Well, I guess the 2011 Florida Gators football season is underway. Well, until fall practice starts on August 5th that is. Will Muschamp got the ball rolling, and I'm pretty sure he hasn't stopped yet. Man, does he talk fast.
During his opening statement, he talked about how he is pleased with the progress of the team. Reminds me of him saying that after the spring game back in April. If you saw what I saw, well, you saw it. He also touched on how he has identified the playmakers on both offense and defense and how much he likes the coaching staff.
Also, he mentioned Neiron Ball and announced that he will not be play this season, but will remain part of the team in some capacity. That was to be expected.
After the jump are some of the comments Muschamp made during the question and answer section of his press-conference.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Muschamp alluded to that as being his style when it comes to the Florida program. Much has been made about the state of the program, but Muschamp said that there are a lot of pieces that he likes and doesn't plan on changing things all that much.
When asked about the differences between Texas and Florida recruiting, he simply said that both states have top quality talent. Also, rivalries amongst coaches are all about respect. Especially when it comes to recruiting and playing them on the field.
Probably the most awkward moment of his Q+A time was spent discussing Jeff Demps. It appeared that he got a little frustrated and defensive when asked about it. He said that he will talk to Demps when he gets back from running in Italy and things will move on from there. He does expect him to play football at this point.
When the discussion turned to Charlie Weis and how he felt about the hire, Muschamp said that he wanted someone with both NFL and college coaching experience, that knows what it is like to sit in someone's living room and talk to the parents.
Two of the lighter moments occurred when he was asked about the high expectations (specifically 8-5 being a bad season) that Florida has and how he feels as a Georgia guy coaching at Florida.
"They have told me" and "I'm a Florida guy."
Perfect answers in my opinion.
Muschamp has admitted there is a numbers problem and he plans on dealing with that by cross training some of the players to help with that issue. Another reason will be that it can help if injuries arise along the defensive line.
Muschamp says the team is still looking for wide receivers who can stretch the field vertically and block down-field as well. Deonte and Debose, we are looking at you.
He said it was an honor to be the head coach in-waiting out in Texas but that when Florida calls, you listen.