What Torrian Gray brings in his return to Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After cornerbacks coach Charlton Warren elected to head to Georgia, Dan Mullen needed to find a replacement. His replacement came in way of Washington Redskins defensive backs coach Torrian Gray.
So, what does the former Redskins, Florida and Virginia Tech coach bring to the table and what will we see from his group?
Experience
As most coaches that make it to the NFL do, Gray has a lot of experience. As a former star at Kathleen High in Lakeland, Gray went to Virginia Tech and then to the NFL. After a knee injury cut his career short he decided to enter coaching.
After five years coaching defensive backs at Maine, Connecticut and the Chicago Bears, Gray returned to his Alma mater where he spent ten years coaching Hokies DB’s.
In 2016 he came to Florida and coached the likes of Quincy Wilson and Teez Tabor. Following that one season Gray went on to Washington, where he spent two years coaching up the defensive backs and has now found his way back to Gainesville.
Gray has also has great experience in coaching and developing star players. He has helped develop the likes of Kam Chancellor, Brandon Flowers, Kendall and Kyle Fuller, Josh Norman, DeAngelo Hall and D.J. Swearinger.
Style
Gray is best known for his technique and attention to detail. He preaches the fundamentals unlike most others. He believes that greatness is in the details and while he was only with the Gators for one season it definitely showed.
Florida finished number two nationally in passing yards allowed (148.5) and first in defensive passing efficiency in 2016.
In the NFL most coaches are not as focused on the details because players are expected to have them down by the time they are in the league but that’s not Gray, and his Redskins players thanked him for it.
“I’m finally learning football,” Redskins corner Dasahun Phillips told Redskins.com in 2017. “I’m learning techniques. I’m learning what to be looking for, to be able to slow myself down and just play ball, you know, versus using athletic ability all the time.”
“I feel like he’s taken the time to teach us the right things. He takes the time to teach us how to play certain things, you know, because after the few seconds in to it, it does become athletic ability, can you make that play or not, but he’s teaching us how to progress each play to be able to play, versus just going out there, telling us what we’re in, and we’re just playing ball.”
Current Gators have already shown their interest in Grays return. Marco Wilson said his first thought after Warren left was for coach Gray to return. Wilson was recruited by Gray and built a relationship with him in high school when his older brother was here.
Gray also embraces the DBU swagger the Gators have built up over time. In fact, he helped build it. Defensive backs are known for having a lot of confidence and play with that swagger.
Gray seems to fully understand what that means and wants his players to play with confidence on the field while maintaining their fundamentals.
What could we see this season?
The Gators have a lot of talent in the defensive backfield, especially at corner. C.J. Henderson is a star in the SEC and is a true lockdown corner. Wilson is returning from injury but if his freshman season is any indication he will be fantastic.
Combine those two with an emerging Trey Dean, a very talented freshman in Chris Steele and an experienced group of backups in Brian Edwards and C.J. McWilliams and Gray has a great group to work with.
Being only two years removed from Gainesville, Gray will have an easier transition back to Florida than most would.
In 2016 the Gators had the athletes to play aggressively with a lot of man-to-man across the board and made it extremely tough for opposing quarterbacks, leading to those great numbers from the secondary.
Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s motto is fast, physical and aggressive and that fits right into what Gray can do. Florida’s secondary is already playing with that aggressive nature so their technique could see a jump with Gray while their aggressiveness stays the say.
Once spring ball begins we will have a better idea of what this group will look like, but the pieces are in place and Gray brings one thing that he does better than most to make a very stout unit.