Embedded with the Gators: Update 8 (1:15 p.m.)
UPDATED: 1:15 P.M.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Part of a coach's day often means dealing with the media -- even when there's no media obligations on the schedule.
In between practices Tuesday, Coach Will Muschamp was informed of internet reports saying quarterback Jeff Driskel, the sophomore from Orlando, had suffered an injury to his left, non-throwing shoulder.
Several of the reports speculated the injury was serious.
The UF communications office received calls inquiring about the reports and released a statement in the afternoon saying Muschamp would address any injuries at his next media availability.
"Jeff was at practice today and will be taking reps at practice Wednesday," the statement said.
Driskel is in a preseason competition with sophomore Jacoby Brissett to win the No. 1 quarterback job.
UPDATED: 11:40 A.M.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Defensive end Ronald Powell was having a phenomenal offseason until he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament to his knee in the Orange & Blue Game last spring.
Though he has not be cleared to return to practice – and his return to game action is still undetermined – the junior from Moreno Valley, Calif., does conditioning work while the Gators practice. After the team adjourned Tuesday morning workout, Powell did some individual drills with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
That's Quinn, with pads on his hands, letting the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Powell work on his pass-rushing technique by pounding away on those hand pads.
UPDATED: 10:35 A.M.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The end of practice means it's time to refuel, which means it's off to the Gator Room for team brunch.
But refueling has been going on all morning.
Sarah Snyder is UF's director of sports nutrition. In addition to her duties relative to the training table, Snyder is a fixture at practices and monitors players closely for muscle cramping and signs of low energy.
Each player, in fact, is weighed before practice and after practice to determine the amount of fluids they exhaust, which determines how much they need to take in during practice.
"We have a general guideline," Snyder said. "For every pound you lose, 20 ounces of Gatorade and water. We're constantly doing that weight monitoring."
Some players, especially offensive linemen, can lose 10 or more pounds each practice. Snyder will pay particularly close attention to players whose pre-practice weight might be lighter than normal.
For the rare two-a-day day workload -- like today -- Snyder needs to make sure the players' bodies are replenished and ready for that second practice. The Gators have meetings after lunch, then get three hours of rest before reporting back to the stadium for a 6:45-9:20 p.m. practice.
That's where electrolyte supplementation, Gatorade Prime and chews, extra salt at meals, smoothies, snacks ... they all come into play over the course of a day.
"Anywhere we can get them some extra calories," Snyder said.
UPDATED 10:15 A.M.
When the Gators huddled and broke from their first practice of the day, Gators coach Will Muschamp yelled for someone who has been around the team longer than anyone else.
"Hey C.P, where are you?" Muschamp asked.
C.P. is Chris Patrick, assistant athletic director of sports health.
Patrick is in the midst of his 57th college football camp, and every Gators camp since 1970.
"That's older than I've been alive,'' Muschamp told the players as they gathered around Patrick.
Patrick started his career at the University of Tennessee before moving to Gainesville for a similar position when Doug Dickey took over the program. Dickey left and Patrick stayed.
He considered opportunities that came along to move up to the NFL, but each time, Patrick decided UF was where he wanted to be.
"I felt like I was more of a college guy than a pro guy,'' Patrick said Tuesday morning. "This was the place for me."
Once Patrick led the huddle break, the players jogged off toward two buses headed to The Swamp and a team meal. Patrick followed behind. He knows the way well.
UPDATED: 9:30 A.M.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- We're into Period 11, when coaches determine a game-day pressure situation and put the players in it.
The scenario: Offense down 21-17 with 1:34 to go in the game and the ball on its own 38. Only one timeout.
Crowd noise is loud, courtesy of the huge speakers in the end zone that are blaring a buzzing sound that's pretty darn annoying, but won't be confused with the rabid crowd at Texas A&M's Kyle Field.
Anyway, the offense marched down the field, with one of the quarterbacks -- sorry folks, can't give that one up yet -- hitting Frankie Hammond on a 4-yard touchdown pass over cornerback Louchiez Purifoy as time expired.
When they flipped it around and went the other, the defense held after tight end Kent Taylor dipped to catch a pass at the 1 with less than 10 seconds to go. The offense rushed to the line to clock the ball, but on the final play Jabari Gorman batted a pass away from Latroy Pittman.
UPDATED: 9 a.m.
GAINESVILLE -- By the time the Gators arrived at Don Dizney Stadium around 7 a.m. for their morning practice, Dave Houts was waiting for them.
Houts had his video camera and everything in place, including an umbrella and some cold drinks for when that famous Florida sun began to say 'good morning.'
Houts is the Gators' director of video services. He has been shooting Florida practices since the days of Emmitt Smith. He does it usually about 30 feet above the field to give coaches a unique perspective of practice.
"This is called getting high on the job. The eye in the sky does not lie,' Houts said Tuesday. "These guys know it."
While the Gators practice at UF's lacrosse facility, Houts spends most of his time on a scissors lift overlooking the field where the offense works on individual drills. When the Gators move back to their regular practice field before the first game, he'll shoot from one of the permanent towers the school built prior to last season.
The job has changed drastically since Houts came to UF in the late 1980s. Back then the process was much slower than today, when coaches will be able to watch portions of this morning's practice as soon as they get back to the office.
As soon as Houts finished filming the first few periods Tuesday morning, a student manager grabbed a tiny SD card to start loading the film onto a server. They will repeat the process a few more times during practice so that when this morning's session is over the film will be ready for review.
"They will look at this before they come out for the afternoon practice,'' Houts said. "The process is a lot more streamlined, higher quality and faster [than when I started]. Technology does not stand still."
Neither did Houts' scissors lift one time. It was in the early 1990s when Steve Spurrier was Florida's football coach. Houts was in his usual spot shooting practice when he noticed someone coming his way out of the corner of his eye.
Suddenly the lift starting shaking. Houts yelled that he was filming practice and for the person to stop. Finally, he looked down only to see former Gators coach Ron Zook – he had joined Spurrier's staff as an assistant and wanted to say hello to Houts – climbing the lift.
"That's one of my favorite stories,'' Houts said.
UPDATED: 8:30 a.m.
Will Muschamp doesn't waste time getting his players focused and in tune with practice.
The first 10 minutes are fast-tempo, two-minute drills.
It's called "Gator Ball."
Special teams follow. Lord help the soul who runs into the kicker and thus earns the wrath of fiery linebacker/special teams coach D.J. Durkin.
After that, the team breaks into units (running backs, secondary, offensive line, etc.) for 40 minutes, which gives way to what the schedule calls "Team Pressure." That's work -- offense and defense -- against blitzes.
Ten minutes in, managers crank up the crowd noise in the form of music. All kinds, courtesy of a players vote. Coaches have a say in it, too.
FIRST UPDATE: 8:00 a.m.
Wake-up call at 5:30 a.m. On the bus 15 minutes later. Breakfast at the stadium at 6. Bus to the lacrosse facility at 7.
Jeff Dillman's smiling face (well, sort of) at 7:10.
"Rise and shine, leave your worries behind," the University of Florida strength and conditioning coordinator (and poet) shouts as the players climb off the bus. "If you're scared, don't cross the orange line."
With that, the Gators filed into Donald Dizney Stadium for the first of two practices Tuesday during their five-day training camp.
Welcome to "Embedded with the Gators," a day-long series of blogs, tweets and pics we hope provides GatorZone.com readers something of an inside look at what goes on in this sweat-box football days of Florida football in August.
Right now, the Gators are going through their pre-practice walk-through, running select plays and such, then will break into stretching and flexing.
The coaches are yelling. They do that a lot.
Stay tuned for more.
Follow Scott Carter and Chris Harry throughout the day with updates from practice -@GatorZoneScott and @GatorZoneChris
Woody (via iPhone)
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