SEC Spring Football Update: Florida Tweaks Offense, Fights Complacency

Tony Barnhart, aka “Mr College Football”, has five questions for SEC teams heading into their Spring Games. Eight teams will have their final spring scrimmage this weekend.

LSU’s Highly Touted Shepard Will Stick at QB…For Now

"“Expect LSU to come up with a package of plays for [Russell] Shepard because he is too good an athlete not to be on the field somewhere" - Tony Barnhart"

The true freshman Shepard has been described as a Vince Young type athlete so it is highly likely he will play early. What I found most interesting was that Jarrett Lee was still in the mix after his 16 interception performance in 2008 (7 of which were pick-sixes).

Tim Tebow taking snaps from center?

"“Teams are doing a much better job of defending what we do. So we do a lot of quality control on our offense. One of the things we want to do is put Tim under center says Urban Meyer”"

I find it interesting Meyer is saying teams are defending his offense better considering what his team did down the stretch last season.

Meyer hired formed Michigan QB coach Scott Loeffler in the offseason to help Tebow and the Florida QBs with their mechanics and technique. Loeffler worked with Tom Brady and Chad Henne among others while in Ann Arbor. But I imagine when push comes to shove that Tebow will be in the shotgun when the Gators need a first down.

In addition to the tweaks to the Gators’ offense, Florida is also trying to fight complacency with a rugged off season.

Elsewhere in the SEC…
Tony says Jonathan Crompton is likely to be the QB for the Vols despite being the blame for Tennessee’s offensive failures last year.

Greg McElroy is way ahead in the Alabama QB race.

And Auburn doesn’t really have a QB to run Gus Malzhan’s offense. Looks like It will be tough for Chizik to double his career win total from 5 to 10.