The start of spring practice is less than a month away for Florida, and it can’t get here soon enough for Will Muschamp, who is desperate to whip away the taste of a last season’s disappointing season.

He knows exactly what has to change if the Gators are going to go from a 7-6 team to a team that has a chance to be in Atlanta playing for the SEC championship in 2012.

“The No. 1 thing defensively is that we have to create some turnovers,” Muschamp said. “We were probably the worst in the country for whatever reason. I’ve been the worst and the best, so I’ve got to figure out what we did that year we were the best at Texas. That’s the first thing.”

The Gators were 113th nationally in turnover margin last season with 14 gained and 26 lost. Only seven teams in the country generated fewer turnovers.

The other thing at the top of Muschamp’s agenda is playing better up front, particularly on offense. The Gators were eighth in the SEC last season in rushing offense.

“We have to be able to run the ball more effectively when we need to,” Muschamp said. “We didn’t do that.”

He feels better about his running game in 2012 with just about everybody coming back in the offensive line, and the Gators should also be bigger and more physical at running back.

“We really don’t lose anybody that played for us last year in the offensive line, and they get another year within our system of moving forward,” Muschamp said. “We’ll also be bigger in the backfield. I love Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps and the job they did at the University of Florida. But at the end of the day, you do get limited in some of the things you want to do as far as the inside run game is concerned.

“You can only take so many runs into a game, so you have a lot of the perimeter runs they were able to do and some of the inside runs they couldn’t do we should be able to do now with Mike Gillislee, Trey Burton, Mack Brown and Matt Jones, the freshman coming in.

“That’s where we’re headed.”

Muschamp said Brent Pease will take its time on the quarterback issue. Both Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel saw significant playing time last season as freshmen.

“We’ll let it play out,” Muschamp said. “When we know, we’ll know. I think, again, I have a lot of confidence in Brent and the offensive staff and my judgment on who the guy will be to lead this football team. At the end of the day, it’s a long season in the SEC, and we’ve got to have all hands on the deck and be ready to roll.”

The other area of emphasis, and one that killed the Gators last season, will be red-zone offense. In the losses to Auburn, Georgia and South Carolina, Florida was 1-of-7 in the red zone in scoring touchdowns.

“I attribute a little bit of that back to running the football,” Muschamp said. “Our production offensively has to increase — period. We have to be able to sustain some drives and then consistently stop the run defensively.”

Will Muschamp continues to be a phenomenal job recruiting as Florida’s junior day on Saturday was a huge success as six of the top recruits in the state told UF coaches they would be playing for the Gators next season.

The star recruit was Kelvin Taylor, the son of the former Gators and NFL star running back Fred Taylor. Taylor is a 5’10″, 190-pound running back out who is said to have a nice blend of power, speed, quickness and natural instincts. Taylor is a four-star recruit and chose the Gators over Alabama.

Also committing was Nick Washington, a four-star prospect out of Jacksonville Trinity Christian. The 6’0″, 182-pound Washington is liked as a safety by some scouts, and a corner by others. At Florida, he’ll likely be a safety, as the Gators run a lot of man coverage, though cornerback is not completely out of the question, depending on the situation. Washington is a four-star recruit and Florida is loaded at defensive back.

Quinton Powell, a top linebacker recruit out of Daytona Mainland also jumped on board. The 6’2″, 200-pounder is a four-star recruit and a huge playmaker for Mainland. Some believed he was the best player on a defense that also included 6’5″, 260-pound four-star defensive end Leonard Williams, who chose USC over Florida and others. Powell has great speed and agility, making him very difficult to block. Most services have given him a four-star rating.

Florida got big news from a top receiver commitment as well when Rodney Adams joined the fray. Adams stars for St. Petersburg Lakewood, the school from which Florida signed Dante Fowler in the previous cycle. Adams holds offers from Florida State, Miami, Oklahoma and others. He is 6’1″ and 172 pounds, placing him firmly in the speed mold. Adams may be able to play outside at Florida, but if not, he is a more than capable slot receiver. The Gators are in deep need of more receiver talent, which was one of the shortcomings in 2011 and the ’12 class didn’t offer much help, either.

But the Gators weren’t done yet, as safety Keanu Neal also committed to Florida. Neal stars for Bushnell South Sumter. He is 6’0″ and 200 pounds, and will be an in-the-box type at the strong safety position. Neal also holds offers from Duke and Georgia Tech, which, while not football powerhouses, does speak well of his academic qualifications. Neal likes to hit, and some have speculated that he will need to move to linebacker. I disagree, provided that the Gators don’t ask him to do things contrary to his skill set. Neal is rated three stars by most services, but remember, it is way too early to take many of these rankings seriously.

To cap the day, Florida reeled in intriguing linebacker prospect Dillan Lawson, of Crestview High School. Those who have seen Lawson say that he is very athletic. Lawson has good quickness and plays with violence. Lawson will play the “buck” position at UF, a hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end spot. Lawson is unrated by most of the major services, but that is only because they have not had the opportunity to evaluate him. Remember, it is still early.

Florida now has 10 commitments and, at this point, what most consider the top class in the country.

More off the field problems at the University of Florida as freshman tight end A.C. Leonard was taken to jail Wednesday night following a dispute with his girlfriend that allegedly turned physical.

Leonard was charged with domestic battery and made his first court appearance on Thursday morning. According to the Gainesville Police Department arrest report, the case involves a woman Leonard has been dating for the past 17 months and lived with for the past month. The report states that following an argument Leonard shoved the woman forcibly with both hands in her chest/neck area, knocking her down. She said she hit her head on a dog cage behind her.

The woman also claims in the report that Leonard grabbed her by the hair and tried to drag her out of the apartment after telling her to leave. When the woman resisted, she told police that Leonard dragged her by both feet and locked her out of the apartment.

Leonard told police that he never hit the woman and just wanted her to leave.

Muschamp has been outspoken that his players would do things the “Florida Way.” But the players don’t seem to be listening as Leonard is the 10th Florida football player to be arrested since Muschamp took over as head coach a little more than 13 months ago.

The Florida Gators suffered a big blow on Saturday when forward Will Yeguete ran into a stanchion behind the basket and was knocked unconscious. Yeguete also needed 10 stitches for a cut over his eye. He suffered a concussion, his second of the year. He is not expected back in the near future.

Rachel George of the Orlando Sentinel reports that Yeguete was not expected back this week and could in fact miss several weeks due to the injury. Head coach Billy Donovan said that the player was not experiencing dizziness but will need rest.

“I think three of the tests he’s not really showing any signs that he’s close to passing them. This could be a couple of weeks, this could be a week, it could be three weeks,” said Donovan. “I would say right now, with where his symptoms are at, I feel pretty confident that he’ll be out this entire week.”

This is the second such injury Yeguete has suffered this season, and the Gators should take their time bringing him back to ensure there are no lingering effects.

Patric Young took advantage of the Crimson Tide’s suspension-depleted frontcourt with 19 points and the Gators won 61-52 Tuesday night.

The Gators (20-6, 8-3 Southeastern Conference) scored the first 16 points of the second half to turn a tie score into a comfortable win after losing two straight games.

The Tide (16-9, 5-6) has lost two in a row without its top two scorers and rebounders, who are on indefinite suspension. Guards Trevor Releford and Andrew Steele did rejoin the team and the starting lineup after being held out for the LSU game.

Young was hard to stop inside for the Tide in the 22 minutes he was on the court. He scored 12 in the second half despite heading to the bench with four fouls halfway through and fouling out late. He finished 9 for 12 from the field. Erik Murphy and Bradley Beal scored 14 points apiece. Murphy made 4 of 7 3-pointers while Beal had eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.

Erving Walker had seven assists to break Ronnie Montgomery’s Florida career record of 503 set from 1985-88.

Steele led Alabama with 11 points. Charles Hankerson added nine points while Releford scored eight, all in the first half, and had three steals.

After a poor first-half the Gators came out firing in the second half.

Murphy opened with a 3-pointer and Young hit four baskets inside, including a pair of dunks during the Gators’ 5-minute surge that put them up 42-26 and forced Grant to burn a pair of timeouts against his mentor and former boss at Florida, Donovan.

Florida started the half 7-of-8 shooting while Alabama missed its first 10 shots after the Gators switched to a zone defense. The Tide couldn’t climb back to within single digits until the game’s final basket.

The Gators didn’t need a big game from leading scorer Kenny Boynton, who finished with nine points, but didn’t have a field goal in the first 25 minutes.

Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian five-star safety Nick Washington talks recruiting with GatorNation’s Derek Tyson. Washington lists Florida, Florida State, Auburn, Alabama, Clemson and South Carolina as his top schools of interest.

Jacksonville (Fla.) Bishop Kenny five-star wide receiver Ahmad Fulwood talks recruiting with GatorNation’s Derek Tyson. He lists Clemson, Alabama, USC, Arkansas, Georgia, Ohio State and Notre Dame as schools in which he is most interested.

I have to say I like what Will Muschamp is doing this offseason. He landed a top four recruiting class, hired a new strength coach to make the team bigger and stronger, and now he had added a new offensive line coach.

Tim Davis is coming to UF from Utah and he will replace Frank Verducci, who left to “pursue other interests.”

Davis previously worked with Muschamp as an offensive line assistant when the two coached for Miami Dolphins in 2005.

“He was a guy that brought energy and passion to the job every day,’’ Muschamp said in a press release. “He is going to bring toughness. I thought he did a great job with our offensive line [with the Dolphins]. Everywhere he has been and he’s coached they have been able to run the football and create the play-actions of it, be able to spread the field, understand the protections and do what you’ve got to do to be able to keep the quarterback upright.

“You look at some of the guys he has worked for and you talk about Barry Alvarez, you talk about Nick Saban, you talk about Pete Carroll. You talk about those guys and what they have accomplished. He knows what it takes to be successful.”

Davis has a lengthy, 30-year resume, but his most impressive stint coaching the offensive line came at USC, where he coached offensive lines that blocked for eventual Heisman Trophy winners Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, helping the Trojans earn the 2003 AP national championship and the 2004 BCS National Championship.

Muschamp wants Florida to run the ball more in 2012. Last season the Gators finished with the nation’s 73rd-ranked rushing attack at 143.0 yards per game while giving up 23 sacks, ranking 54th nationally.

The Gators return four starters on the offensive line, but have only 13 healthy scholarship players entering the 2012 season.

It was a blow to the Gators 2012 recruiting class when late Friday, five-star wide receiver Stefon Diggs picked Maryland over UF, Ohio State and Auburn.

Maryland pulled away as the late favorite after Diggs visited the campus last weekend, just days after National Signing Day, and received a roaring welcome from the Terrapin student body at the Maryland vs. North Carolina basketball game last Saturday. Diggs said he faxed his national letter of intent at noon Friday and knew Maryland would be his choice for four days.

“I want to win championships and what’s a better place to do it than in your city,” ESPN reported Diggs said.

It’s a blow in that Diggs would have started immediately at Florida next season. The wide receiver crew is one of the weakest areas on the team. Unfortunately, help will probably not arrive until the 2013 class arrives on campus, where I expect UF to have picked up a couple of top wide receivers.

Revenge will be on the eighth ranked Gators (19-5, 7-2) mind as they face the Tennessee Volunteers (12-12, 4-5) Saturday at 4 p.m. in the O’Dome.

The Gators will be looking to make up for a tough conference opening loss to Tennessee in Knoxville, a game in which they were pushed around and forced out of an offensive rhythm early-on producing only 56 points.  The only other time the Gators have been held below the 60 point mark this season was their 58 point output against Kentucky on Tuesday.

If the Gators are not careful, the upcoming portion of the schedule could be very damaging to their seeding in the NCAA Tournament.  They must stay focused and not allow one loss to turn into multiple losses.

What makes Saturday’s game against Tennessee so important is that four of the Gators final six games are on the road, making every home opportunity down the stretch a must win.

Tennessee will look to use the same physical style that they did so well in the first game to knock the Gators out of rhythm.  The Gators must be prepared for this physical brand of play, especially Patric Young who will have to fight for position in the paint all night long.

A player who was not on the court for the first meeting between these two teams is Jarnell Stokes (6-8, 250) who chose Tennessee over Florida on Dec. 23 and enrolled for the Spring Semester.  Stokes has played in seven games since joining the Vols and is already tied for the team’s leading rebounder with 7.9 rpg and third leading scorer with 8.9 ppg.

Jeronne Maymon (6-7, 265) who averages 11.9 ppg and 7.9 rpg combines with Stokes to present a tough one-two punch both offensively and defensively.  This post presence is going to be the focus of Tennessee’s offensive attack. Due to the Gator’s lack of front-court depth, if Patric Young gets into foul trouble, it could be an effective attack.

If the Gators can frustrate the Vols big men and limit their points in the paint, then the Gators will be celebrating a victory and enjoying sweet revenge.

@GridironGator

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