Florida Football: Best Quotes and Key Takeaways from SEC Media Days

Jim McElwain was the only newcomer among coaches at the SEC Media Days this week in Hoover, Alabama, yet the first-year Florida coach got the kind of treatment you'd expect from someone who's been around for quite some time.

So it goes with expectations for the Gators despite being in a transition year with a relatively empty cupboard. Will Muschamp only won 10 games in his final two seasons in Gainesville, stepping down before Florida's bowl win over East Carolina, and he left behind a team that (because of injuries, graduation and early NFL entry) only returns 10 starters and must completely overhaul its offensive line.

"It doesn't happen just overnight," McElwain said Monday of turning around a program, per Gary Smits of Jacksonville.com. "And yet, every time we go to work every day, every time we wake up, our responsibility is to try to go out there and win."

Florida was picked to finish fifth in the SEC East by conference media, getting only one first-place vote. It finished third last year, but with so much uncertainty about its offense this season the projections have taken a major dip.

The Gators ranked 96th nationally in total offense at 367.6 yards per game, and its 179.9 passing yards per game came in 106th in FBS. They've finished in the bottom three in passing in the SEC for three straight seasons.

Florida's offensive deficiencies wasted the work of a pretty good defense, which ranked 15th in yards allowed.

"As a defensive player, it was very frustrating," cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III told Sporting News' Matt Hayes. "You try not to show it, try not to let the offense see it. But it's not like they were oblivious to it. They knew they were struggling."

John Raoux/Associated Press

McElwain's previous team at Colorado State was eighth in passing (321.6) and 19th in total offense (480.9) last year, a huge rise from the numbers that existed prior to his arrival in 2013.

That quick turnaround was a big reason that Gators athletic director Jeremy Foley zeroed in early on McElwain in his search to replace Muschamp. Names like Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, Arizona's Rich Rodriguez and even Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen were mentioned as potential candidates, but McElwain proved to be the best fit in Foley's mind.

Now comes living up to the faith that Foley—whose previous hires include Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan, both of whom won a pair of national titles for their respective sports at Florida—instilled in him.

"It's kind of great to have expectations," McElwain said, per Tim Bee of FirstCoastNews.com. "That's something that we look forward to and we embrace. Fitting the parts in that we have and finding out how exactly we're going to go about it is something that we look forward to building as we get there in August."

Improvement starts up front, not at QB

Nowhere does Florida have more work to do this year than on the offensive line, where four starters are gone from a year ago. What returns is far from experienced, with a combined 10 starts for their career, all of those coming from fifth-year senior Trip Thurman.

Only eight scholarship linemen were able to participate in spring drills, and that number quickly shrunk after redshirt sophomore Roderick Johnson was forced into retirement after being diagnosed with a congenital spine condition.

Any progress made up front essentially starts over when training camp begins Aug. 6, when a slew of new linemen get involved in the competition for the first time. That includes Martez Ivey, the top-rated offensive tackle in the 2015 recruiting class (per 247Sports), and Fordham graduate transfer Mason Halter, a two-time All-American at the FCS level.

Six of Florida's 22 signees for 2015 are offensive linemen, and almost every one has a chance to play right away because of the depth issue.

Speaking of QBs...

Sophomore Treon Harris and redshirt freshman Will Grier both looked good during spring practice, but the competition to be Florida's starting quarterback will continue during the preseason. McElwain gave the edge to Grier after spring ball, per Robbie Andreu of the Gainseville Sun, but the battle resumes in August.

Harris finished the 2014 season as the starter, taking over for Jeff Driskel (who ended up transferring to Louisiana Tech) midway through the year and went 4-2 over the final six games. He threw for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns and added 338 rushing yards and three scores. 

Grier, who redshirted last year, was rated by 247Sports as the No. 2 pro-style passer in the 2014 recruiting class. At 6'2" and 201 pounds, Grier is closer to Garrett Grayson (McElwain's quarterback at Colorado State) in size and style than the 5'11", 195-pound Harris.

Grayson threw for 7,702 yards and 55 touchdowns in his final two seasons under McElwain, parlaying that into a third-round NFL draft selection by the New Orleans Saints. Tim Tebow was Florida's last quarterback to be drafted, in 2010.

Phil Sandlin/Associated Press

Powell on the move

Florida has question marks up and down its offense, but one player that doesn't have such uncertainty attached to him is Brandon Powell even though he's made a position change from last season.

John Raoux/Associated Press

The 5'9", 186-pound sophomore has been converted from running back to slot receiver for 2015, where he performed better as a freshman in 2014 with 15 catches for 147 yards and a touchdown, compared to just 16 carries for 70 yards and a score.

His move gives Florida two viable weapons on the outside, whereas last year it was either Demarcus Robinson (53 receptions, 810 yards, seven TDs) or no one.

"Now it's just on me to work and better myself and my teammates so we can make this offense one of the top offenses in college football," Powell told Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel.

Throwing shade while preaching respect

Hargreaves III, Florida's junior cornerback, could be the first defensive back taken in the 2016 draft if he turns pro as expected after this season. And a player with that high of a profile is the kind whose every move is liable to be broken down for its impact and meaning.

That's already been the case even before the 2015 season has begun. During SEC Media Days, Hargreaves was asked about the recent assault allegations against players from rival Florida State. His response might be interpreted as a dig at the Seminoles, but at the same time, it represented the kind of mentality you'd hope to see from today's college athletes.

Hargreaves' father, Vernon Jr., is a linebackers coach at Arkansas.

FSU dismissed freshman quarterback De'Andre Johnson after video surfaced of him punching a woman in a Tallahassee bar, while sophomore running back Dalvin Cook has been suspended indefinitely amid allegations he struck a woman outside a bar.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.