Gators Online previews Florida's spring game on The Paul Finebaum Show

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — On Tuesday evening, I joined The Paul Finebaum Show on SEC Network to preview the Florida Gators’ spring game.

We discuss the Gators quarterback battle, new defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong, reasons for optimism in 2023 and portal needs.

Check out my conversation with Finebaum below:

Finebaum: So, let’s start. I mean, obviously the quarterback situation is going to change. Take us through what fans will be looking for and particularly zeroed in on.

Abolverdi: “I think one thing to note is this quarterback battle is far from over. You know, at this point last year when we got to the end of spring, it was a foregone conclusion that this was Anthony Richardson’s job. And by the time the Orange & Blue Game was over, everybody knew that. That’s not going to be the case this Thursday. I think, regardless of how Jack Miller and Graham Mertz play, this competition is going to continue into the summer and probably into fall camp all the way until the first snap at Utah.

“And I think coming into spring a lot of folks viewed Graham Mertz as the favorite to win the job because he was a three-year starter at Wisconsin. 32 total starts versus a guy in Jack Miller who just made his first career start and his UF debut. But to Jack’s credit, he’s made this a battle throughout the spring. I think he’s really improved from where he was last year, and this is a guy, Paul, who sat behind CJ Stroud at Ohio State and Anthony Richardson at Florida, the first two quarterbacks that could come off of the board. So I think he’s got a lot to prove after being a backup the last couple of years.”

Finebaum: Zach, you wrote recently, and I keep hearing a lot of murmurs down in Florida, not so much on the offensive side, but on the defensive side, especially with Austin Armstrong, the DC. Tell us why so many people are so high on him.

Abolverdi: “I think the energy that he’s brought, Paul. I think that his personality has been a great change of pace for that scheme and that side of the ball, especially given the struggles that they’ve had the last couple of years. They needed a new and young guy to come in there and just mix things up. Now it’s not just his aggressiveness and fire and all the energy that he’s brought. He’s also got the background. Having learned for a year from Kirby Smart, coming over from Alabama and Nick Saban. To kind of have those two coaches stamp him as a defensive coach, I think gives the players a lot of confidence in the guy that they’re learning from.

“And he’s also coming over from Louisiana where he was there with Billy and Patrick Toney. So, he knows that defensive scheme and speaking to the coaches and the players throughout camp, they’ve said this is kind of been a seamless transition and a very user-friendly scheme for them to learn. And I think, you know, it’s never easy to replace your defensive coordinator a week before camp, but I think Billy couldn’t have had it work out any better considering the candidate that he landed.”

Finebaum: Zach I feel from you, and you’re about the first person I’ve talked to that feels some buzz, maybe feels the winds changing. I know it’s very easy to be on the negative side. The naysayers are out there you know that. You cover the team. But for fans looking up and hoping, you mentioned the defensive side, you mentioned the QB battle. Let’s talk about the optimism because the schedule seems to many to be a backbreaker.

Abolverdi: “It is. It’s definitely a tough stretch. You’re opening up at Utah. I think for fans and folks that are just looking for reasons for optimism with the Gators, you know, you look at Pro Football Focus and who they graded as Florida’s best players last season. Well, a lot of those guys are returning this year (four of the top six on offense, seven of the top nine on defense) and many of them were players that were added by Billy Napier and this staff. Now, you couple that with the transfer class and the 17 recruits that they brought in mid year, I think within the program that is where a lot of this buzz and energy is coming from.

“They feel like the guys that they’ve added to the roster in these past two years are what’s going to help upgrade the talent and help this program turn the corner. I mean, they lost 13 of their 22 starters on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, Paul. Almost half of those guys this year could be transfers that were added by the staff. And I think that there’s a lot of confidence in this building that you look at the freshman who played last year and you look at the (2022) transfers, those were some of the best guys that we saw for the Gators. And I think that they feel like if they continue to add pieces and recruit, that’s what’s going to get this thing turned around.”

Finebaum: And Zach, you mentioned a lot of a lot of change and some would call it the free agency window. The portal window opens here in a couple of days. [Sam] Pittman was on earlier with us saying he’s looking perhaps for as many as eight players. What is Billy Napier looking for?

Abolverdi: “He’s looking for safety help. He hasn’t been shy about it either. I mean, he basically had a casting call last week in his press conference after the second scrimmage. Saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got some young talent there, but they just don’t have enough depth.’ And they’re replacing both of their starting safeties from last season, so I think that’s an area that they’re going to need to address.

“And another one is still gonna be the quarterback position. We talked about Graham Mertz and Jack Miller and the battle there, but the fact of the matter is they still only have 3 scholarship quarterbacks and I think that they would still like to add another signal caller to that room, whether it’s someone to compete for the job or just for depth purposes. And last but not least, I think the offensive line is still a spot that they could add another guy if there’s someone that makes sense.

Zach Abolverdi from Gators Online. Many thanks. Appreciate you coming on, fantastic report. We look forward to chatting with you again very, very soon as the Gators get ready for the spring game Thursday night.”

Click here to listen to my appearance on Finebaum. Our interview starts at the 12-minute mark.