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During each off-season, Inside the Gators interviews an anonymous departing player in order for him to share his thoughts on an array of topics regarding Florida Gators football.

Since there was a coaching change, we changed the focus somewhat this time around.

Two departing players were interviewed asking more about specific areas and instances rather than a strict look at their time at Florida, games and such.

In this five-part interview, no topic was off-limits as we discussed Jim McElwain, the strength and conditioning program, Dan Mullen, player assessments and much more.

As an aside, allowing a player to comment anonymously obviously has its benefits and downside. The goal of this feature is to give our readers an honest and freely expressive look at the Florida football team, but we also acknowledge the nature of anonymous comments and the stigma that can come with them.

One of the most discussed aspects of Florida football since the coaching change was how the Strength and Conditioning Program was run by Mike Kent. What are your feelings?

“It was a joke. I love Mike Kent to death, one of the best people I have ever met. Great guy, but it was a joke. We didn't really lift anymore, we stretched. Under coach [Will] Muschamp we lifted heavy, Olympic style lifts. That's football weight lifting. We didn't lift for max or do heavy power lifting under [Jim McElwain] MAC and Kent. Our program wasn't a serious off-season program. There was no accountability. If you missed a workout, there was no you had to make it up or get up and run the next morning. If you missed a workout, you just missed it. They couldn't enforce anything, or they wouldn't, so they started making some things optional. Once you make it optional, what do you think is going to happen? Guys are going to take the option of not showing up.”

Why do you think it fell off so much from Muschamp to McElwain?

“I don't think Kent was ready for a job at this level. I know players at smaller schools that play football and there are some talented guys out there at lower levels, but the program as a whole isn't the same. The intensity isn't the same. It isn't like it's thought of as all fun and games at some other places, but when you get to the SEC, it's a job. It's a job and you are preparing for a bigger job [NFL] if you are talented and lucky enough to make it. If you don't take the off-season serious you don't have a chance when the season starts.

“That first year [2015] it really wasn't noticeable because a lot of our players carried over from coach Muschamp, but starting in that second year, I was as heavy, but I wasn't as strong. When we played teams like Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, we just looked small. I'm a pretty good size for my position, but I remember standing next to Lorenzo Carter and Roquan Smith [of Georgia] and saying to myself, 'Damn, these are some big ass dudes. What are they feeding them over there?' I remember when Roquan visited us in the summer when he was being recruited and he was skinny, and now he looked sculpted. You shouldn't be at Florida and feel intimidated by looking at other SEC players.”

Was it because the weightlifting program was that different?

“That and we have a non-traditional weight-room compared to other big football schools because everyone is in there. Soccer players, volleyball players, baseball, we all work out in the same place and it's not an excuse, but you can't have the same level of focus and intensity and be the way you want to be when all these other outsiders are around, especially females.

You talked about being in a non-traditional weight-room that the football team shares with other players of other sports, it was always that way though, right? Did they do it that way when Muschamp was here?

“Yes, we did but Coach Muschamp and Coach [Jeff] Dillman had an approach to workouts that was very different. They were trying to make their athletes the strongest they could possibly be so they taught them how to strain in a different type of way. That meant we had a different attitude and focus. It's hard to explain. If I'm trying to lift heavy and there are people are around, especially females, it drives you to do more. It pumps you up. That did not always seem to be the case with coach Kent. I mean we look over and see volleyball players doing the same exercises, stretches basically, that we are doing, it makes it hard to get pumped up. We'd laugh about it.”

When something like that takes place, players have to talk, what is the reaction from the staff?

“Speed, speed, speed. We're going to be faster than them is what they would say. That's what they said we were working toward. It got to where players were going off and working on their own without any real guidance or knowledge of what they were doing. I don't care who you are, you aren't going to press as hard on your own as you will if you are working out with others. You shouldn't have to. At Florida you expect to get the best training. Hell, they sell that to you when you are being recruited and then you get here and get the training that we were getting. That's the one thing I shake my head about because that is one thing MAC could have controlled but he didn't care. It isn't like players and other people weren't complaining to him about it.”

That's over, so turning to facilities, how important do you think the new IPF was to your development and does it help in recruiting?

“It is essential because practice can no longer get rained out but I do not think it is that major in recruiting because Indoor facilities have become a necessity for most Division I powerhouse schools. Everyone has one. If we were one of the first it would have been a big deal. Getting one after everyone else was nice because we needed it not because it was special."

Have you seen the renderings of the new football facility to be built where the baseball stadium is now? Thoughts on that?

“It's about time! The kids in high school will get to benefit from it.”

What is the best thing and worst thing about Florida football facility wise?

“That's easy, the Swamp. There's no place like that in the state and only a couple of places like it in college football. LSU is close. Even Tennessee, as many fans as they get in there, that doesn't compare to the Swamp for atmosphere and noise. The good and bad of it, what I will remember most about playing is the Swamp. The fans make it an incredible home field advantage. We shouldn't lose in the Swamp - ever!

“The worst has to be the dorms. I lived in Springs at first, then I moved to Keys before I moved off campus. When you're being recruited they don't try to play up the dorms. They tell us about how much money we'll be getting so we can get a place off campus. We just started getting more money [cost of attendance price was raised] last year. They [college football] just started figuring some stuff out, but for me it's a little too late. They don't make the dorms a big deal in recruiting because we all went on other visits and saw what else is out there. I got friends at Florida State and that's where we're the most behind. They call our dorms Section Eight Housing. Talking about the Hud Housing we have over here. No one is trying to live in our dorms for four years. We have four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and kitchen area but they are old and aren't made for big guys. You can't fit two football players in the hallway at one time.”

Part II: Will Grier and the offense under Doug Nussmeier

Part III: Thoughts on Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and handling players

Part IV: The end of the McElwain era

Part V - This and That and a look at returning players

Part VI - Moving on to the Mullen era