Billy Gonzales: Catch, run good routes, block and you'll play

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:

Photo credit UAA

“It is a prolate spheroid, an elongated sphere in which the outer leather casing is drawn tightly over a somewhat smaller rubber tubing. Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this football.” – John Heisman

Billy Gonzales feels pretty much the same way about catching passes. If you had to sum up Billy G as a wide receivers coach, you would say break these three rules and you’ll find yourself forever in football purgatory: 1. Do not drop this football. Ever. 2. If the route is supposed to be 10 yards, don’t run 9-1/2, so run every route precisely. 3. If you intend to actually see the field on game days for something other than warmups, then you will block. If the ball doesn’t come your way you can still affect its outcome.

Just ask Ricky Pearsall about the Billy G effect on wide receivers. When the 2023 season began a lot of folks had him pegged as a sixth or seventh rounder in the NFL Draft. After the 2023 season in which he caught 60 passes, one of which is one of the great catches in Florida football history, and a Combine in which he caught anything and everything that came anywhere close while dazzling the scouts with his precise route running, Ricky Pearsall could be drafted as high as the second round.

Now in the second year of his third stint as Florida’s wide receivers coach (for Urban Meyer 2005-09; for Dan Mullen 2018-22), Gonzales has a room full of talented, fast receivers, easily the fastest group assembled in Billy Napier’s time on the job. Pair these guys with the experience and skills of quarterback Graham Mertz and there is reason to believe Florida’s offense could be more explosive than at any time the last three seasons.

Speed is a wonderful thing and these guys have it. Eugene (Tre) Wilson has make-you-miss moves, but his role in the offense will expand this year which means downfield routes to take advantage of his vertical speed. Gonzales said Tuesday that Wilson is “Explosive, super explosive, an elite football player.” He says Kahliel Jackson is deceptively fast, that freshmen Tank Hawkins and TJ Abrams are “super fast” and that redshirt freshman Aidan Mizell might be every bit as fast. Marcus Burke is making plays both on the outside and in the slot during the spring and J’Quavion Fraziars is ready to get on the field and make plays.

Then there is Wisconsin transfer Chimere Dike, who two seasons ago caught 47 passes from Graham Mertz when they were teammates in the Big Ten. Gonzales says “they’ve kind of hooked up and they’ve got that rhythm back right now.”

Then there is the value of running the route precisely. He pointed out to a play during Saturday’s scrimmage.

“We ran a route Saturday in the scrimmage … we ran two routes and we were about three yards off,” Gonzales said. “That matters, that’s attention to detail of why, because if I can get three extra yards it allows me to turn the DB’s hips and makes him open up and run with me, if I come out of my break right now and I haven’t pushed those extra three, it allows him to sit and make that play, and that’s what happened.”

And then there is blocking. Speed is wonderful. So is running great routes. The guys who are on the field this year will have speed and they will all be running precision routes.

But if they don’t block, they aren’t seeing the field.

“You guys all know who I am as far as from the standpoint, in my history of coaching, you’ve got to be able to block for us,” Gonzales said. “We’ll block. If you don’t block you’re not going to play. You’ve got to be able to block, and that’s how you go about showing the rest of your team your commitment to the concept of being successful and winning as a team.”

The goal for the Gators will be a minimum of five plays to the wide receivers that cover at least 20 yards. That is one goal for the wide receivers that has stayed the same for Gonzales whether he’s working for Meyer, Mullen or for Napier. When the ball is going downfield and receivers are turning catches into gains of 20, 30, 40 yards or more, the offense is going to be successful and put points on the scoreboard.

“If we can have 5-plus plays of 20 yards or more in a game, we’re going to put ourselves in a really good opportunity at the end of the game to be successful,” Gonzales said.“But … everything’s got to be clicking on great plays. It’s not just the quarterbacks or receivers, it’s the running back – it’s all 11. We’ve got to have 11 players playing … If you got a guard that’s pulling and someone comes off right through, you’ve got an issue, whether we’re open downfield or not or if we got great protection up front and a wide receiver doesn’t separate at the top end of his route. So everything, they rely on each other. Ultimately, you want to have 11 players that can create a winning performance every snap that you take. Now, that’s hard to do, that doesn’t happen all the time. But when it does happen, that’s when you’re gonna get your big plays.”

UF BASEBALL: Gators hit five homers, outslug FAMU 10-7

The Gators were outhit by Florida A&M 13-8 Tuesday evening, but five of Florida’s hits left Condron Family Ballpark including a massive shot that left the yard completely in right field by Jac Caglianone in the seventh inning. Florida’s home run power and four innings of shutout relief by Blake Purnell and Cade Fisher carried the 6th-ranked Gators to a 10-7 win over the Rattlers.

The Gators got a 3-run homer from Cade Kurland (6th) in the bottom of the first and a 3-run home from Brody Donay (3rd) in the third. Colby Shelton hit his 13th homer in the fourth, Caglianone hit his 14th in the seventh and Donay came back to hit his fourth in the bottom of the eighth.

It was a good thing the Gators had the home run power going for them because the Rattlers torched starter Ryan Slater and reliever Fisher Jameson for seven runs and nine hits through the first six innings. Purnell came on with nobody out to douse the fire in the sixth and Fisher came on in the seventh with a runner in scoring position to bring home the win the rest of the way for his first save. Fisher struck out five hitters in 2-2/3 innings.

The Gators (17-11, 6-3 SEC) will travel to Columbia to face Missouri (11-18, 1-8 SEC) for a 3-game series beginning Friday.

UF SOFTBALL: Gators No. 10 in all polls

There is consensus when it comes to the Florida Gators. All four polls have the Gators No. 10 nationally. Florida is one of four Southeastern Conference teams in the top 10. Ten SEC teams are ranked in everybody’s top 25.

Florida’s Tuesday night game at Stetson was moved back to Thursday due to inclement weather. The Gators will be home this weekend to face LSU for a 3-game series beginning Saturday.

USA Today/NFCA Coaches top 25: 1. Oklahoma 34-1; 2. Duke 29-3; 3. Georgia 29-4; 4. Texas 29-5; 5. LSU 29-4; 6. Tennessee 28-5; 7. Oklahoma State 29-6; 8. Stanford 27-6; 9. Washington 25-5; 10. FLORIDA 31-5; 11. Missouri 29-7; 12. UCLA 20-8; 13. Texas A&M 28-7; 14. Alabama 26-8; 15. Virginia Tech 25-8-1; 16. Mississippi State 25-9; 17. Clemson 25-10; 18. Florida State 24-9; 19. Arkansas 25-9; 20. California 26-10; 21. Arizona 22-11-1; 22. South Carolina 26-10; 23. Boston University 27-3; 24. Oregon 20-12; 25. Baylor 19-12

D1Softball top 25: 1. Oklahoma 34-1; 2. Duke 29-3; 3. Georgia 29-5; 4. Tennessee 28-5; 5. Texas 29-5; 6. Oklahoma State 29-6; 7. LSU 29-4; 8. Stanford 27-6; 9. Washington 25-5; 10. FLORIDA 31-5; 11. Missouri 29-7; 12. UCLA 20-8; 13. Virginia Tech 25-8-1; 14. Texas A&M 28-7; 15. Alabama 26-8; 16. Mississippi State 25-9; 17. Clemson 23-10; 18. Florida State 24-9; 19. Arkansas 25-9; 20. California 26-10; 21. Baylor 19-12; 22. Oregon 20-12; 23. Texas State 29-8; 24. Louisiana 24-13; 25. South Carolina 26-10

ESPN/USA Softball top 25: 1. Oklahoma 34-1; 2. Duke 29-3; 3. Georgia 29-5; 4. Tennessee 28-5; 5. Texas 29-5; 6. Oklahoma State 29-6; 7. LSU 29-4; 8. Stanford 27-6; 9. Washington 25-5; 10. FLORIDA 31-5; 11. Missouri 29-7; 12. UCLA 20-8; 13. Virginia Tech 25-8-1; 14. Texas A&M 28-7; 15. Alabama 26-8; 16. Mississippi State 25-9; 17. Clemson 23-10; 18. Florida State 24-9; 19. Arkansas 25-9; 20. California 26-10; 21. Baylor 19-12; 22. Oregon 20-12; 23. Texas State 29-8; 24. Louisiana 24-13; 25. South Carolina 26-10

Softball America top 25: 1. Oklahoma 34-1; 2. Duke 29-3; 3. Georgia 29-5; 4. Tennessee 28-5; 5. Texas 29-5; 6. Oklahoma State 29-6; 7. LSU 29-4; 8. Stanford 27-6; 9. Washington 25-5; 10. FLORIDA 31-5; 11. Missouri 29-7; 12. UCLA 20-8; 13. Virginia Tech 25-8-1; 14. Texas A&M 28-7; 15. Alabama 26-8; 16. Mississippi State 25-9; 17. Clemson 23-10; 18. Florida State 24-9; 19. Arkansas 25-9; 20. California 26-10; 21. Baylor 19-12; 22. Oregon 20-12; 23. Texas State 29-8; 24. Louisiana 24-13; 25. South Carolina 26-10

UF TRACK AND FIELD: UF men No. 2; women No. 12

USTFCCCA men’s top 25: 1. Texas A&M; 2. FLORIDA; 3. LSU; 4. Texas; 5. Auburn; 6. Mississippi State; 7. Texas Tech; 8. Alabama; 9. Georgia; 10. Southern California; 11. Kentucky; 12. Arizona State; 13. South Florida; 14. Ole Miss; 15. Washington; 16. South Carolina; 17. Virginia; 18. Virginia Tech; 19. Texas State; 20. California; 21. Cal State-Northridge; 22. BYU; 23. Montana State; 24. Penn State; 25. Arizona

USTFCCA women’s top 25: 1. LSU; 2. South Carolina; 3. Texas A&M; 4. BYU; 5. Ole Miss; 6. Georgia; 7. Texas; 8. TCU; 9. UCF; 10. Texas Tech; 11. UCLA; 12. FLORIDA; 13. Nebraska; 14. Southern California; 15. Arkansas; 16. Baylor; 17. Virginia; 18. Michigan; 19. Duke; 20. UTEP; 21. Illinois; 22. Penn State; 23. Notre Dame; 24. Louisville; 25. Oregon

UF WOMEN’S TENNIS: Gators rise to No. 13

ITA top 25: 1. Oklahoma State 21-0; 2. Michigan 18-3; 3. Pepperdine 11-3; 4. Virginia 17-2; 5. Stanford 14-2; 6. North Carolina 15-3; 7. Georgia13-4; 8. Texas 15-4; 9. Southern California 14-6; 10. California 12-4; 11. Texas A&M 16-6; 12. Ohio State 12-6; 13. FLORIDA 12-7; 14. UCLA 11-4; 15. North Carolina State 16-6; 16. Auburn 13-8; 17. South Carolina 14-5; 18. Tennessee 13-6; 19. Miami 8-4; 20. Duke 12-6; 21. San Diego 11-5; 22. Georgia Tech 11-7;  23. Oklahoma 12-5; 24. Alabama 14-6; 25. Washington 14-6

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Saturday, Alabama will face 2023 national champ UConn in the semifinals at the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona. This is the same Alabama team that Florida hosed twice and should have beaten a third time (lost in overtime by five).  

Anyone who saw all three games doesn’t have to be reminded that Florida was a better basketball team than Alabama. That Alabama is in the Final Four and not Florida has a lot to do with the unfortunate injury to Micah Handlogten and Alabama landing a rather favorable seeding and draw in the NCAA Tournament.

Now, give Alabama credit. The Crimson Tide has won four straight games by bombing away – and hitting – from the 3-point line. Alabama is 4-0 in the tournament and needs just two more wins to win the title. If that happens does that mean Alabama was the best team in the country? Hardly. It will simply mean Bama got hot and won six straight games over a three-week period. The best team doesn’t always win the national title, but the team that goes 6-0 over three weekends always does.

Credit should be given to Todd Golden, too. The Gators lost to Colorado in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Would Florida have won if Handlogten hadn’t broken his leg against Auburn in the SEC championship game? Maybe. Would they have won the game in overtime against Colorado if KJ Simpson had been whistled for the obvious offensive foul at the end of regulation. Again maybe.

There are a lot of maybes, but one thing that should be obvious to every Gator fan and the rest of the SEC is that Todd Golden does indeed know how to coach and it’s a matter of when not if he brings Florida basketball back to a consistent, championship level.