UT-Martin coach, former Gator Clint McMillan: 'I'm excited to coach in the place that molded me'

Just over 12 years ago, Florida Gators defensive tackle Clint McMillan wrapped up his college football career with a tackle against Michigan in the 2008 Capital One Bowl.

Fast forward to 2019 - McMillan will return to where he used to call home, but in different colors and with different goals: To help lead the University of Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks to a longshot victory against his alma mater.

Following a five-year career in Gainesville, McMillan took his love for football and applied it to coaching. An Orlando native, he began as a high school assistant at Sanford Seminole and Winter Park High Schools nearby, before moving to the college level as a student assistant at Weber State from 2012-14, and a graduate assistant at Marshall from 2014-16.

McMillan is now the defensive line coach for UT-Martin, a position he's held for going on three years. This year, he has also taken on the role of co-special teams coordinator. McMillan was a key member of Florida's special teams during his playing career, starting on the punt unit for the entire 2006 season - including in their National Championship victory over Ohio State. That's not to mention his 2007 season as Florida's starting defensive tackle, where he recorded 23 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble.

"I'm very excited for the opportunity to coach in the place that molded me," McMillan told GatorMaven. "It's obviously different being in a different locker room and on the sideline, but when the ball gets kicked, it's still football."

McMillan's Skyhawks will enter Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday as heavy underdogs, with OddsShark anointing Florida as 41-point favorites to start game week. UT-Martin is an FCS program of the Ohio Valley Conference and a first-time opponent for Florida - the Gators have a 25-1 record and 19-game winning streak against such teams, including five versus FCS foes.

However, don't sleep on McMillian's defensive front.

"I think we have a lot of talent on our roster," McMillan mentioned regarding the upcoming matchup. "All of our players deserve to play in games like this because of how hard they work. There will be two very-well prepared teams playing as hard as they can every snap on Saturday."

Defensive tackle Austin Pickett and linebacker Sherrod Pittman - a former South Carolina transfer - recorded two tackles-for-loss a piece in the Skyhawks season-opening game against Northwestern State last week, with Pittman also adding a sack.

Both players are Florida products and grew up within two hours of Gainesville, with Pickett playing high school ball at Lake Minneola High School outside of Orlando, and Pittman hailing from First Coast High School in Jacksonville.

Standing at 6-5, 300 lbs., homegrown talent Julian Crutchfield is another guy to watch on McMillan's line. The redshirt senior from Lebanon, TN, recorded two sacks and nine tackles for loss in 2018, which led to his selection as Team MVP. Crutchfield and Pickett were both named to the 2019 All-OVC Preseason team.

"The biggest thing with Pickett and Crutchfield," continued McMillan, "is that they play the way they practice. They practice like it's game day, every day. They hold other players accountable and play as hard as they can for as long as they can."

These are traits that McMillan has helped his line develop, which is a testament to his career at Florida and how Urban Meyer's staff developed him into the coach he is today.

"That whole staff really molded all of my beliefs on what coaching is," McMillan said.

"Everything is always about the players. If something isn't done well, that's because I didn't do a good enough job coaching it. Attention to detail and always trying to improve every week is the philosophy."

Members of the staff McMillan played for at Florida still rock orange and blue today, notably offensive line coach John Hevesy - who's unit will sharpen its iron against McMillan's on Saturday.

McMillan has seen the headlines of concern over Florida's offensive line - a group that entered the 2019 season with 24 combined starts - and he disagrees with them entirely.

"Anyone skeptical about that offensive line and coach Hevesy hasn't watched them practice and doesn't know how hard they play," McMillan conveyed. "UF produces better players in the trenches than almost anywhere in the country. The Pouncey brothers [Maurkice and Mike], Jawaan Taylor last season. I think the highest paid tackle in the NFL [Oakland Raiders right tackle Trent Brown] was a Gator."

"When you have NFL players, you'll usually replace them with more NFL players."

This Saturday presents quite the challenge for Clint McMillan's dark-horse squad - a game that is expected to end in a landslide victory for Florida. However, McMillan's return to the field that shaped the coach he is today should make any end result on Saturday a little bittersweet.

"The Swamp a special place to me and it always will be," concluded the former Gator.