being second year under Coach Grantham."
As Florida continues to work through spring practice they have multiple guys filling the holes the departing players left. Trey Dean is set to replace Gardner-Johnson at nickel, grad-transfer Jonathan Greenard will fill Polites role and it looks like Amari Burney could be Joseph’s replacement.
What makes this defense special though is what their coach does throughout the season with his scheme and the faster this group picks up each check and formation the better they will be.
“Coach Grantham is just a guy, he gets bored just sitting with the same stuff, so every day he’s adding something new to make the defense better,” Jefferson said. “The quicker those guys catch on to it, the better they’ll be, the more success they’ll have.
“I think he’s one of the best defensive coordinators in the country. That defense is going to take off this year and I’m excited to watch it.”
**Florida is set to host a scrimmage open to the media starting at 4:15. Follow along here on Gators Territory**
