Florida Football: 5 Most Important Post-Spring Dates

Spring practice has come and gone, and now, Florida football is in a dead period. 

The spring game on April, 7 was the last time the coaches were allowed to run practice or attend workouts with the players. For the rest of the summer, the players will be held responsible for running their own practices and working out with strength and conditioning coach Jeff Dillman.

While there will not be much news about depth charts or new offensive schemes coming in the near future, there are still some important dates Gator fans can look forward to. 

Freshmen Report

Date: June 26

The first order of business will be to get the class of 2012 onto campus and familiar with a playbook that will be thicker than any they have ever seen. 

Will Muschamp signed a class that included 23 players and was ranked in the top five nationally.

Six of those players enrolled early and participated in spring practice. For the other 17 players, this will be the first time they step on campus, get their class schedule and start working with the football team. 

The Gators will be looking for a lot of production from these freshmen, and this is the official start of their Gator careers. 

SEC Media Days

Tentative Date: July 18

The Gators are scheduled to participate in the first day of the SEC media days along with Auburn, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. 

SEC media day always stirs up some talking points and usually leaves us with some notable quotes from both players and coaches. It was the 2009 media day where every SEC coach was grilled as the media tried to find out who left Tim Tebow off their first-team All-SEC team (it was Steve Spurrier).

Expect Will Muschamp to bring a couple of players with him and for the Gators to try and keep a low profile in Tuscaloosa.

This will be the first time newcomers Texas A&M and Missouri participate in the media day and the first time they experience the circus that is covering SEC football.  

First Practice

Date: First week in August

The Gators will be going into another fall camp this August, and for the first time in a long time, do not know who will be their starting quarterback. 

The quarterback battle that started in the spring will carry over into the fall and will be the focal point of every Gator fan and media member as the two sophomore quarterbacks try to earn the starting position. 

The coaching staff will have less than a month to evaluate the new freshmen and sophomore quarterbacks before the first game of the year. 

Fall Semester Starts

Date: August 22nd

They are called student-athletes for a reason. 

The fall semester for the Gators begins on August 22 and will be the first time that the true freshmen are balancing a full-time school workload with football. 

The Gators will start class 10 days before their first game of the season, and players will need to adjust and learn how to manage their time between class, school and a social life.

The players who find a balance in these three activities will become successful on the field, while those who cannot with fall behind.

First Game

Date: September 1

Finally, the moment the team and coaching staff have been working toward since the final whistle blew at the Gator bowl—the 2012 season begins. 

Gator fans will be wondering who the starting quarterback will be, and it may be a decision that the coaching staff does not reveal until the opening snap of this game. 

The game against Bowling Green will be a tune up game for the Gators as they travel to Kyle Field to open SEC play the next week.