Transcript: Florida Gators Brian Johnson On Offensive Rhythm and Kyle Trask Progress After the Bye

Florida Gators Offensive Coordinator Brian Johnson met with local media on Monday to discuss quarterback Kyle Trask staying focused over the two bye weeks, finding a way to progress virtually and keeping up an offensive rhythm.

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Had a good offensive rhythm before the outbreak, what is the biggest challenge to recapture that? 

I think the biggest thing is having that excitement and ready to go play and trying to get a sense of normalcy. Obviously you have to throw, catch, block and not hurt yourself with procedural penalties. You just have to be clean with your preparation, have a great week of practice and get ready to perform at a high level on Saturday. 

What did you tell Kyle Trask? 

The biggest thing is making sure that we try to continue our established routine as much as possible in terms of our preparation: what we’re watching, how we’re studying, watching ball, watching tape that are not us. Just trying to.. just trying to stay sharp. 

He is pretty easy in that respect? 

Yeah absolutely. He loves football. He was fine. We obviously had our virtual zoom meetings and we got the chance to go over some things in terms of what we do. I think we got some stuff out of it. 

How difficult will it be going through preparation not knowing who will or will not be available? 

I think..we..football players, football coaches are all creatures of habit. Our schedules are exactly the same now. We just finished practice, so luckily we have had the chance to go through the routine of how to prepare for a game week. So I don’t think that should be difficult in terms of what we’re doing. We just have to make sure that we have a great week of clean practice. Everybody is organized and energized and making sure we are putting players in the position to go out there and be successful out there on the field. 

Do you foresee a lighter game plan? 

We will be full systems go in terms of finding ways to do what we need to do in order to go win the game. We are playing a very good team and we go to the ready to go, so I’m excited and looking forward for our guys to go out there and play on Saturday night. 

What goes through your head during a COVID outbreak with a wife and three kids at home?  "Yeah. Um, you know, very nerve wracking. Certainly, um, yeah I think the biggest thing is I, you know like, well, 2020 has been a very, very unique year, and no one's really been exempt from that, including a football program. So you know I think the biggest thing is, is making sure that you're just trying to be as diligent as possible. Masking up, taking care of yourself. And, you know, and really just protecting the people that you love and protecting—really protecting everybody so, um, you know, fortunately, you get a chance to kind of sit back and reflect; we had two weeks off to reflect on the whole deal but, you know, luckily, we're all back and for the most part, everybody's recovered well and healthy and getting guys out on the field, getting the chance to do what they love and play football.” Make it easier to come back from this having a veteran offense with Kyle, O-line, receivers. And secondly,  what makes Missouri tick on defense?  “Um, you know, our guys love football, and I think, you know, we got some smart guys who have played a lot so certainly I think that helps in terms of putting in a game plan and having it organized and putting those guys in a position to be successful. And to answer the second part of your question, Missouri is, they have an excellent scheme. I think Ryan Walters does a great job of putting guys in position to make plays. He does a great job of scheming looks to look similar pre-snap and having great post-snap movement. They're very active; slippery, they don't stay on blocks. So they I think they do, they do a great job, and like I said they've won games in shootouts and they’ve won games where they held people to 36 plays like they held Kentucky to last week so we definitely are looking forward to getting out there and competing against those guys on Saturday night." What kind of pressure on offense knowing that Mizzou controlled the ball so much versus Kentucky? “You know I think we have to do a great job of understanding that each game takes on its own identity. They played LSU 45-41 and they played Kentucky and it was 20-10. You know, games will be won many different ways. The biggest thing for us is to control what we can control, focusing in on each and every possession. I think generally in offensive football you never want to waste a possession to begin with. I think you go out there with every drive with every mindset hoping to score a touchdown.

How much of going through spring practice prepared you for the last two weeks?

“I think the biggest thing is, certainly everyone got a PhD in Zoom. Just the ability… you know I give a lot of credit to Drew and our video crew. Those guys did a phenomenal job of having all of our stuff organized so that we could work from home and be able to watch and get a lot of good work done over the break, not only as a staff, but positional groups also. It definitely helped in terms of everybody being able to navigate the virtual learning experience. It’s kind of like it was for us during the majority of the spring and the majority of the summer.”

Who were the teams you watched?

“The biggest thing we did was obviously spend that time and kind of self-scout. Essentially it was our bye week. So, you want to have a great understanding of what you’re presenting to the other team as well and what you’re doing. But also you’re watching other guys on offense and seeing what they’re doing. Watching NFL teams, seeing people trying to put together the puzzle in different ways and anything you like you can steal.”

The puzzle of 22 isn’t that what you call it?

“Yeah, that’s it.” Renewed enthusiasm getting away from all this COVID stuff and getting back to football?  “Yeah, I think that was huge. For me personally, I enjoyed seeing everyone’s faces for the first time in two weeks and just get the chance to get that personal interaction face-to-face. But I think definitely for the majority of our guys, it was. … they were very pleased to get out there on the field and excited to get out there and go out there and compete.”

In terms of the practice, was it as sharp as you would expect or did it look like guys hadn’t played football in two weeks?  “No, it was good. Guys had really good energy. Caught well. Blocked. It was kind of business as usual.”

Just want to go back to Kyle. I’m sure two years ago against Missouri you already had an idea what he was capable of. What specifically in that game did that show you about what he’s capable of? “The biggest thing is it highlighted just how well he prepares. You knew what you could call whatever in the game plan and he would be able to execute it. And you know, he’s practiced well. Trask, because we’ve seen him so much in practice, there was never really any doubt in terms of how he would do when he got out there on the field. He’s an extremely intelligent guy. He works really hard. He’s a really good football player.”

Emory Jones has been out, any difference in his preparation?

“Yeah I don’t think so. Emory’s great. I really enjoy coaching him. He’s got a great temperament, great demeanor, works really hard, studies his tail off with the gameplan and he’s always ready to play. So, I’m excited to get out there and watch him contribute.”  Reaction of players back out there, I’m sure this was hard on them?

“I think they were excited to get back to playing football and have some sense of normalcy. 2020 has been a strange year for everyone. For those guys to get a chance to do what they love is something that obviously can’t be taken for granted. It was good to get them out there and see everybody.”  Do you worry about these guys and keeping balance in life, mental focus?

“Absolutely. You know I love everybody in my position group. I treat those guys as if they are my family. I know from experience that having a great relationship, having a great relationship with your players is bigger than football. These relationships last longer than the four or five years that they’re here. You have to obviously understand they’re people first and they’re dealing with 2020 just like everybody else. Certainly, there is a human element to that and I think it’s wise to acknowledge it, make sure that your door is always open and ready to serve.” 

What did Kyle Trask do in order to maintain during this time? “I think the biggest thing was just us, with our zoom meetings, starting to go over a little bit of Missouri over the course of the zoom and introduce what they do defensively. I think that was probably the best thing we could have done for them. Obviously their bodies got a chance to rest and get healthy and do some of those things but they were able to meet virtually and do some football as well.”