Jags’ Charlie Strong discusses what he’s seen from former Gators Lerentee McCray, Tim Tebow

Once upon a time Charlie Strong was working alongside McCray and Tebow when they were collegiate players and now he’s doing so in the NFL.

Alongside Urban Meyer, Charlie Strong and the Florida Gators’ staff was able to build one of collegiate football’s best teams over a decade ago and the legacy that was built at the time is still strong. Now, both Meyer and Strong have found themselves working together again on the NFL level with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and two of the key players from their Gators run are once again being coached by the duo.

One of those players is pass rusher Lerenetee McCray, who was a part of Florida’s defense from 2008-12. With eight years of NFL experience to his name as a special teamer and edge rusher, Strong said he feels the former Gator is a valuable asset to the team, especially with him understanding the current staff almost better than anyone.

“We always felt like when we recruited him at Florida that he had some talent, very talented then, a guy who’s big and athletic, a guy who can run,” Strong said. “But then, just being in the league the number of years that he’s been in there has been really very impressive. You look at the things that he’s done when he was at Denver being on the special teams.

“When we first got the job here, he comes walking in my office and I just forgot that he was here and was just kind of shocked. But just seeing him work here the last few weeks, he’s been very good. I think Lerentee [McCray]’s one of those guys who’s going to give you everything he’s got, and he understands what we’re looking for because he had played for us before.”

Earlier in the week, Meyer shared some interesting insight on McCray, stating that he’s been working out at the SAM linebacker position with a few others like Leon Jacobs and K’Lavon Chaisson. That means he’s a part of a group where he’s the most experienced player by a long shot, which could bode well for him during final cuts as the Jags young team needs experience and locker room leaders.

After the Jags’ last minicamp practice, Strong was also asked about another player he knew from his time with the Gators in Tim Tebow. And while his focus has been to coach the interior linebackers as a positional assistant, Strong said that Tebow is handling himself well by his eyes.

“When you look at Teebs [Tim Tebow] and you look at just the following, you know whenever you say Tim Tebow, you know that you’re going to have just truly a mass following him, from the media to even just fans out there who want to know how he’s doing,” Strong said. “I think he’s done a very good job of just handling himself and just embracing it.

“What you wonder a lot of times when you get a player like that who’s been away from it is how is he going to be accepted in the locker room, and I think the players have done an unbelievable job at just taking him in. But he’s handled himself the right way too and he wasn’t one of those guys who tried to push himself on them. He just let everything happen and he’s done a very good job at that.”

This is certainly good to hear from a coach who knows Tebow personally and further makes the case that things probably aren’t as chaotic at the Jags facility as some have been led to believe. That’s a good thing that should allow Strong, Meyer, Tebow, and McCray to focus on bettering the Jags as the team looks to rebound from a one-win 2020 campaign.