Tag: Spring camp

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida football’s April 11 practice

Here are some of the top highlights from Florida football’s Tuesday practice ahead of the Orange and Blue game.

Florida football’s spring practice season is in full swing with the annual Orange and Blue game coming up on Thursday, April 13, inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. As the program prepares for its annual intrasquad game in front of the Gator Nation, workouts continue on the practice fields as they have for the past month.

Billy Napier’s Gators held one of their spring practices at Sanders Football Practice Field at the University of Florida on Tuesday, April 11, where Gainesville Sun photographer Doug Engle captured some of the action from the workout in photographic form. Take a look below at some of the highlights from the Orange and Blue’s April spring practice.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida football’s April 4 practice

Here are some of the top highlights from Florida football’s Tuesday practice.

Florida football’s spring practice season is now fully in its second month as the program prepares for the upcoming season. While the national spotlight has been cast upon the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four, the giants of the Gainesville gridiron are busy busting their butts ahead of this year’s annual Orange and Blue Game, which is scheduled for Thursday, April 13.

Billy Napier’s Gators held one of their spring practices at Sanders Football Practice Field at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday, April 4, where Ocala Star Banner photographer Doug Engle captured some of the action from the workout in photographic form. Take a look below at some of the highlights from the Orange and Blue’s April spring practice.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida football’s April 1 practice

Here are some of the top highlights from Florida football’s Saturday practice.

Florida football’s spring practice season now enters its second month as the program moves from March into April. While the national spotlight has been cast upon the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four, the giants of the Gainesville gridiron are busy busting their butts ahead of this year’s annual Orange and Blue Game, which is scheduled for Thursday, April 13.

Billy Napier’s Gators held one of their spring practices inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday, April 1, where Gainesville Sun photographer Matt Pendleton captured some of the action from the workout in photographic form. Take a look below at some of the highlights from the Orange and Blue’s first April spring practice.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida football’s March 25 spring practice

Get a glimpse at what the Gators were up to yesterday during spring practice.

Florida football’s spring practice season is in full swing as the month of March continues to wind down. While the nation has its attention fixed on the ongoing NCAA Tournament, the giants of the Gainesville gridiron are busy busting their butts ahead of this year’s annual Orange and Blue Game, which is scheduled for Thursday, April 13.

Billy Napier’s Gators held one of their spring practices at Sanders Football Practice Fields in Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday, March 25, where the Ocala Star Banner photographer Doug Engel had a chance to capture some of the action from the workout in photographic form. Take a look below at some of the highlights from one of the Orange and Blue’s March spring practices.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida football’s March 23 spring practice

Get a glimpse at what the Gators were up to last week during spring practice.

Florida football’s spring practice season is in full swing as the month of March continues to wind down. While the nation has its attention fixed on the ongoing NCAA Tournament, the giants of the Gainesville gridiron are busy busting their butts ahead of this year’s annual Orange and Blue Game, which is scheduled for Thursday, April 13.

Billy Napier’s Gators held one of their spring practices at Sanders Outdoor Practice Fields in Gainesville, Florida, on Thursday, March 23, where the Gainesville Sun’s photographer Matt Pendleton had a chance to capture some of the action from the workout in photographic form. Take a look below at some of the highlights from one of the Orange and Blue’s March spring practices.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida football’s March 21 spring practice

Here’s a look at what Florida football’s spring practice looked like on March 21.

Florida football’s spring practice season is in full swing as the month of March begins to wrap up. While the nation has its attention fixed on the ongoing NCAA Tournament, the giants of the Gainesville gridiron are busy busting their butts ahead of this year’s annual Orange and Blue Game, which is scheduled for Thursday, April 13.

Billy Napier’s Gators held one of their spring practices at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, Florida, on Tuesday, March 21, where the Gainesville Sun’s photographer Matt Pendleton had a chance to capture some of the action from the workout in photographic form. Take a look below at some of the highlights from one of the Orange and Blue’s March spring practices.

Florida heading into spring with new roster and better foundation

There are plenty of new faces on Florida’s roster this spring, but Billy Napier believes the foundation has been set for Florida to take a step forward in 2023.

The Florida Gators began their spring camp period on Saturday, marking the on-the-field start of Billy Napier’s second year with the program.

A lot has changed in the 16 months since Napier took over the head coaching job at Florida, and the culture change is now well underway. No longer will Napier have to explain every detail of his vision. The players see it too, and they understand what their head coach is trying to do with the program.

“The biggest thing is you start in a different place from a knowledge standpoint, a communication standpoint, a set of fundamentals at every position,” Napier said during a press conference on Saturday. “You’ve got a core group of veteran players that walk out here the first day you put the ball down and they don’t blink. It’s not necessarily what to do, but now it’s how to do it and why we do it that way…

“It’s like you moved to a new country and learned a new language last year. Now you’ve been living in the country for a while, so you’re a little more fluid and start to process quicker.”

Florida saw plenty of roster turnover during the offseason, so not everyone is stepping into spring camp on the same page. But Napier can rely on the players who have been with him for a year or more to help guide the newbies.

The hope is that the foundation set during 2022 will allow the Gators to improve on a 6-7 finish.

Much of Florida’s success will rely on the transfers’ ability to adapt quickly. The Gators are replacing four-fifths of their starting offensive line and will likely have a transfer starting a quarterback. The returning running game should help take away some pressure, but UF can’t afford to be one-sided.

The next month or so should give everyone a better idea of what Florida’s football team will look like in 2023, but the man in charge is optimistic after laying the groundwork for over a year.

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Defensive tackle Kristian Williams enters the transfer portal

Defensive tackle Kristian Williams has decided to transfer out of the Oregon program after missing spring camp.

The NCAA transfer portal is in constant motion and it seems like it is staying its share of time in Eugene. Transfers are coming in and unfortunately, transfers are going out and this time it’s another football player leaving the Oregon program.

Defensive end Kristian Williams announced he will be leaving. May 3 was the last day for an athlete to transfer if they want to be eligible to play for their new school for the 2022 season.

Williams wasn’t there for spring camp or the Spring Game April 23, so it’s no real surprise to learn the 6-foot-3, 290-pounder has indeed transferred. The Memphis, Tenn. native played in 24 games and managed 25 tackles.

Five Oklahoma Storylines Heading into Spring Camp

Spring Football is a day away, here are Oklahoma’s top headlines.

With the start of spring camp commencing on Monday, Mar. 22, the Oklahoma Sooners will kickoff their offseason program in Norman.

As a team that once again finished atop the Big 12, OU will strive to build off of last year’s success and towards a coveted national championship. Excitement is brewing as players- new and veteran alike- will hit the practice field for the first time in 2021. Pressure spikes as position battles begin and players rise and fall on the depth chart.

The spring dictates what happens in the fall between the hash marks. Camp will be pivotal in determining player evaluations and incorporating schematic changes. Here are some of the key storylines to monitor as Oklahoma prepares to once again be at the top of the college football hierarchy in 2021.

Matt Patricia alters team meetings away from football and towards conversations on racism

The Detroit Lions were supposed to begin Phase 3 of their offseason on Monday but instead pivoted to player-led meetings surrounding racism.

The Detroit Lions were supposed to begin Phase 3 of their offseason on Monday but instead, they pivoted to player-led meetings surrounding racism and the current protests happening across the country.

Late Tuesday night, coach Matt Patricia spoke with MMQB’s Albert Breer and discussed how the team shifted their team meetings away from football in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.

After watching the video of Floyd’s death, Patricia told Breer that “Honestly, I was just disgusted, angry, sad, depressed. The range of emotion, you watch the video, someone being murdered and you’re like … I didn’t even know how to process it. And the range of emotion I know I felt in watching that was only one-tenth of a fraction of a minute percent of what my players must’ve been feeling.”

Patricia discussed how he knew he was out of his depth on this topic and that the best thing he could do for his players was to put football conversations on hold and allow them to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences related to the current events.

“It was just about listening and making sure we tried to get on and open it up for conversation, real conversation, truthful conversation, honest conversation, heartfelt conversation,” Patricia said. “And really, honestly, credit to my players for leading that. They’re the ones that really were able to get it to where it became so powerful.”

The Lions held both large (120 people) and small (only position groups) meetings, giving players multiple ways to share depending on their comfort level.

After two days of player-led conversations, and an off day on Wednesday, it’s still a bit unclear when the Lions will get back to football but Patricia is confident his players will help him decide when it’s the right time.

“When everyone’s ready to talk and move in that direction of football, we’ll move when the team wants to move,” Patricia said. “I think the one thing to understand there—we won’t move away from the conversation. It’s just, at some point, you’re having the conversation and then you’re also working on what we do, which is football.”

The Lions have not yet made a public statement regarding the events surrounding Floyd’s death or the fallout since, but one is expected to be made soon.