Will Ron Roberts UF defense make opposing quarterbacks see ghosts?

(Photo by Chris Spears)

Dazed and confused. That’s what LSU’s vaunted offensive line and quarterback Garrett Nussmeier were when the clock flatlined at zero last November 16. Four on that O-line went on to be selected in the NFL Draft, but against the Florida Gators they played as if they had taken lessons from a mail order catalogue and the mail truck got lost on I-10 somewhere west of Leon Springs, Texas. The O-linemen and Nussmeier spent the day at The Swamp seeing ghosts. They knew Florida defensive coordinator Ron Roberts would be bringing the blitz, only problem was they saw blitz from one angle when it was actually coming from somewhere else.

Six times Nussmeier went down in a heap. Six more times he was hurried into a bad throw. The pressure was so intense that Nussmeier averaged a dismal 5.5 yards per pass attempt.

Think of the Gators’ 27-16 win that knocked LSU out of College Football Playoff contention as the game when the lights went on. Florida fans came to The Swamp expecting the worst and instead saw inspired defenders executing a brilliant game plan about as well as could be expected. Only seven days earlier in Austin, Texas lit up the Gators for 49 points and 562 yards. Against LSU, the fans saw what happens when the Gators execute Roberts’ “creeper” defense to perfection.

Starting with LSU, the Gators reeled off four straight wins to finish the season 8-5. In those four wins, the Gators gave up an average of 13 points and 321.75 yards. The Gators finished the 2024 season with 39 sacks, 19 of which came in the final four games. Nearly half (12) of the 25 turnovers the UF defense forced came in those four wins. In Florida’s five losses, the Gators gave up an average of 469.2 yards and 36 points per game. The Gators had only seven sacks and seven forced turnovers in the losses.

In the eyes of the national media, Florida’s offense is largely responsible for raised expectations for 2025. With DJ Lagway spreading the ball around to one of the more impressive collections of skill people and a physical, experienced offensive line providing the protection and opening gaping holes, the Gators are looked on as a team that can win games by shootout if necessary.

It is the defense where there are the most question marks. Will it be the Gators who were pounded into submission in five losses or the ones at the end of the year who put LSU and Ole Miss out of their misery on consecutive Saturdays?

From what he has seen during the offseason, Ron Roberts feels confident there will be carryover from the end of 2024 to the season that begins in 29 days against Long Island University.

“You go right there, you go into spring and you go into identity period in the weight room, off-season training, goes to spring ball and all that stuff,” Roberts said Tuesday. “I think our guys have done a tremendous job with that as far as setting the standard of the work ethic, what's acceptable on a day-to-day basis, how you're supposed to go about your business, how do you handle every situation, and I think our guys have done a tremendous job of that in the off season, of preparing themselves to get ready. 

“I think our summer was outstanding. I really do. I'm real excited about this season, just like where we are as a standpoint right now as a football team, as a defense, as a staff continuity, all those things. I'm real excited about the season, looking forward to getting in fall camp.”

Roberts began the 2024 season on the sidelines with then co-defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong making the play calls from the press box. Midway through the season when head coach Billy Napier put Roberts in the press box. That’s when Florida’s defense began its turnaround. Roberts will be in the booth again this year. He retained D-line coach Gerald Chatman and EDGE coach Mike Peterson from last year’s staff, adding Robert Bala (from Washington) to coach inside linebackers, Vinnie Sunseri (from Washington) to coach safeties and Deron Wilson (from Arkansas) to coach the corners.

If there is consensus among the national media regarding Florida’s defense, it is the depth on the defensive line, in particular at nose tackle. Roberts doesn’t share their concern.

“We have plenty of guys,” Roberts said. “We got about … we got about seven that can play, so it’s going to come down to competition, healthy and who can do that and who becomes the impact players and who's going to turn it up a notch. But we got about seven competing and fighting for jobs. Our depth is a lot deeper. We lost some impact guys that had some experience and played and stuff, but our depth is – we're a lot deeper in our depth chart, especially up front.”

The way Caleb Banks (6-6, 330, RSR) finished last season, he’s expected to be one of those impact guys on the inside. The other big guys who will play tackle and on the nose are Michai Boireau (6-5, 349, SO), Jamari Lyons (6-4, 318, RJR), Brien Taylor Jr. (6-5, 294, SR), Baylor transfer Brendan Bett (6-5, 308, RSO), Joseph Mbatchou (6-5, 300, FR) and Jeramiah McCloud (6-3, 294, FR).

“I think we have seven guys inside … I would definitely not say we have a depth issue at nose guard,” Roberts said.  

There is talent and speed on the edge where Tyreak Sapp (6-3, 274, RSR) expects to pick up in 2025 where he left off at the end of last year. George Gumbs Jr. (6-4, 250, RSR), LJ McCray (6-6, 268, SO) and Kamran James (6-6, 270, JR) are joined by UMass transfer Kofi Asare (6-5, 251, RJR), Jayden Woods (6-3, 248, FR) and Jalen Wiggins (6-5, 268, FR).

Woods drew rave reviews from strength coordinator Tyler Miles. Gumbs, McCray and James have added muscle and speed. Sapp, however, is the standout among that group in Roberts’ opinion.

“He's just such a high motor guy,” Roberts said. “His motor never stops. He's going to go full throttle no matter what you do. I don't care if it's Tuesday or Saturday, he's going. And really the biggest impact -- he's a great player. The biggest impact he can do is what he does by demanding it from other people in the room and making sure his voice is heard and they all need to match that and play at that level.”

The strength of the defense will be at linebacker where four experienced guys are backed by two outstanding freshmen. Grayson “Pup” Howard (6-4, 236, JR), Myles Graham (6-1, 228, SO), Jaden Robinson (6-0, 226, JR) and Aaron Chiles (6-3, 244, SO) give Roberts experience, speed and toughness. Freshmen Ty Jackson (6-2, 221) and Myles Johnson (6-1, 224) are good enough that Roberts will have to find ways to work them into the rotation.

Roberts doesn’t hide his belief that he has linebackers who can compete with anyone in the country.

“Our linebacker room is about as deep as anybody in the country,” Roberts said. “I think we're sitting on, whatever, three, four guys that are NFL guys. You know what I mean? They're all going to have an opportunity. Where does that go? Depending how their career goes, but how well they produce and how well they perform and how well they stay healthy, whether they go in the second round or fourth, but those are all guys that are going to be high draft picks that are going to play extremely well. So we're extremely deep. 

“And then we got two freshmen which came in that are exciting. They're going to have to fight their way to get in the lineup because what we have are pretty deep, but they're both extremely athletic, can run and make plays. So we just gotta get them comfortable, and as we go through the season, put them in situations they can handle and have success.”

There is experience and depth in the secondary where Roberts can count on Devin Moore (6-3, 198, SR), Cormani McClain (6-2, 189, RSO), Dijon Johnson (6-1, 204, JR). Jamroc Grimsley (6-2, 198, RFR), Teddy Foster (6-1, 188, RFR), Ben Hanks III (6-1, 192, FR) and Onis Konanbanny (6-0, 184, FR) at the corners. At STAR he’s got Sharif Denson (5-11, 195, JR), Aaron Gates (6-0, 198, RSO) and Josiah Davis (6-1, 199, RFR).

The starters at safety – Jordan Castell (6-2, 213, JR) and Bryce Thornton (5-10, 211, JR) – have plenty of experience, but there are a lot of new faces behind them. Micheal Carraway Jr. (6-1, 196, RSR) transferred in from Southern Miss while Drake Stubbs (6-1, 207, FR) was a highly regarded recruit.

The goal of all Roberts-coached defenses is to stuff the run and force teams to be one-dimensional. If the Gators can neutralize opponents’ running game, that’s when the creeper comes into play and quarterbacks and the guys who protect them start seeing ghosts.

“It starts up front because if you can't stop the run, you can't do those things. Part of that credit last year obviously went to Gerald Chatman, what he did as far as development of those guys, learning how to play blocks and strikes and doing the things we wanted to do and allowed us at times in the back half of the season to play light box and help us in the back end coverage wise and kind of put it on the big guys up front and do those things.

“… We would like to be more aggressive and those type of things, but again, I think every year you gotta call it to where, at the end of the day it's how are we winning. How are we going to win? Whether I gotta go after them every snap or we gotta high pressure, or is it, hey, we gotta play, we can't afford to give up a big play, let's go, we gotta stop it.”