GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Running back Adarius Lemons didn't play much football as a senior in high school, so when he got to Florida, it took him a bit to get back into the swing of things.

Even when he did, the carries were tough to come by. He finished the season with just 19 carries for 136 yards, with all of those carries coming in the final five games of the season. He touched the ball more than three times in just one game.

"It was frustrating. I really wanted to get some carries and be that dude, but at the same time you have to wait your turn and just trust the process," Lemons said. "Everything is not going to happen right away. Rome wasn't built in a day. You just have to take it step by step. When your opprotunity comes, you have to take advantage of it."

For many of the same reasons as last year, Lemons' carries have been pretty limited this spring even with a new coaching staff.

He has primarily been the fourth or fifth back on the roster to get touches, behind Jordan Scarlett, Lamical Perine and freshman Dameon Pierce. He has battled fellow freshman Iverson Clement for touches behind those three.

But Lemons has made his limited snaps count when he's been the ball-carrier. He ripped off an 88-yard touchdown run in the team's first scrimmage last Friday and also flashed great speed on another long carry off the edge.

It's what he's done when the ball isn't in his hands that has limited him, though.

"He’s an explosive player. But guys have got to learn is it’s about every play," coach Dan Mullen said. "Because here’s the thing, if you’re an explosive playmaker like that but you can’t execute on a regular play, on an every play basis, it’s hard to get you in the game. We can maybe have a couple of plays where we can put the ball in your hands for something. But to me you’re never going to become successful until you learn how to be an every-down player."

In other words, Lemons has to get better learning his assignments. Particularly when those assignments include little things like pass-blocking.

That's what held him back with the previous staff.

"When the staff got changed I was really happy," Lemons said. "I mean coach (Ja'Juan) Seider, he a good dude and I was really cool with him, but sometimes we kind of got into it. At the same time, it is what it is."

Honestly, if you venture out to the practice fields, you probably wouldn't think a whole lot has changed with the coaching turnover.

New running backs coach Greg Knox has been equally hard on Lemons, repeatedly getting on him the most out of all the backs for little things here and there. Not getting his pad level low enough on drills running under a metal gate. Not cutting runs upfield quickly enough. A missed step here or there in his footwork.

"It’s different because I was raised around that type of coaching," Lemons said. "Even coaches cussing at you and going hard on you, that’s just how I was always coached. So when he yell at me I don’t take offense, to be honest with you. It’s like he’s really serious about what’s he’s saying, especially if he putting a little cuss word on it. He really wants you to get it down pat, but to be honest with you I love it. I love the way he coaches. If he continues to coach like that, it's going to make me better at the end of the day."

There's little doubt Lemons has the athleticism to be a real home-run threat for the Gators.

He just has to round out the rest of his game to get that opportunity. And he knows that now.

"Coach Mullen, he looks at me as a person he knows can make plays," Lemons said. "But he also wants me to correct myself, fix some of my ways and be a good person on the field and off the field."

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