Blown assignments and missed signals in the secondary have left the Florida Gators' new leader frustrated, demanding elite verbal command before facing a gauntlet of star quarterbacks.
The Florida Gators saw some good things with its offense during Saturday night's scrimmage.
The running game, which was an area of concern during the first scrimmage of the summer, was noticeably improved thanks to the improved play of the offensive line. New Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall thinks the offensive line is getting close to what he wants.
However, he wants to see more out of his defense, especially in the secondary. He complained about the secondary giving up big plays in the first scrimmage, where cornerbacks missed their assignments and gave up touchdowns to uncovered receivers.
When speaking to reporters on Monday, Sumrall noted the secondary was still having trouble with communication, something that frustrated the head coach.
"And then in the secondary, I think it was really, really, really poor communication on the back end several times," Sumrall said, via USA Today. "Really frustrated by that.
"I spent most of my time on the defensive field today, just making sure those guys were talking, because in the back end of your defense, man, everybody's got to be a high-level communicator. And it was not demonstrative enough for me to feel comfortable that we're going to get everyone on the same page right now."
Sumrall has been pleased by the progression of cornerback Cormani McClain over the past week. He noted that McClain struggled with tackling in the first scrimmage, but improved on that for the second scrimmage.
"Here's what I would say about Cormani. His best is unbelievably good. His consistency has to elevate," Sumrall said. So, you look at, you know, he's had a couple of picks in our scrimmages... So, it's not can he (tackle)? It's just do it all the time. He's got all the ability in the world.
"He's improved a ton, I think, just how he's carried himself around the building and away from the building. I still think he's got to strain to be consistent all the time. And when he does, look out."
The Gators will need their communication to be much better when the regular season starts. Based on the results of the first two scrimmages, Florida has a communication problem brewing in the secondary.
That's not something the Gators need with a schedule that includes Arch Manning, Trinidad Chambliss, Gunner Stockton, and John Mateer.
