Florida football head coach Dan Mullen has a method when developing his quarterbacks. He lets them sit behind a veteran several years and sprinkle in a few plays during a game to let them soak up the experience. Offensive line coach John Hevesy has a similar philosophy. They design their depth charts to cultivate one skill — confidence.
They are both strong believers that they could derail a young player’s development if they throw them into the fire before they’re ready. Hevesy’s general expectations for offensive linemen is that they should be on campus for four-five years and contribute as a starter for at least two of them.
“To me, as a redshirt freshman you’ve got to learn,” Hevesy said. “As a redshirt freshman you come in and, not that you’re expected to play, but you should be able to play if need be in that position, so you’ve learned it. And then really it’s in your third year when you’re expected to be a starter, you’re supposed to be fighting for a starting job. Just, at that time your physical body is ready, your mental body is ready. And to me, once you do that, we’ve come along so at that point you really look at, in a five-year window, you get him as a three-year starter.”
Using Hevesy’s explanation and examining the Gators roster, that should mean eight offensive linemen should be pushing for a starting spot. Fifth-year tackle Jean Delance and guard Stewart Reese will most likely hold the starting positions on the right side. Fourth-year tackle Richard Gouraige will be asked to protect quarterback Emory Jones‘ blindside. Finally, three-year interior players Ethan White and Kingsley Eguakun will round out the starting lineup.
[lawrence-related id=49585,48560]
Florida should also be able to count on third-year players Michael Tarquin, Riley Simonds and Will Harrod to push for starting spots. These eight players should be ready to contribute because Hevesy has brought them along slowly to help cultivate confidence.
Because of this, the list of excuses is starting to run thin in 2021 if there isn’t much improvement.
“That redshirt freshman year, stick them in there for some games, get them some play time,” Hevesy said. “A lot of those kids last year, the bowl game got into at the end of the thing and they’re playing a little bit. So now you come in and you’ve got to add the crowd to that for them. But I think that’s, in that third year, to me, you’re expected to play. You’re expected to fight for a starting job.”
[lawrence-related id=50141,50113,50108,49880,49882]
[listicle id=48013]
Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.