“Your time is divided. When you take on a challenge of this magnitude, you’re essentially giving a year of your life away. There’s a long list of things to do. Year one is a blender. There was a lot of adjustment relative to the recruiting calendar, NIL and the portal. One heck of a year to take on an SEC power like Florida. I’m up for the challenge. I love this game. I love everything about the game. I love all parts of my job. I love to evaluate. I love to recruit. I love the leadership component. I love the strategy. There’s elite competition in the SEC that makes this job attractive. I’m excited about year two. I just see us getting better at all parts of our process. It’s evident in recruiting. I really believe that we’ll see some similar trends in our football.”

“There is a renewed sense of accountability. We had quite a bit of attrition. We have a core group of veterans that are coming back. They have been great examples to the young players we’ve added this offseason. We added a great group of young talent. We did great work in the portal. We added 10,000 snaps and 123 starts. We’ve been coaching our team. 93% of our roster was there in January when we started this offseason.

“I see a renewed accountability. I see more discipline. I see more detail. We’ve rebuilt the player experience through facilities through the modernization of our staff and the infrastructure we’ve created. We’re building something that’s sustainable, that’s repeatable. Our process is affecting our players in a positive way. That’s where gratification comes from as a coach. I love it. I’m excited about the progress that we’ve made. We’ve made mistakes, but heck, we knew we were going to. Ultimately, it’s about how we respond and we’ve hired well, and I’m excited about this year.”

“It was an adjustment. The big thing is you got to get established processes in place. We’ve got to send 25 really good high school football players per year. You’re going to run into scenarios where you need to add a player through the portal. We’ve got a quota. We have scholarship allocations within the 85. We have to hit our quota. We have an evaluation process. We’ve got a great product to sell. I really believe in what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. We have to get players that pass the evaluation and fit us from a character standpoint.

“We’re a class and a half behind. That’s magnified for me. I wasn’t recruiting this pool of players in Louisiana; I had no prior relationships with any players in the 2023 class. We started from scratch. Going forward, we’re back on schedule. We’ll continue to get better. We can’t get sign every good player. We got eyes on us; there’s 22 million people in this state. Urban Meyer told me when I took the job, he said, ‘Just make sure you filter through. You not only have your fan base, but you have two hated rivals and their fan bases.’ It is what it is. I’m excited about the players we’ve added to our team. Now, what can we do with them from a development standpoint? We’re getting better.”

“I saw 32 starts at an accomplished program. He’s used to having the spotlight on him. He’s been through some adversity. When you evaluate the tape, you see an above-average athlete that has arm talent. I had conversations with Paul Chryst, and he told me there are things that he could have done better. Not only him but also people around him. When you meet the person, you see a renewed lease on life. He’s hungry. He’s been intentional about connecting with our players. And he is very capable. He was of the best quarterbacks in the country coming out of high school. We’re getting a veteran player that makes the character makeup of our team better. He has a level of professionalism that I have the utmost respect for.”

“The NFL pushes things back a year, and that creates a situation where they come after college coaches. They paid buyouts for our assistants, which is uncommon. That’s a compliment to those guys and the work that they’ve put into their reputation and career. But it presents an opportunity. Every time you have attrition, especially at a place like Florida, you’ve got an opportunity. We hit the jackpot with Austin Armstrong. There’s continuity there. There is familiarity with our tree and the way we operate.

“Billy Gonzales is one of the better receiver coaches in the history of the game. To see former players start showing up one at a time at our building, not just receivers but other players, has been great. He is valuable because of his experience at Florida. He was there in its prime. Then he observed the slide. You can ask him a question, and he has a pretty good pulse on what was going on.