UF has improved under defensive coordinator Charlie Strong, who faces his ex-team Saturday.
By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published November 14, 2003
GAINESVILLE - Charlie Strong has known this day was coming since the moment he made the decision to leave Columbia, S.C., for Gainesville last winter.
Florida and South Carolina are in the SEC East and meet annually, so the ex-South Carolina defensive coordinator knew it was inevitable he would return and compete against his former colleagues and the players he recruited.
Somehow, that doesn't make it any easier.
Florida plays at South Carolina on Saturday afternoon, and for Strong it will be bittersweet.
"Yeah it does (have special meaning), just because of the relationship that I had there in the four years that I spent working for coach (Lou) Holtz and the assistant coaches that I worked with and the relationship I had with the players. It's going to be tough. It's always tough going back to a place that you coached at before."
When Florida coach Ron Zook hired Strong, he promised the Gator players the defense wouldn't change much.
He was only half-right.
The scheme is similar, but the results with Strong at the helm have been far different. The Gators lost eight starters from last season, all from the defensive front and linebacker positions. The only full-time starters returning were in the secondary.
The results have been surprising, even for Strong, who at 43 has 20 years coaching experience on the collegiate level.
"What has surprised (me) is just how well they've played," he said. "I always told them if you just play hard, then we always have a chance. And I think that's what we've done, played hard."
For the most part, it shows.
As Florida heads into its 11th game, the defense has improved drastically in nearly every statistical category.
The Gators have intercepted at least one pass in every game and have 93 points off turnovers; opponents have scored just 21 off Florida turnovers. The Gators are tied for first nationally with Southern Cal and Virginia Tech for interceptions returned for a touchdown (four), which is the school's season record. The defense has held opponents without a touchdown in a half six times, twice against SEC opponents, and has not allowed a passing touchdown in four of its past six games and against six of 10 opponents.
The key, the players said, is Strong's hands-on approach and his ability to make the system simple.
"It's a system where you don't have to think very much," defensive tackle Kenny Parker said. "You just go out and run around and make plays."
Because Florida has had three defensive coordinators in the past four seasons, and the defense was inexperienced, Strong felt the need to make the transition as easy as possible.
"I just think coming in with this scheme, what we tried to do was simplify it," he said. "And we knew that we had young people up front with our linebackers and defensive front, but we were really experienced in the back end. So we just said what we're trying to do every week is just piecemeal it. Each week let's give them a little. Now that we've gotten into the season we don't have to add as much because we just want to get better at what we're doing."
"We are very happy right now," Zook said. "I can remember sitting right here in April and telling the defense that we will be one that improves every game and as the year progresses. ... We are better because of experience."
It hasn't been perfect. It was a defensive collapse in the second game of the season that allowed Miami to score 28 straight and earn an emotional come-from-behind win. Another shaky fourth-quarter effort ended with a loss at Ole Miss. And a fourth-quarter crumble nearly allowed Arkansas to come from behind.
"It's those big plays, he talks about that every week after the game," safety Cory Bailey said. "He has his stats on how many big plays they had and how many yards they gained on that play. So that's one of his most important goals is to stop the big play. We're working hard on that."
Though Holtz describes Strong as "a great friend and a great football coach," he believes Florida has a slight advantage because of Strong.
"When a guy leaves your program as an assistant coach he knows everything about you," Holtz said. "He knows what you do, how you do it, what you're thinking. And I don't know anything about him. I know what we did here, but I don't know what he would do on his own, down there. Their defense is different now, and they are playing awfully well, but there's no doubt that the more knowledge you have it's all an advantage."
