Florida Football 2012: Latest News, Updates and More from Spring Practice

Although expectations weren't as high under first-year head coach Will Muschamp, a 7-6 record wasn't expected either for the Gators. This season Florida is expected to have a much better season under Muschamp as many would like to see a competitive team in the SEC East.

The talent is there are Florida does return 18 total starters, including 10 from a solid defensive unit that only allowed 20 points per game last season. They also have one of the top recruiting classes coming in as well. But on the offensive side of the ball, they lose both starting running backs and the quarterback question still remains.

Some of the questions that the Gators have should be addressed during spring practice which begins on March 14. The spring game will take place on April 7 as Florida tries to regroup and have a much more successful season.

Stay tuned for all of the latest updates, news and more involving your Florida Gators.

Ronald Powell Tears ACL

You're not successful in the spring if you can't keep your players healthy and the Gators suffered a huge blow. Defensive end Ronald Powell has torn his ACL and will miss the rest of spring and may miss a good portion of the season.

"Ronald is in good spirits and is very eager to do whatever is necessary to have a healthy, speedy recovery," Gators head coach Will Muschamp said in a statement. "He has already started with prehab, and once the swelling goes down and he regains his range of motion, he will have the surgery."

Powell is entering his junior year and looked to be a big piece for this Florida defense. He led the team with six sacks last year and also racked up 32 tackles and nine tackles for loss.

April 3 Updates

As the Florida Gators continue to prepare for the spring game that takes place on April 7, there is really no progress being made at the quarterback position.

“Right now, honestly, looking at going through the spring, I don’t know that we will name a starter after spring,” Will Muschamp said. “We’re going to go into the fall camp. That, to me, is becoming more and more evident every day that they’re both guys are guys we can win with.”

As long as Muschamp believes in both quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel, I guess that's all that matters right?

One of the positives to come out the spring so far has been wide receiver Latroy Pittman.

“He understands every-down performance, blocking and doing things you gotta do to be successful, and reading coverages and seeing coverages,” Muschamp said. “He goes out and makes plays.”

Pittman missed all of last season due to shoulder surgery, but his big play ability means a lot to a team that just lost two key playmakers in running backs Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey.

Spring Game Will Air on TV

While Florida Gator fans are patiently waiting for the spring game to kickoff and watching the spring coverage very closely, they'd be happy to know that they'll be able to enjoy the spring game on television. 

That's right; the spring game which takes place on April 7 at 1 p.m. ET will air live on Sun Sports for every Gator fans enjoyment. If you forget to watch it live or to DVR the game, it will be shown again on April 8, at 9:30 a.m.

If you happen to be a Gator fan outside of the state of Florida, you'll be able to watch the game free online here.

March 19 Updates

The Florida Gators had their first practice in pads this weekend, and there a few positives to point out.

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Redshirt sophomore Tyler Murphy reminded everyone Saturday that Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett are not the only players involved in the competition at quarterback. Of the three quarterbacks, Murphy may have had the best day. He definitely threw the ball consistently better than the other two. He threw a deep strike down the sideline to Andre Debose and completed numerous other passes. He seemed to throw nothing but tight spirals.

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It's still way too early to name a favorite in this quarterback competition, but it's great that Murphy is playing the way he is in practice. Last season, he was arguably the best in the spring game.

Driskel and Brissett have more experience than Murphy obviously, but Murphy does have the strong arm and is mobile enough to make this an interesting three-way race if he continues his progress. 

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Mack Brown may have had one of his best days as a Gator. He made several nice runs, showing an excellent burst and deft cutting ability. He also made a defender whiff with a sharp move he put on during a kickoff return. If he can find a comfort level in his knowledge of the offense, Brown has a chance to be a major contributor in the running game in the fall.

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With Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps leaving for the next level at the same time, it really leaves a hole at the running back position. Brown has only 65 career rushing yards in two seasons, but does have solid speed to provide a bigger impact on the offense this season.

This is nothing but great news if you're a Florida fan.

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Redshirt freshman wide receiver Ja'Juan Story, who seemed to be a non-factor in Friday's practice, made a nice catch over the middle Saturday. He's a big (6-foot-3, 206 pounds) receiver who also appears to run very well. With veteran receivers Frankie Hammond and Debose both dropping passes Saturday, Story may have a chance to move up on the depth chart if he continues to make plays.

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Story should see a lot of time on the field this season just because of his size and athleticism. He was a 4-star recruit for a reason, and that's because he's 6'4", 200 pounds and is excellent at picking up chunks of yards after the catch.

Regardless of where he is on the depth chart, look for Story to be a playmaker this season for this offense that struggled mightily last season.

Will Muschamp Talks Practice

Will Muschamp is entering his second season as the head coach for the Florida Gators. He hopes it's a lot better than the 7-6 season they experienced last season. He recently sat down with the Sporting News for an interview you can read here.

Here are some of the most interesting things he said.

On how excited he is about spring practice finally taking place:

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An 11. I’m more excited now than the day I was hired. We’re not building a team, we’re building a program. We recruited well last year, and we’re recruiting well again this year. We’re building our roster back as far as the line of scrimmage. This is a line of scrimmage league. If you don’t have quality depth, you’re going to struggle.

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Muschamp also talks about how last season wasn't as big of a failure as many people made it out to be, and how the program is going through transition. 

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There are Gator fans that could probably think of some worse ones. People want to look at our year and say you were 7-6? Really, let’s look at the last two years: we’re a 15-11 team. Let’s be realistic here. Urban Meyer is a heckuva football coach; he won two national championships here. But there was a one-game difference from this year to (his) last year. We’re in transition. Are we headed in the right direction? I emphatically think we are.

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Then the question that everybody wants to know: Who is going to play quarterback?

Last season, the Gators ranked 89th in passing yards, which is simply unacceptable for a team in the SEC that expects to compete for a championship. There is no legitimate answer right now, but Muschamp says he's going to do whatever it takes to win.

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Yeah. I’m going to do what it takes to win. I’ll play five (quarterbacks). We need to do what we’ve got to do to win games. I would prefer one. At the end of the day, we’ll sit down after spring practice, and if we have to take the competition into fall camp, we will.

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March 14 Updates and Injury Report

Florida kicks off their spring practice today, but enters it with several injuries. Here's a quick breakdown of all the injuries and the players that likely not participate in spring practice.

Shoulder issues have caused problems for defensive end Kedric Johnson and offensive linemen Tommy Jordan, Cole Gilliam and Ian Silberman. Non of them will participate in spring practice.

Starting senior linebacker Lerentee McCray is still rehabbing from a shoulder injury he suffered last season. The good news is that he should be ready by the time the regular season arrives.

Talented cornerback Marcus Roberson, who played majority of the season as a freshman before hurting himself in the South Carolina game, will also miss spring practice.

Muschamp, though, said he should be ready to go in the fall. 

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“It’s a scary injury any time you’re dealing with the head or the neck, and I’m just very pleased we’re going to get him back in the fall more than likely,” said Muschamp. “And Marcus, it’s been very, very frustrating for him.”

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Defensive tackle Dominique Easley tore his ACL last season at the end of the year. He should be ready to go this season, but will not participate in spring practices due to ongoing rehab.

And last but not least, cornerback Jeremy Brown is still trying to get on the field, as he's still suffering from a knee injury that forced him to miss the entire 2011 season.

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"Jeremy was a situation where he rehabbed, it didn’t work, we rehabbed a different way, it didn’t work.  We continued to progress, we tried to work him back in practice as the season was going, and he just never responded to rehab, so eventually we had surgery,” said coach Will Muschamp. “That was our diagnosis early.  Obviously it was not the right one, so we had to have surgery, and that progress has been going very well."

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Updates

This slideshow will continue to be updated with the latest news, quotes, position battles and more throughout spring practice. Stay tuned for everything involving your Florida Gators.