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Florida Gators 2026 Spring Camp Practice No. 5 Notebook

The Florida Gators held its final practice of spring camp before taking a week-long break for spring break.
Cam Parker|
The Florida Gators held its final practice of spring camp before taking a week-long break for spring break.
The Florida Gators held its final practice of spring camp before taking a week-long break for spring break. | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The Florida Gators on Thursday wrapped up its second week of 2026 spring camp, with the media invited to cover a 40-minute portion of warmups and on-air individual drills.

Thursday's practice also marked the last practice before the team takes a week-long break in conjunction with the University of Florida's spring break. The team will hold a workout on Friday.

"We need guys to still stay sharp. They do need some recovery time," head coach Jon Sumrall said on Tuesday. "I do kind of like being able to do a few days before spring break; catch your breath, come back, get away, catch your breath, you know, decompress a little bit, because we're pushing them hard,
mentally and physically and in every way possible.

"But they can't lose the physical that we've built up through the offseason to this point. You can't tear down what you've built up.
And then mentally, you got to come back and be dialed in, and you have to retain the installations that we've already addressed so that we're not having to completely restart over again."

Florida Gators on SI was in attendance. Here is a participation report, some notes and clips taken during the viewing period.

Participation Report

Florida Gators on SI previously detailed the Gators' first spring injury report, which can be read here.

Orange non-contact jersey, participated in drills

  • DL Kamran James (shoulder)
  • DB Dijon Johnson (knee)
  • DB Javian Toombs (shoulder)

Rehab in indoor

  • WR Dallas Wilson (foot)
  • OL Daniel Pierre Louis (hip) *out for entirety of camp
  • OL Fletcher Westphal (wrist)
  • DL Kendall Guervil (knee) *out for entirety of camp
  • DL Joseph Mbatchou (calf)
  • DL Jalen Wiggins (hip) *out for entirety of camp
  • LB Myles Graham (shoulder)
  • DB CJ Bronaugh (hip) *out for entirety of camp
  • DB CJ Hester (undisclosed)
  • K Liam Padron (undisclosed)

Absent from practice

  • OL Chancellor Campbell (knee) *out for entirety of camp

Dallas Wilson (Briefly) Returns

After being seen for all of spring camp doing rehab work in the indoor, redshirt freshman receiver Dallas Wilson was seen in full pads and with the team for the first time. While he still had a boot on his right foot and was only seen with the team during warmups (which he did not participate in), Wilson's brief appearance was a nice addition to the viewing period.

Wilson, who suffered a "flare-up" on his injured foot from a year ago, is being held out of an "abundance of caution" but could play if it was a game week, Sumrall said last week. Wilson previously participated in offseason workouts.

“I'm very competitive, so when they just let me go, I go out there and have fun. Seeing everybody working, I'm like, ‘Well, why can't I do it?’ And then all the coaches pushing you and you got players out there pushing you. So it was great,” Wilson said. “I really wasn't even worried about my foot when I was out there.”

No Starters on OL

For the second time since his return to Florida as a coach, offensive line coach Phil Trautwein met with the media after practice to discuss the progress of his revamped room.

Florida returns just two starters from last season in guard Knijeah Harris and tackle Caden Jones, while also returning depth pieces Roderick Kearney and Bryce Lovett. The Gators also added three key transfers in TJ Shanahan Jr., Eagan Boyer, Harrison Moore and Emeka Ugorji.

As a result of the lack of starts and new faces, Trautwein said Florida currently has no defined starters on its offensive line.

"I don't know who the starting five are. I don't know who it is," he said. "I promise you I don't, and I'm not gonna say it even if I did. But I don't. It has to be a competition. We need guys to step up. And just because they were a starter last year does not mean they're a starter this year. That's kind of my mindset."

As it stands, Florida's main guard group seems to be composed of Harris, Kearney, Shanahan Jr. and Lovett, while the main tackle group appears to be Jones, Boyer and emerging redshirt freshman TJ Dice Jr. The Gators are also holding a competition at center with Jason Zandamela-Popa and Moore the main competitors.

Trautwein is also looking to build position flexibility with Harris cross-training at both guard spots and at center, Jones cross-training at both tackle spots, Ugorji cross-training at multiple spots. He is also planning on cross-training Moore at guard to build depth.

"I love puzzles, so it's always trying to make the best puzzle piece and make sure, again, I have the best five," Trautwein said. "So if it was practice and someone took all right guard but also know he needs to play some left guard or he was next to somebody the whole game or the whole practice at right tackle, like they were next to each other, the right guard, right tackle, I'll move a new right tackle next to them because the teams don't really matter, right? They're all competing, so making sure that they get those (reps)."

Gators Make Late Addition to DL Coaching Staff

After Thursday's viewing period, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that Florida was hiring Wofford co-defensive coordinator Jonathan Saxon as an assistant under defensive line coach Gerald Chatman.

Saxon joins Florida after three seasons at Wofford, eight seasons at South Carolina State and two seasons as a graduate assistant at Louisville under former UF defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and steps in after assistant Eric McDaniel, who joined Florida as a Tulane carry-over, returned to the Green Wave as the defensive line coach.

Florida's defensive line staff is now likely rounded out with Chatman headlining the staff alongside Saxon and quality control coach Jeremy Patterson. Patterson, who joined the staff after Chatman's hiring ahead of the 2024 season, received considerable praise from Chatman on Tuesday and senior Kamran James on Thursday.

Patterson previously played for Chatman at Tennessee State.

"I'm blessed to have Coach Patterson with me," Chatman said on Tuesday. "He's heavily involved in everything that I do or that we do as a defensive line unit, including recruiting. You ask even some of our top recruits, it’s not just me; it's him as well. He's very hands on with the players -- literally hands on, physically hands on. He had a jersey on today because they rip his T shirt."

Other Practice Clips

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Cam Parker
CAM PARKER

Cam Parker is a reporter covering the Florida Gators, Auburn Tigers and Clemson Tigers with a degree in journalism from the University of Florida. He also covers and broadcasts Alachua County high school sports with The Prep Zone and Mainstreet Daily News. When he isn't writing, he enjoys listening to '70s music such as The Band or Lynyrd Skynyrd, binge-watching shows and playing with his cat, Chester, and dog, Rufus.

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