What’s up Gator Nation welcome into the gator online show Zach Alti and Nick delor here and uh we are back with another episode and another interview today we’ll be joined by Florida punter Jeremy croshaw to talk about his time with the gator uh his off season and
Obviously uh a new member joining the uh special teams room nick uh which we’ll kick off this show with how are you doing my friend doing well uh got five days off last week um had some plans to go somewhere um but then just thought hey man I’m just gonna stay in Gainesville
Uh know it’s a five hour drive home to see the family uh wife couldn’t get off work so we we put plans to like Savannah or something uh put those off um so just kicked it in Gainesville but didn’t have work so nice little recharge uh of the batteries
Before uh you know baseball season starts and spring football’s in the middle of that and uh my nights will be spent at condrin Ballpark and my days will be spent uh on campus uh watching football yeah know it’s uh it’s creeping up it’s almost here and uh obviously
Basketball is in full swing we’ll talk more about this uh toward the toward the end of the show after we are joined by Jeremy but what a win for Todd golden in the Gator basketball team last night a thriller in rup Arena uh Walter Clayton Jr just coldblooded from downtown seven
Three-pointers uh career high and he had hit six twice before so it wasn’t like this is something out of the ordinary for him but uh man for him to step up hits the the game tying three and really you know for folks that watched the game was Redemption uh because that that same
Guy Shepard had blocked a three-pointer from him less than two minutes early earlier so he ties it up then hits the goahead in OT and the Gators get their first win over a top 10 team on the road since 2003 so um definitely want to give
A shout out 20 years 21 years 20 plus it’s a long time man I saw some folks Gator message Gator online Message Board they were like well the fours you know they what about all the teams they beat in the tournament but those aren’t true Road games yeah and and Redemption for
Just last month uh a game you probably should have won at home um crumpled late or crumpled down the stretch um winning on the road in the SEC is hard um it’s gotten a lot harder you know I saw a bunch of Kentucky fans freaking out uh
About you know the losses they’ve had like the SEC has just gotten a lot better in basketball over the last decade um so great win for Todd Golden Portal God Todd poort God Tod yeah great listen man those transfers are showing up um so um
Well let’s uh let’s jump into it want to start things as we always do with a shout out to my perfect franchise if you’re ready to leave the corporate Rat Race For The American Dream looking for a side hustle while working your current job wanting to diversify build wealth
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Franchises you can learn more and contact Andy anytime at my perfect franchise. net or calling or texting him at 404973 9901 now Nick before we’re joined uh by Jeremy croshaw let’s talk about uh somebody that’s joining that special team’s room as a coach uh Joe Houston from the New England Patriots is the
Latest hire by Billy Napier he comes over obviously after some time with the legendary coach uh Bill belich and and obviously is now going to come and and Coach fora special teams and he will his official title is senior analyst for special teams he’s going to be working
With Chris couch he’s got a background as a kicker and uh obviously he’s been pretty impressive uh you know looking at his coaching track record uh Nick what what do you think about this higher yeah I think it’ll be interesting um uh Chris couch is still there um I
Think his name is Brandon Taylor still there but you’re adding another um voice uh two special teams to that room to that unit um I don’t think that he’s gotten to work with the guys yet um but you’re adding another voice and obviously somebody from um the NFL who’s
Had um a lot of experience there and um as a dolphins fan uh I love watching the Patriots Lou Bill Bel and the rest of their staff and everyone that’s terrorized me uh for my entire life so uh the more that the Patriots lose uh
The better for me in my opinion oh doubt well we’ll talk more about that higher and special teams uh but but what better to do that uh than the position other than Jeremy cross who’s going to join us now on the gator online show Jeremy welcome in how you doing my friend how
You doing good to see you guys absolutely how’s your uh your offseason treating you so far it’s been pretty good uh nice start in the weight room getting big and strong so yeah did you have a good winter break at all did you
Get to get away or go home um yeah I I stayed in country um I went down south with a few teammates bounced around uh enjoyed life so flow as you say that’s my neck of the woods where were you down there uh I went to Orlando for a little
Bit there with Rocco and went further down south with a few old teammates so gotcha that’s uh Orlando’s not South now as a at from Broward from Broward County anything north of like Palm Beach now we’re into like Central Florida fair enough fair enough um but let let’s start with you I
Wanted to uh give you a chance you were I’m guessing 16 17 years old when you told your mom dad like hey I want to move a thousand miles kilometers uh away to Sydney uh to chase a dream of moving away even farther from you uh of going to
University um in America what what is that like what is that conversation as you know a young kid to tell your parents that um I was actually probably even younger to be honest um it came around a point point in my life where I was deciding if I wanted to stay in high
School or if I wanted to drop out and get a trade um you know something like carpentry and electrician um my mom is an English teacher or she was um she’s a high school teacher predominantly now um but she just wanted me to stick it out um
Just keep looking at what options I had open and for me that was a time of my life where I was like what do I really want to do after school um looking around online I ended up stumbling across um proi Australia their website so had a look through there I thought
That was the best thing since sliced bread and I was like you know I want to do that um so I remember I showed it to my mom and she that’s cool I don’t think they really thought much of it um but for me I was she worried that you were
She was worried you were gonna get scammed this was some kind of like may take your money and run yeah probably so she probably just like ah it’s just a a phase you know nothing big but I spent the next two years the last two years of high school just kicking a
Footy on the side of playing AFL as well so I was hooked and I was ready to do it and like you said like my parents kind of didn’t really believe in it um so when it’s when it came time to doing those tryouts uh my coaches back home um
John A Smith and uh Nathan Chapman did a really good job selling them so here I am what was um what what what was the biggest culture shock I’m sure there’s plenty um uh you’re probably stuck to like Mackey for a little while once you got here because that’s a a traditional
Food that’s McDonald’s um but what what were some of the bigger culture shocks um this is kind of like a tough one I mean it’s probably just the way we the differences between how people talk so in Australia we use a lot of slang um say things very different um compared to
People in America and then even then people in Florida talk different different to people in Georgia up north things like that so when I got here I had to learn how to talk like a a Floridian um I had to lose a lot of the slang that I used um just so people
Would stop asking me huh like can you say that again they just didn’t understand what I was saying so that was probably the biggest shock I had to get over was just changing the way I talk so now when I uh talk to people back home they often tell me I sound Americanized
I I don’t have anyy slang anymore I just sound real American so who’s this bloke where’ my mate go exactly exactly uh Jeremy what was it like adapting to the SEC and college ball here and especially early on in your career what was that like seeing at this level coming from
Australia yeah so before I came over here I was just a a um young high school player I’d play for the local clubs maybe 100 200 people would show up to that um just pretty much their parents driving their kids to the the games that’s who was watching our games so
We’d you know go play our little hearts out for absolutely nothing on the line um so when I when I trained to come here I think uh it was a big shock just the way things are are run you know it’s not professional but the way things are
Run is in a professional manner you know yeah um so we got here and every you know big stadiums facilities multiple team doctors stuff is the whole deal um so it was quite a big shock on that part um and the next shock was coming in and actually playing American football
I’d never really put pads on and had a rush so when I first got here that Co year we ended up missing that Spring ball and getting thrown in the deep end during that half uh fall Camp deal before the season yeah um you know it
Was a shock I was lucky enough to have a great um fifth year senior Jacob Finn ahead of me um he ended up playing playing that year and ended up red shirting but I learned so much from him sitting behind him that when I was able to come in and start in
2021 um I’d learned a lot and I was ready to go that’s awesome we hear about kickers in their nerves and stuff before going out for an attempt what was that like your first time playing in the swamp or in an SEC uh stadium and having
To go out there whether any Jitters or you know nerves at all um it’s it’s a little different though because like nobody in especially when you’re at home nobody’s happy to see you on the field outside of me a big hunting Advocate but nobody’s happy when you’re jogging out
There yeah um it’s uh it’s it’s different for sure um there’s a lot more riding on the line as I said before we just go play in front of a 100 people nothing really mattered um but I think the first time I’d ever played a down
Was a hold against Arkansas in that 2020 year I was nervous yeah absolutely I was nervous but the first time I ever punted was that ball game that year the cotton ball okay and for some reason I was just unusually calm I was I was ready I was
Excited to go punt you know um so that game I think I had two punts for 49 yard average it was a great way to start the career um but I was just ready I was calm and I think that’s something that I try and uh maintain as I go throughout
My college and hopefully professional career is just staying calm staying in the slowing things down don’t let it get ahead of myself so now we are much more on that side than being really nervous so sure sure doubt yeah what what is what have you learned I guess there’s
Punting is so technical um a lot of it goes over our heads or certainly over fans heads um just Stadium Stadium to Stadium what are you looking for um every stadium is constructed differently how much is the weather a factor or is it just like hey
I just didn’t hit that ball well or is it like hey there’s an open end zone over here and that is causing the wind to come in in a different way what is what are you looking for I guess on a a pregame any given week um yeah we are Specialists we might
You might call us Divas in the way we like things you know we like the balls to be a certain way we like particular very particular very very particular we the day of a game we’ll be sitting on the weather app watching what the mile gusts the the weather if it’s going to
Rain you know is it sunny how hot is it how cold is it stuff like that so you go you know going into a um an away game or a home game what the wind kind of will do um you know those bigger taller stadiums kind of hide the wind a bit
Better but um create a bit of a swirl in the stadium um those smaller stadiums are a bit harder to play in because there’s no real stopping the wind from coming through but it’s that’s kind of the things we look for pregame is how is the wind swirling are there any wind
Tunnels up there you can pick up just to get the ball up there and let the wind take it um and those are all things you take into pre- punt in the game as well and how you choose that kind of Punt um so yeah there’s a lot that goes into that
Um but yes as you said a lot of people don’t quite understand that part of that speaking to that Harrison is uh here for most of our shows uh he did not know how particular you were about balls yeah we like our a particular way
You know so yeah we I I think you go around most special team players uh uh specs and say like what kind of ball would you use and they would say we love the juiciest broken in shiny balls you can give us they travel better they come
Off the foot nice all of that good stuff fresh out of the bag balls are really tough to kick um they’re harder the leather isn’t as broken in um stuff like that so yeah we are very particular with the way we like our balls what’s the worst weather game that you’ve had so
Far worst weather game um I don’t know if I’ve particularly had any bad ones um we’ve been lucky enough the South doesn’t really get bad weather games like they would up north um we get a couple cold games a year they’re kind of tough but not really you
Just rug up nice and warm maybe double sock if it’s really cold but um I think one that sticks out to me was the uh 2021 LSU year uh there was a really bad wind that was ripping through the stadium that day and it didn’t matter
How good you hit a ball into that wind it was just dying it was just hitting the wall and just coming straight back down to the ground so I think that might have been my toughest um but outside of that we’re pretty good with the weather and we can deal with it
Um pretty well and on that note uh as you think back obviously you know you’ve had some years now uh with the puning duties what have been outside of the 28 yard dash that you had uh you know some of the highlights you know of your time you
Know at UF and and obviously having a starting job MH um you know there’s good plays um that you have as a as a punner um we’ve had a couple fumbles returned over my career some big punts to switch the field um a couple inside the five the ones that really stick out
Of those games though that that the you could feel the electricity in the air from the fans in the atmosphere to be honest those were the ones that I remember sticking out to me those were the ones like when we beat Utah in the swamp you know some big games like that
Where they were close the fans were involved those are the things I remember because a lot of times you go back on a punt and you don’t quite remember things just because of the the moment you know you were so focused and locked in on this one thing you didn’t realize what
Was happening outside of you so I think it was those games where you were able to take a step back for a second and just take in where you were those are the games that I remember the most now on the flip side of that are there any
Punts or plays that stick with you um you know from the past couple Seasons that you just wish you could have had back or or feel like you know uh didn’t go your way um I feel like we we all have them I would never take any punt back you know
Because each punt causes something different afterwards you know it’s those punts that end up building your resilience for future games no doubt um that you need you know if you’re G to go hit great balls all the time you hit one and you fall apart what’s the point
Right you can’t go to the next level have a bad Punt and then there goes your career because you can’t get over that we’re going to have bad punts we’re going to have bad kicks right you have to you have to be sorry for them and say
I didn’t mean to do that um but I’m going to give you my best on the next one as well um and it’s about to shake back you know so I don’t take back any of that sometimes the punts or the games that I had that were my worst I ended up
Just getting in the lab spending every day doing ball drops stretching meditations you know visualizing stuff and I came back and had a great week the next week yeah and on kind of on that note when you mentioned guys at the next level um there’s probably no position
Outside of kicker and punter that have less jobs in the NFL um and we talk about the NFL being the not for long League uh the longevity for punters and kickers is probably the highest uh as long as you’re kicking between the uprights or or dropping punts uh inside
That little coffin corner how what is the process because every once in a while we’ll see kickers or punters leave school early uh Evan mcferson left early uh and he’s had with Cincinnati but what’s how closely are you guys looking every given year like okay this punter is 43 years old
Will he finally hang it up and will there be one of the 32 jobs opening how close you look at that especially you know heading into this offseason and you’re looking at the landscape of the league um those are things you look for
Um I think I might be I might be one of the only ones maybe that like kind of check on how punters are doing throughout the years in the league um you know this this being my last season um I’m watching closely just how my performance ranks against those in the
NFL um you see who’s doing better who’s doing worse who’s older um and who’s younger and which teams might be looking for a punter um but at the same time you try not to get ahead of yourself you’ve got one more season you know you can make or break in
A season so just keep the head down um keep doing the best you absolutely can um but but have in the back of your mind that that is the goal um and so you know put your best foot forward towards that Jeremy what was uh last season like
For you personally obviously you know accolades wise uh you know you set the single season program record with 48.9 per attempt you earn you know all SEC honors uh from the AP uh just how did it feel to kind of have those personal accolades I know obviously the season
Didn’t go the way you wanted for your team but it was good year for you um yeah it was it was one of my better years for sure um I I believe I didn’t start the season off real hot um probably just had to get myself out of a
Funk there um but I think that start kind of pushed me it was it kind of of bugged me seeing that I wasn’t playing up to the standards that I knew I had um so in that I ended up putting the most time and effort into punning that I ever
Have I spent you know probably hours a day in the in in the facilities watching film on NFL punters watching situational um film as well just doing bul drops Line work everything I could to make sure I was better and that ended up correlating and you can see that
Throughout the rest of the season um it was showing up in games um and just helping out my team the best I could because that is what our position is is to help the team so if I wasn’t doing that in the first few games I had
To check myself reevaluate what I was doing and come back better was that more work than you had had to put in in the past um I think it was just I had chosen to put more work in you know I took it probably more seriously because I knew I
Had to step up you know I’ve been I’d had a solid couple years before that sure um but I think coming towards the end now I I needed to pick it up I knew that Within Myself I remember um chirping at you in Salt Lake City telling you I needed with this elevation
I needed a like a sixc hang time um how much was that in your you your mind uh in Adam’s mind at the time in smack as well just the that elevation and was it even a factor once you got there because we talked about it for three months
Leading up to the game yeah um no it definitely was I was I don’t think I was hitting great balls that game um but I was still getting 55 57 yards so I was you know I don’t think I hit a good a quite a good ball in my standards during
That game but um they were still going almost 60 yards so I was one I’ve it now sits with me and it bugs me that if I hit a good ball I think I probably could have put at 70 on the Fly that’s something I have to live with
Now and ended up causing me to be better for the rest of the season so so um it definitely helps that altitude for sure what is your ideal hang time do you have a goal that you’re TR here or what’s your best perfect perfect sweet spot is
Just a five it’s automatic fair catch you know I we have some of the best Gunners I think in the ACC in the nation to be honest um that get down there and cause Fair catches and get in the faces of the returners so I put it up there 50
Yards 55 yards 5 Fair Court no return good for the average good for the team yeah and if you look at the NFL that’s kind of all they want H Johnny Townsen um was one of the best punters in Florida history uh and he just would out
Kick his coverage and you would kick it you know 0 but 60 70 yards and your Gunners aren’t going to run 70 yards in five seconds the NFL wants you to punt 40 50 yards hang it up there and no return so it’s kind of uh you got to
Rain that back in maybe you don’t want to be punting 70 in Utah right right exactly unless it’s pregame you can get put up on Instagram or something yeah coup Nick mentioned that the towns and uh obviously the towns and brothers uh two of you know several successful
Punters here at Florida and then obviously the GS have had several Elite kickers as well what’s it been like to be part of that special team’s fraternity and get to know some of those guys especially as they come back around the program yeah um that I think like some
Of the biggest parts of coming and playing out Florida is that there’s history before you and there’s a standard to continue the history um and I love that I’m all for it I’ve had the uh you know the joy of getting to know the town’s end Brothers as they’ve come
Back you know sometimes to train for the NFL and just get to sit and watch them um watch their processes and how they do things um and meeting even further past players um you know so it’s it’s good to continue that um that Excellence at Florida and that’s really what coming to
Florida as a specialist is about We’ve Got Deep history here and it’s our job to continue it now uh Jeremy Nick mentioned that Utah game that was that was the first of you know a few games last season where there were some special teams blunders and obviously
Those units took a lot of heat um and most of the time maybe didn’t have anything to do with you uh what was that like to go through as a player where you know you knew that was going on I’m sure those guys are felt bad about when those
Situations happen and just trying to work through those yeah it’s a it’s a terrible thing when when plays don’t quite go how they are expected to go um I know on those special teams blonders last year we obviously didn’t mean to have that happen but after the games we
Re reevaluate ourselves we we look at how it went you know we’re incredibly sorry for having those plays you know to the fans and having an impact on the game like that um but in the sense of looking at those blunders that happened we also had quite a good season um
Special teams wise I mean net punting we were fourth in NCAA power five and first in the SEC kickoff return efficiency we were 13th uh in power five with 62% efficiency kickoff return was six in the power five second in SEC uh punt return average we were 18 in
NCAA power five um and in an overall efficiency we were ninth in in the NCAA and fourth in the SEC so I mean considering we had 37 freshman play for us on special teams last year still did really well um we had young guys who were inexperienced and we gave them
Experience um so I mean coming into this year we should be a lot better off we we um you know we had those woses we were sorry for that and we’re doing our best to get back to uh the prestigious standard that is UF special teams um but we still really had
A good year compared to what some think we did well expected points as well so in situations where we were expected to do this or do that we outperformed um in those and we were one of the top special teams in the country in that aspect as
Well and you were sent out a post too uh obviously it was about your your pun return or excuse me your pun average and uh you know your your post on X is you let them know hey none of this happens without a good special teams coordinator and you’ve obviously been very
Supportive of Chris couch what’s your experience been like with him you know what have you enjoyed about working with him and just the job that he’s done with this special teams he’s he’s in in my honest opinion he’s an absolute Mastermind when it comes to special teams
His um schemes and and other things like that they work you know like I said I think we just had young freshman who yeah as the game goes on things can happen and it comes quickly a blur um but he’s great you know as a coach and
As a person as well you know I love coming in every day and chatting with him and going over things for Punt and he’s always really open responsive to things that I bring up and say like hey maybe we could do this better maybe we could do that better
And he says okay let’s see if we can Implement a little bit of this and a little bit of that and you know I think that’s why it was although we had those plays that people like to hold on to and say that is special teams we turned it
Around and we finished the season pretty well you know and a lot of that can be um put to him I was trying to figure something out so maybe you can give us like the dummies guy to Hidden yardage I was trying to read a story Bill Parcels
Actually was the one that wrote it um but some of it still goes over my head but um I think you guys did really well in that hidden yardage category last year in terms of special teams yeah so I mean uh hidden yardage is kind of it’s the expected uh like uh starting
Position of the other team versus ours so each week we come in and we look at that you know it be for example Florida started on average on the 23 yd line versus your opponent who started on the 30 you know that so they had you know
This or that they would have a better starting position or we would have a better starting position and we did really well in pinning them deep in stopping their kickoff returns and keeping them deep in their own field so that’s hidden yardage in saying that we
Kept the team at a longer you know disadvantage to getting a touchdown and and in that sense that’s all we’re aiming for as specialist is to get points and to keep them as deep in their own field as possible so he did a really good job with that on our coverage teams
As well as the Specialists um doing their jobs so yeah and speaking of Specialists obviously Trey Matt Trey smack with great kicker Name by the way um you took over last year and uh got to show us what he could do what do you
Think of the job that he did kind of you know getting his feet wet for the first time yeah he did really well um you he came in you know after the start of that last season um ended up just smacking every ball through the up rates you know
He had a really good string of a couple of weeks there um he was SEC special teams player of the week a couple times you know so he really stepped up well um and to bring up Rocco um as our Snapper he he’s a really good Darin Snapper he
Gets the laces as good for us um you know and it’s an absolute joy to have him because he makes my job easier makes the op times quicker makes it smoother just for just for me to put it down get get uh smack to put it through the
Uprights so I me oh go ahead I mean as a as a specialist group I think we’ve done really well um meshing together and trying to do our job the best we can so I’m proud of um the guys in our room that do that and on that note what is
That relationship like between the three of you guys on that on that field goal operation and and how much pride do you take in in your role as the holder yeah it’s look we we take huge pride in what we do you know we a lot of times you
Guys don’t realize but we’ll go back to the sideline and rock a how far did you turn that I say maybe maybe a slight turn you a they weren’t right you know that’s the kind of expectations we have when we go into those games you know um
I want to give Trey the exact ball you know tilt and lean that he needs it needs to be exactly on the spot I don’t want it to be an inch or half an inch or even split eighth of an inch away from where I put my fingers for him to spot
The ball so we take huge pride and all that and and over the last year of being together we’ve meshed well together um the chemistry is really good between us we all get along um that’s kind of what you need when you spend so much time with each other working on such finite
Details just a just a couple dudes playing with balls that’s all that’s all that is that’s it just coule dudes are are they the roommates I think you used to live with Trent but is is it a specialist house now uh it’s not um they they
Uh I think they live in different deals we all do um but it would be cool to have a specialist house maybe it’s a good thing that we aren’t together all the time so maybe that’s a good thing we’re even in the same lift group right now so we spend a
Lot of time together so speaking of the the lift group there’s been a big change there um what has uh Craig Fitzgerald Coach Fitzgerald coach Fitz I don’t know what you guys call him what has his introduction to you guys been um and then I mean you’ve been here you were
Here with Dan and Nick Savage uh so this is your third strength coach how’s it been just um some people might call that turnover but you’re getting a lot of different perspectives on lifting strength running conditioning um how has that been and and what’s your first impressions of Coach Fitz yeah um like
You said we’ve been through a lot of um we’ve transitioned through different uh strength coaches Nick Savage had his perks coach hockey had his perks um and now uh Coach Fitzgerald has his perks as well so when it comes to him um I think we’re still really enjoying uh the
Newness that he brings you know his way of doing things um that is different um and that is new to us so we’re really enjoying these first couple weeks with him um so it’s been good what STS out the most about him he seems like an
Energy guy for sure he has great energy and I I I feel like all three past coaches have had great energy so again the change of perspective for him has been great um we just we’re ready to get back to work and love coming in every
Day and say are you are you excited to have I mean you’ve had your Valentine’s Day back I think for a couple years now right uh Nick Savage obviously had his Valentine’s Day Massacre workouts um do you know if Coach Fitzgerald has something planned I do not yet I do not
On us if he has might have ruined your day maybe maybe he’s just holding his uh cards close to his chest but as of right now I don’t know you might you don’t seem intimidated though I do not yeah you’re ready for whatever I think after it’s my fifth year in college football
Now I think you kind of just learn how to roll with the punches and uh give your best at all times and and and on that note obviously heading into 2024 um you know what are your expectations for for this team coming off last season obviously there’s been
Some changes but you guys also have some key pieces back like Graham and some guys on the defensive side of the ball um what’s the energy like with this group as you guys kind of Turn the Page um as of right now really the only
Thing that I can speak on is the energy and the meshing um as of right now we’ve got a good group you know the young guys have come in and we’ve had a couple transfers come in as well so I’m liking the energy that we’re putting out right
Now um at this time um in the year that is the most important thing we’re working out and we’re meshing you know we’re trying to become a good Brotherhood together um but you know yeah like you said some key pieces coming back we’ll see how all that comes
Together um in the spring I’m hoping to return a lot of those guys that played on special teams last year and see if we can’t build on the great year we had in special teams you know we have a lot of guys coming back on punt that I’m
Excited for um that you know got their Fe beat wet last year and I feel like have the expertise and the experience to come back and do a good job this year you know and I feel like if I can do my job as a leader to get those guys going
In those areas um I will do the best I can um to make sure that we bring uh Florida special teams back to the position it was and and I know you guys got a new guy joining the room as well uh Joe Houston I don’t believe you’ve
Met him yet but um what are your you know expectations for for what he’s going to do to kind of bring more out of your guys’ group and I know he’s got a kicking background as well so that’s got to be attractive right um I haven’t met
Him yet um I don’t know the exacts of um all that position just as of right now um but I’m excited to have him here it’ll be good coming from the Patriots that’s always good he’s a kicker so kickers are weird punters are people so you probably
Have to walk around eggshells a little bit kickers are even more particular than punters who are real salt of the earth people Z fair enough I mean look if you work with us you got to have a groupy side to you as long as he has that I
Think uh Jeremy before we let you go we gotta ask what have been your thoughts on Alex Condon and uh putting on for Australia over at the Gator basketball program um yeah good for him it’s always good to have an Aussie around you know what I’m saying we have a fair few on
The track team as well um one on the tennis team as well you know it’s always good to walk around the facilities get lunch and uh hear that familiar accent so you know good for him happy for him I’m happy to see anybody doing well but another Countryman doing well is even
Better so first first time uh seen him were you a little taken back by the height that D Bo big boy yeah um because you know most people would say I’m pretty tall at 6’4 but when you see somebody show up as tall as him you kind of get you know
Feel small for sure and apparently he was a legit uh at footy I heard that too uh he might have been his dad or something played was that AFL or rugby I think it was AFL yeah i’ I’d have to follow that up with him because maybe we
Should have him come out here for a kick yeah is yeah well it uh you don’t kick enough uh I have a ray guy vote but haven’t even been uh eligible despite the rankings and where you rank haven’t even been eligible to vote uh for Jeremy
So I don’t know that fans will want you to be eligible this year um but I’m sure that would be a cool thing to to take home that award I wanted to ask the last thing was every Monday Billy Napier comes in and we do our press conferences
And he talks um well I met with the leadership committee and you’re part of that uh so I think most fans are wondering why is up Hunter part of the leadership committee but how is that comprised you aren’t wondering that Nick no not not me me why aren’t there why
Aren’t there more Specialists on is my my take right um how did that come about and how were you selected for that when do you guys meet just as the committee and then how do you feel you know your meetings with Coach go in terms of hey
This is what the locker room is feeling like this is what we think needs to happen uh and how does that process work yeah um I think over the past couple years um I have shown leadership qualities p uh like kind of in that sense um I wouldn’t I wouldn’t throw
Myself out there as like a big alpha dog out the front yelling kind of guy I like to work myself as kind of a gray man you know you kind of noticed I was there but I didn’t really do a whole lot in the sense of getting up and showing myself
You know I I work in deals of social capital I will say hi to everybody every day you know try and get a little conversation in with most people try and learn something new from them every day and as you work through that guys are more inclined to open up to you and
Listen to you when you come to them and they know you’re coming from a place of Love instead of just calling them out on on a behavior you know so these guys are like oh no he actually really cares about me um I should probably listen to
What’s being said you know and that’s the only way that I ever give advice to somebody is to say like I want you to be better I can see you can be better and I’m coming from a place of love and saying like let’s do this you know so I
Mean feel like I I did a good job at that um and napia saw that and he he put me on that leadership team as well um but when we we used to meet I think once a week during the season last year um and we’d bring up from week to week
Different maybe issues that we’d seen um little little things we wanted to fix and and Coach nap would leave that open to the room and say give me your thoughts because you guys are in the locker room you know I only see so much so give me your thoughts and how we can
Go about that and it would be a really good open dialogue um from players to coach and and he we would sit there and come up with things that we could openly do together that would help fix any of those little Nicks that we thought needed to be
Fixed and then we have two from from fans here that are that are watching you uh any particular football players and or soccer rugby players that you look up to um in this I particularly look up to um American football players here um just because of the the route I’m trying
To take I look up to a lot of the Aussie guys that have come before me um watched their success um and really just hope to put it into my own so you know a couple guys would probably just be’ been watching Mitch rowski cam Johnston um a couple other Aussie
Players Michael Dixon that have been playing in the league for a while and doing well so those are the guys you look up to and you hope to strive to to be as well um so yeah and then we talked a little bit about this but um toughest and easiest
Stadiums maybe uh to kick in um let’s see I don’t think they’re tough anymore um like I I mentioned earlier it’s more you mentioned those smaller ones I think like Missouri um I don’t know that you kicked at Arkansas but Arkansas’s got like an open end zone One
Open end zone as well uh that’s weird um yeah I mean those those weather aspects we learned to um we learn to control um so I don’t think they’ve been really that tough I think the only time I’ve ever found a stadium tough was it was my first year starting and we went
Up to Kentucky um and I think I had a punt out of the end zone which was right in front of the student section that was the first time I couldn’t hear the Cadence and I I was sitting back there and I was just my eyelids were peeled
Back and I was just staring at the ball because I couldn’t hear when it was going to be snapped and I had the whole student section behind me yelling and getting loud and I knew that I had to have a good punt out of my own End Zone
Because the worst thing you can do is shank it out of your own End Zone um so I think that’s the only time that I ever found a stadium tough uh because of that crowd noise but since then you’ve kind of learned to deal with that and with
The weather aspects as well you kind of just learn the tricks of the trade and how to deal with different weather aspects and after a while you just forget about the crowd noise Zach Zach was down on the field um and then on on way stadiums
I get down there for the end of games um some colorful comments anything uh within reason um that has or anything that you’ve heard from on the road that’s even made you chuckle like okay that was good might not turn around and give them props for that but that made
Me laugh a lot of it’s not laughing stuff either yeah yeah not I mean yeah yeah being a specialist you learn to just take it you know you gotta have to be so uh nothing I could say on live public de don’t get as demonetized exactly nothing I could say you know without
Getting myself in trouble but they’re you fans are quite good they’re witty you know they pick on the names they’ll sometimes they’ll go through your social media and find some friends and start talking to you about that and even that’ll make you turn your head and go
Who you what you you know so it’s fun you know to hear that kind of stuff um and in those moments I kind of just I’m thankful for the position that I’m in because you’re like I have somebody that’ rather chir me and wants me to do
Bad so I must be in a pretty good position you know doing well for myself so that’s how I kind of look at that well you’re gonna be going to a new place uh this year do you already have your outfit picked out for Austin
Texas I mean I might just stick with my acbra cowboy hat my fit right in there you go my uh yeah my iron Williams boots all Australian made um yeah I’m just going to fit right in I guess I’m excited for that new place new atmosphere you’ve done you’ve done
Something with your hair every year you’ve had you had the mullet uh long hair short hair the mustache which I think you you told me was just too too much maintenance uh plus with all the ball talking we’ve done if you’ve got mustache wax on your fingers don’t need
You dropping a punt while trying to look good during Gator walk uh what’s planned for this year I haven’t come up with it yet okay it’s open to suggestions so if guys want to suggest what I should do for this year I’m open to anything or
Girls I’m with a I’m with a fuman chew if you can get the the mustache to go halfway down but shaved here like the old school American biker that would be electric uh would start this season off right I’ll look into some new uh some new flavors we’ll see what comes okay
Whatever works for the ray guy campaign he’s got a pun more yeah we do I’ll do my best well and on that final note just um you know coming in as your final year and obviously as a leader um you know what are your personal goals uh
For this year and obviously kind of hopes for your team uh in 2024 uh for me personally I’m just hoping to be more consistent um throughout the whole year putting the ball exactly where I need to put together some some good film for the NFL
But also in the situations that I put in help the team out and those are the biggest goals for this year and then you know on the the vanderbel game not only did you have the legendary 28- yard dash on the fake punt you also had your career long do are you
Hoping that you extend that this year and and get a 70 y or do you want to stick with the perfect number the perfect number yeah the perfect number of a 69 y really nice punt perfect punt yeah um we’ll see if the situation pertains to it and we’re open
For it I might see if I can bang it long but a lot of things have to come together for that to happen without it going badly for us again you know without kicking coverage and good things like that so maybe see on your on your
Weather app one day you’ll look at it this could be the day behind me yeah yep exactly well we need to get uh whatever you’ve been doing to campaign for another fake is clearly not working um so we might need to get you a new campaign manager maybe to really Hammer
That point across uh last year last chance to to run for another first down uh I think that’s pretty important as a as a ray guy voter I think it’s very important course yeah we’ll do our best I know a guy if if you need a new new campaign man
Um Jeremy appreciate the time man always great catching up uh hope you enjoyed your break and um good luck getting back at it man thank you for having me all right for punter Jeremy croshaw joined us appreciate it man and uh we will move on uh as we uh
You know turn pages now um obviously great time with Jeremy and uh fun stuff um you know I know Nick that’s a treat for him to be able to be joined by a punter on this show I think we’ve had we’ve had uh have we had Johnny on before yeah we had
Johnny on we had Johnny and Spurrier I think uh like on the same show that’s right that’s right that that was like that was like your highlight basically you get a punter and the Goat on the same episode hard to top that but Jeremy was uh fantastic and obviously um you
Know I want to Circle back on uh this hire that we were talking about Nick before we brought him on but also you know you heard some you know numbers that Jeremy dropped there and obviously the Special Teams there’s been a big conversation about that with the fans
Nick it’s been throughout the season been throughout the off season they wanted to know if that was an area that was going to get addressed and obviously Houston coming on is going to add something to that room but you’re also not taking away Chris couch and you
Heard there from Jeremy um you know pretty adamantly about how he feels about him the job that he’s done and and why you know he is still going to be on staff working with Joe yeah it will be interesting so um it’s another off field you know role U for them
So and listen I’m not trying to get uh Florida investigated or anything but I think if you look across the country um and the NCAA was even the uh d on Council was even voting on allowing analysts to do more than they’re currently allowed to do currently they’re not allowed to coach
When you’re on the grass essentially if you’re on the field whether it’s practice or a game I think if you are at any college football game you’ll look down on the sideline and see more than 10 people uh 11 including the head coach talking to players so I think ultimately
It’s another another name there and and listen Florida had a boneheaded error having two guys on the field at the same time wearing the same number in Utah um they had the penalty later in the year which game was that Zack Arkansas uh with too many men on the field um but
Like two Jeremy’s Point there’s a lot of statistical evidence I think the big the big mistakes stick out in your mind um and it’s almost like being a Long Snapper a long I remember growing up there was a Long Snapper who messed up a messed up a snap at the end of his
17-year career that kept his team out of the playoffs and other than that it’s the first time you’d ever heard this guy’s name because as long as he’s doing his job you never hear his name the Long Snapper got the ball where it needed to
Go he messes up one time and it just happens to be in a big spot in a 17-year career is then bookended by that I think we hold on to uh those big mistakes but for the most part uh kickoffs are a non-issue Trey Mack just kicks it out of
The end zone and for the most part Jeremy croshaw is hitting 45 yarders with five seconds of Hang Time um and you’re getting Fair catches so um it will be interesting to see I think the next time we ask we talk to Billy AP it’s to ask like hey what is Joe
Houston’s role uh because we don’t know we just know that he will be working uh hand inand with Chris couch working together with Chris couch it’s not like he came in uh to be Couch’s boss or is coming in to work for couch I think they
Are working uh in tandem yeah and and Billy has long said too that that special teams duties were always split up amongst the staff even before um things were reshuffled during the season um there were some changes that happened during the year but like even before then it was never all on one
One guy um and that is partly and due to partly due to the fact that um the the coach who coordinates special teams is an analyst so there is going to be some limitations to what he can do and therefore you’re going to have to have some other coaches involved so um but
Joe Houston will be the latest addition to the staff and before we get to that um want to give a shout out to rogu shop.com and encourage all Florida fans to go check it out if you have issues sleeping chronic pain Andor anxiety and stress Rogue Shop sells CBD THC Edibles
Smokables and Vapes as well as handcrafted bass salts soaps and candles Rogue shop is a true small business with five employees and make all of their products with their own cannabis growing and their manufacturing facility visit Rog shop.com that’s r o g o p.com and uh to wrap it up Nick with the
Hire of Joe Houston that makes eight hires for the Florida football program and you know there might still be something that happens uh but right now there’s eight hires that have been made and you know I think I think for the most part at the very least the openings have
Been filled and he’s even added some more to the staff um but but overall you’re talking about three defensive coaches three strength coaches uh one of whom is also the new team nutritionist uh you’ve got a a chief of staff St and Mark Robinson we learned his official
Role this week um and then obviously you have Joe Houston as a special teams coach so a lot of areas uh addressed there Nick and and some areas that a lot of people wanted to see addressed uh what are your thoughts on the eight hires that Nate Pier made this off
Season yeah I mean the defense was in large stretches in games historically bad um for Florida football standards um so you see a bunch of are high yeah um so you see a bunch of changes on the defensive side of the ball um I think there were concerns from
Some players that they weren’t strong enough um I watched an interview where Tron web said we ran so much last year a bunch of guys were getting hamstring injuries and he felt that um the lifting now is more geared towards getting bigger stronger than it is uh to be a track team um
So I think the areas that you saw last year you know hey the offensive line stunk if you say that okay well why are they getting bullied why are they getting pushed around is it technique or does technique not matter because you’re just not strong enough or strong as the
Guy in front of you and the guy in front of you was always going to push you because he’s just bigger faster stronger than you so I think the areas that were glaringly bad um there have been changes we’ll see there’s no way anyone can tell
You yes it’s been fixed uh yeah or it’s gonna be better yeah or it’s gonna be better you can hope it’s just different and you hope that a new voice or a new technique or A New Path leads to more success um but right now there’s just
Hope um that those changes will work out for the better um and uh we’ll we’ll continue with our company line everyone wants to know about an offensive coordinator there is no uh job open for Florida uh as as we know it right now and there is no openings with any
Coaches either everybody is signed and has a new contract and uh we can end that speculation after January 31st As We join you guys on February 1 there’s nothing to be to be waiting on with that so um if there’s any change that is going to be made in terms of play
Calling uh it’ll have to be done within those confines but um um you know look we can point to a lot of issues that Ford has had that have led to three straight losing Seasons but as Scott said on our last Gator online show um the biggest issue is defense and that
Is that is one area where from 2008 after those uh after all those young defensive players had a really tough season in ‘ 07 from 08 to 19 I mean the Gators were Elite on defense top 30 unit every single year top 10 top five most of those years I
Can’t remember all the numbers off the top of my head and then since 2019 it has just been a drop off a drastic drop off um and as we talk about the most impactful hires of those eight Nick I I think that Roberts has to be one of
Them yeah and that’s one too where you know probably putting my negative Nick hat on um what is his role is he calling plays is Austin Armstrong calling plays Austin Armstrong worked under uh uh Ron Roberts who’s 18 years his Elder and who was just a defensive coordinator uh now Ron
Roberts gets one of those super fun Billy Napier job titles uh you know executive Zar uh and supreme leader of defense or whatever whatever they called him um that that’s an interesting Dynamic these two have history together um I think Ron Roberts was more of a mentor especially early on in in
Austin’s career but he brings a ton of experience um how do those guys mesh how do Florida’s players take Ron Roberts Direction in his leadership and his coaching um so new isn’t always better uh I think we all sit here everyone listening to this and you and I who
Cover the games uh hope it’s better uh certainly than last year um but it’s going to be different I’m not one of those people that always says it can’t get any worse because I we get that from fans a lot uh and I’ve seen worse I’ve
Seen I’ve seen people say it can’t get any worse and I’ve seen it get worse so yeah that’s what they said after the 2020 season when Florida that was the first like drop off year and it was a bad year on defense and we’re like it
Can’t get worse than that and then it did brother I would have taken that 2020 defense last year yeah um so but now those uh hires in are are in place um I don’t I wouldn’t expect that Joe Houston is going to get announced um but he uh
He’ll be on his way to Gainesville and obviously the gator are already going with their strength program under Fitzgerald and uh two new Strength coaches as well including the new team nutritionist a very unique role there um with Jake Seno coming over from the commanders and he was one of only two uh
Or the commanders were one of only two teams in the NFL that had someone who was a team nutritionist and an assistant strength coach so it’s a very unique role that he now uh comes to UF with so that that’ll be something that we hope to learn more about as as they go
Through the off season but appreciate Jeremy for joining us this week um allowing Nick to come back off of PTO and just walk right into an interview with uh one of the best punters in the country it doesn’t get any better than that right yeah we were supposed to do
It last Thursday um and I completely forgot that I was off and I was like ah push it we gotta push it back a week yeah well um I’m glad we got to uh talk to him and before we get out of here want to give a final shout out to per DL
Center uh this I want to uh encourage all Florida fans to go check it out the doctor is a UF grad who’s practiced in Gainesville for three decades and developed a deep understanding of how to diagnose and treat various dental problems along with Advanced skills and knowledge to provide more effective and
Efficient care to his patients if you’re having dental concerns or just needed cleaning prey Dental Center offers a wide range of options to meet your needs give their office a call at 352 373 3431 tell them Gator online sent you and your new patient exam will be free and
That’ll do it for this week’s show uh Nick and I will be back uh as our in our regularly scheduled programming um and uh we’ll have more guests obviously we’ll Turn the page on uh basketball start talking some baseball as well but as always uh we’ll have the focus of the
Conversation before football and the latest happening with nap’s program uh next week we’ll have some new signes to talk about as uh the second signing day is right around the corner so uh a lot still happening appreciate Jeremy for joining us this week for Nick Del Tor I’m Zach Al
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