Since his hiring at Florida, Billy Napier has appointed two young defensive coordinators, Patrick Toney and Austin Armstrong. They were given the task of revamping a struggling Florida defense, previously under coordinator Todd Grantham. However, the turnaround did not occur. Ron Roberts, who holds the extensive title of “Executive Head Coach, Co-Defensive Coordinator, and Linebackers Coach,” is now part of the defensive staff in Gainesville. Roberts recently appeared on “Gator Tales with Sean Kelley,” emphasizing the urgent need to address Florida’s defensive issues.
Listen or watch more from David on Ron Roberts’ comments
“We can’t come in and just be, this is not year two and it’s not a rebuilding year. This needs to be year three of Florida football and Billy Napier’s tenure. It needs to look like that. What do we gotta do to clean things up and make it easier for our players to play fast and put them in great situations to play football.”
This mindset and approach are crucial for the Florida squad, which faces one of the nation’s toughest 2024 schedules. It’s a critical third year for Billy Napier, who needs to demonstrate improvement from his first two seasons, especially defensively.
The turnaround’s potential lies in leveraging the experience of Roberts, paired with defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong, and the youthful players who gained valuable on-field experience last season. Roberts noted the challenges evident in the film, saying, “I thought there was some youth, you could see it, the confusion. Guys not playing with their hair on fire. I think anytime that happens you’re going to get them to slow down a little bit. Some of it was the youth, I think.”
The addition of Roberts to the team creates an intriguing dynamic, particularly in terms of how his role will mesh with Armstrong’s. Roberts communicated his thoughts on this, stating, “We’ll go through it and it’s going to be, I said to Austin (Armstrong), it’s going to be a learning process together going through spring. We’re going to have to be flexible. We’re going to have to be adjustable. We’re going to make the best decisions we can for Florida.”
As spring practice rapidly approaches, Roberts recognizes the significance of these upcoming weeks and practices in preparing the defense for the 2024 season. He expressed his anticipations for the spring training, saying, “I think by the time we go through spring we’ll know where we’re at. What we have to throw out and what we have to put in. What we’ve gotta tweak and how can we get it there.”
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