SEC coaches criticize Florida defense: 'They just don't play hard'

Following an embarrassing 40-17 loss to South Carolina on Saturday, the Florida Gators defense received ample criticism from league coaches. In a report from The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman and G. Allen Taylor, several anonymous SEC coaches lit into the team for its lack of aggression.

“Florida, they just don’t play hard,” one SEC East coach said. “Georgia is trying to rip your head off. They might be up 30-0 and their linebackers are flying up field to get after your ass. Florida is a finesse team. Kentucky plays hard. You watch UF on tape. They’ve got skill but they’re not physical.”

A Florida team that was once flying high at No. 10 in the AP poll this season has come crashing down to earth in conference play. The Gators have lost four of their past five games, with the only victory coming against Vanderbilt. They can finish no better than third in the SEC East and have one conference game remaining against Missouri.

Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham took over during the 2018 season. Although he helped Florida finish second in the SEC in total defense in 2019, they fell to ninth the next year. This season the Gators rank a slightly better seventh, but it’s nowhere near the standard in Gainesville.

“Grantham spends all of his time on third-down packages with exotic pressures,” one SEC offensive coach said. “You can run the ball on them on third downs. …There’s no one in their front seven that scares you. They used to have defensive ends that were pass-rush phenoms. They used to have shut-down corners. They don’t have either now.”

It seems inevitable that Grantham’s four-year run as Florida’s defensive coordinator will end after the season. The mutual respect between Mullen and Grantham can’t sugarcoat the inconsistency and lack of playmaking. As someone close to the program observed, “You reach a point where it’s just time to move on.”

Earlier this season, the Gators looked like a much-improved defense when they went toe-to-toe with Alabama, but opposing coaches have come to believe that’s not the case.

“We thought going in that it was going to be one of the best defenses we faced,” said an SEC offensive coach. “But they just weren’t physical. They don’t look motivated. Not fired up. No juice.

“Schematically, they make no adjustments on defense. They have no answers. They’ll stay in a 2-high shell as long as they can. They walk (Jeremiah Moon) down to create a five-man front and think they can stop the run with just that, but they can’t.”

Coaches have also offered criticism of just how far the Florida defense has fallen upon watching film in preparation for games this season.

One SEC East defensive coach wondered, “What in the world are they trying to get done?” as he scouted the Gators’ wretched defensive performance from 2020. That unit ranked 74th in points allowed (30.8), 83rd in total defense (428 per game) and 85th in yards per play allowed (6.06). “Last year, they were doing some really unsound things defensively,” he said. “They just do some crazy, goofy things. They’re odd.”

Compare that to the way that SEC East rival Georgia has played this year, and it becomes even more concerning.

With just three games remaining this year, it’s clear something has to change going forward. The Gators must beat two of Samford, Missouri and Florida State to become bow eligible. The face Samford at noon ET on Saturday in Gainesville.