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With inexperience up front, co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach John Hevesy talks about his unit at Florida’s Media Day.
In the trenches
The Gators will deploy four new starters on their offensive line from a year ago. Senior center Nick Buchanan is the only returning starter and will look to be a leader among the inexperienced group.
The #Gators return only one starter on the offensive line: Nick Buchanan.
Buchanan has stepped into a leadership role to get the offensive line ready for the 2019 season. @ESPNGainesville pic.twitter.com/Lv74BNCy05— Zach Oliveri (@Zach_Oliveri) July 25, 2019
Hevesy will welcome the challenge of coaching this new starting group. They know the playbook and personnel, but it’s all about getting results when it matters.
The Gators will look to get their running game early on and have a dynamic trio of Lamical Perine, Dameon Pierce and Malik Davis coming out of the backfield. In order to get the ground game going, it’ll start with the play of the offensive line.
Another key point of emphasis Hevesy made was playing as a unit. The offensive line will not excel if the group is not cohesive which starts with Buchanan at the center position.
A young group
With five true freshman on the roster, there’s a lot of room to grow individually and as a unit. In addition to Buchanan, Hevesy said he’s leaned on the likes of Stone Forsythe and Brett Heggie to teach the younger players.
Throughout his Media Day press conference, Hevesy kept noting that it’s not about the four new starters but more about the overall youth. The four new starters at least have some playing time in game situations, but if one guy goes down its about the next man up.
https://twitter.com/GatorsFB/status/1154761153698050048
The Gators come into the season with loads of talent on both sides of the ball. The biggest question mark is this offensive line, which has talent but is inexperienced. With their first game less than a month away, the offensive line still has some work to do in order to get things rolling.
