Colleges

Gators vow to grow up, improve chemistry

By Antonya English, Times Staff Writer
Published January 3, 2008

ORLANDO - Beginning today, maturity is the driving theme of Florida's offseason.

After Tuesday's 41-35 upset loss to unranked Michigan in the Capital One Bowl, the Gators insisted they are dedicated to maturing, reviving team chemistry and getting back to winning championships.

"We've got to get a whole lot more mature," freshman safety Major Wright said. "Throughout this whole offseason we've got a lot of growing up to do. People need to grow up, man up and get ready to make plays. When we need a play to be made, people have got to stand up. We want to attack every thing we need to get better at."

Florida could return as many as nine starters on defense, most of whom were freshmen and sophomores this season. Based on its overall performance, the secondary needs the most improvement.

"We expect more out of our corner play than that," coach Urban Meyer said. "That's one of the areas we are going to have to improve on greatly, and also maybe change up some coverages to give those guys a chance, or recruit or develop them. That's an area that's subpar right now, and we've got to get that fixed quick. The good thing is they are all young, they are all coming back and they are all going to be developed as we get going. That development starts immediately. Those are some good young players, they've just got to improve."

TAILORING TIM: Despite the record-breaking numbers and the Heisman Trophy, quarterback Tim Tebow is just completing his first season as a starting college quarterback, and Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen said Tebow has plenty to improve.

"I know how everybody thinks, what possibly could he have to work on?" Mullen said. "Well, he's a young quarterback who is just finishing his first season. Making adjustments, hanging in there with the blitz and delivering the ball. We've got a lot to keep working on."

MAKING CHANGES: As a freshman, sophomore receiver Percy Harvin won a national championship. This season, the Gators lost four games. So having seen the type of commitment that breeds success -- and that which doesn't - Harvin plans to reinforce that with his teammates all through the offseason.

"We didn't have a very good offseason this year," Harvin said. "We had a lot of individual people kind of going and doing their own thing. We didn't have that the year before when we went to the national championship. So I'm going to put it on my shoulders to get everybody back on the same page and get us back to the national championship. We know we've got a lot of players coming back, but if you don't have chemistry, it doesn't matter who you've got coming back."

Antonya English can be reached at english@tampabay.com.

[Last modified January 3, 2008, 01:42:37]