GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After defensive line coach Sal Sunseri elected to join the Crimson Tide, Dan Mullen turned to former assistant David Turner to fill the void.
Turner is not a ‘sexy’ hire, but his vast experience in the Southeastern Conference and aggressive nature made him the man for the job.
Turner has coached for 16 years in the SEC on top of 14 years around the country at various programs such as NC State, Virginia, Minnesota and most recently UTSA just last season.
In the SEC though he has worked under Mullen, Bill Curry, Mike Shula, Sylvester Croom, Bobby Johnson, Joker Phillips and Kevin Sumlin in his various stops - almost exclusively at or around the defensive line.
His head coaching mentors are impressive, but so are some of the players he has been able to teach. Turner has mentored the likes of Myles Garrett, Fletcher Cox, Chris Jones, Josh Boyd, Pernell McPhee and Preston Smith among others.
The one thing all of them would probably agree on the most is that they learned how to pay attention to the finer details with Turner. He is as hands-on as they come and really drives home the fundamentals and the details of playing along the defensive line.
The only thing that rivals his desire for good technique is his desire for his players to stay disciplined. You don’t want to jump offsides with Turner on the sideline.
Florida’s defensive tackles in particular have lacked those finer details the last few seasons. Coming into 2018 T.J. Slaton, Elijah Conliffe, Khairi Clark, Kyree Campbell, Luke Ancrum and Adam Shuler were thought to cause a lot of problems for quarterbacks.
While they were solid throughout the year, the group didn’t live up to expectations. Turner can help build on what they do well and improve the areas they are lacking in.
The most underrated quality that Turner brings though is that he will work with his players individually and help them be the best they can be. He doesn’t just give everybody the same coaching.
Whether it’s hand placement, slow feet, or rush moves, Turner can work with each guy to make him the best they can be, as long as they are aggressive while doing so.
Florida’s defensive line group didn’t lose a lot, but the loss of its best edge rusher in Jachai Polite and veteran leader in CeCe Jefferson is going to be tough to replace.
He may not be the biggest name Mullen could have brought in, but his experience, attention to detail; discipline and personalization with his players may be exactly what the Gators defensive line could use as they try replace a couple of key pieces outside while improving on the interior.
