Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Kelvin Taylor arrived at Florida in the summer of 2013 on the heels of one of the most prolific prep careers in the state's history at Glades Day High in South Florida. He also carried the burden of following in the footsteps of a famous father, former Gators and NFL running back Fred Taylor.

While it was natural for fans and media to compare Kelvin and his father, it was obvious to anyone who saw both play that dad was the more gifted athlete. Six-foot-1, 230-pound Fred was a perfect blend of size and speed that made him the ninth overall selection of the NFL Draft in 1998.

Fred went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL and rushed for 11,695 yards, more than some of the game's most famous runners, including John Riggins, O.J. Simpson, Eddie George, Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams.

Kelvin will forgo his final season of eligibility to pursue his own NFL dreams, but before he walked off the field on Friday at the Citrus Bowl, Taylor joined his father in the UF record books.
 

THE TAYLORS WITH GATORS

Name	Games	Att.	Yards	Avg.	TDs
Fred Taylor	38	537	3,075	5.7	31
Kelvin Taylor	35	486	2,108	4.3	23

Kelvin rushed for 50 yards on 11 carries in his final college game, eclipsing the 1,000-yard barrier in the second quarter on a 7-yard run. He finished the season with 1,035 yards for the 11th 1,000-yard season in school history.

"That was definitely a goal of mine,'' he said. "Our offensive line, those guys helped me out with that goal."

Taylor provided first-year Florida coach Jim McElwain with a reliable weapon from start to finish in 2015. Taylor had five 100-yard games and rushed for 13 touchdowns, the most by a Florida running back since his dad had 13 in 1997.

The Taylors made history by becoming the first father-son tandem in UF history to each have a 1,000-yard season in college and joined Terry Metcalf (Long Beach State, 1971) and Eric Metcalf (Texas, 1987) in an exclusive club.

Taylor was disappointed at ending his career with a 41-7 loss to Michigan, but as he begins to prepare for the draft – most projections have him as a mid- to late-round pick – Taylor is content with his Gators career.

"I'm very proud for us winning the East, we haven't done that in a while. Knowing we were part of that is very exciting,'' he said. "Coach Mac will have those guys right for next year. Soon as this game was over, those guys were already talking about next season. I can't wait to watch those guys."

As he does, Kelvin and his father can reflect back to their days as Gators. They'll always have that in common.

"It's been a great three years. It feels like I went by so fast. There is nothing like Gator Nation,'' he said. "That's definitely going to be something to talk about at the dinner table."

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STICKING TOGETHER

The Gators appear set to return their coaching staff intact barring a late defection, which is a victory these days as much as coaches move from job to job.

Defensive coordinator Geoff Collins was linked to the opening at UCF and wants to be a head coach, and former Miami head coach Randy Shannon is always a candidate to draw interest from other schools because of his background.

As the Gators head toward National Signing Day, staff continuity is an advantage.

"When you break down a lot of those programs that have been consistently successful, they haven't had a ton of turnover,'' McElwain said. "That consistency is something that is huge. For us to stick together, and obviously we've had guys with opportunities … it's a good thing.

"Our guys like it here. They like our players. Not only that, they are a lot of fun to be around."

The Gators are losing special-teams quality control assistant Marc Nudelberg, who joined McElwain's staff last year after a stint as tight ends coach/special teams coordinator at Cincinnati. Nevada coach Brian Polian announced Nudelberg's hiring on Twitter over the weekend:
 

Welcome Marc Nudelberg to the #WolfPackFamily ! We are excited to have him working w/ our Special Teams. pic.twitter.com/Wbxf9s8n1g

— Brian Polian (@BrianPolian) January 2, 2016

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MADE HIS MARK

Sixth-year senior tight end Jake McGee suffered a season-ending leg injury in his first game at Florida and missed his final game due to a pulled hamstring.

McGee did not play in the Citrus Bowl but did join fellow seniors Trip Thurman, Antonio Morrison and Jonathan Bullard as team captains. Despite his roller-coaster ride at Florida after transferring from Virginia for his final season of eligibility in the summer of 2014, McGee leaves with fond memories.
 

"I was able to improve a lot as a player for coming back off of what happened,'' he said. "But the thing that's really meant the most to me is just transferring in, the way that I was embraced and the way that the guys sort of took me in. And it feels like [with] Jon and Trip, Antonio Morrison, I've been with them for really the whole time.

"So that's something that speaks to the culture that's here. That's really been the most memorable thing for me."

McGee caught 41 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns, nearly identical to what he did in his final season at Virginia in 2013 (43 catches, 395 yards).

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PRODUCTIVE PUNTER

The Florida kicking game was a nightmare for McElwain in Year 1, but he had nothing to worry about when punter Johnny Townsend stepped onto the field.

Townsend capped his redshirt sophomore season by averaging 54 yards on four punts against Michigan. Townsend tied a long-standing school record by punting 83 times this season, tying Bud Walton (1938) and Buster Morrison (1972) for the single-season record, which stands sixth all-time in SEC history.

A product of Orlando Boone High, the Citrus Bowl was a homecoming for Townsend. The last time he was there was in 2008 when the Gators lost to Michigan and Townsend got to meet his football hero, Tim Tebow,

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WAITING GAME

Underclassmen Vernon Hargreaves III, Demarcus Robinson, Alex McCalister and Taylor have already said they are entering the NFL Draft.

The Gators are now awaiting the final decisions of three key defensive players: junior safeties Marcus Maye and Keanu Neal, and junior linebacker Jarrad Davis, who has stated he plans to return but could have a change of heart prior to the Jan. 18 deadline to declare for the draft.

"Don't get in a big hurry to run these guys out of town,'' McElwain said. "Got a long time until the 18th."

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QUOTE OF NOTE I
"Your actions speak so loudly that I can't hear what you say. It's pretty simple. And if you live by those things in your life -- quite simply by doing what's right -- pretty good chance you're going to be successful." – McElwain explaining his philosophy on player discipline prior to bowl game

QUOTE OF NOTE II
"A lot of coaches come in and say we've got to break this guy or a big name like me at the time, try to show that they've got power, and they didn't do that. They got everybody to buy in. And I bought in early so I can get some of the young guys to do it and I think that's where some of our success came from." – Bullard on UF's defense avoiding a decline under the new coaching staff

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EXTRA POINTS

Senior linebacker Antonio Morrison had six tackles in his final game, becoming the first Gator since Ed Robinson in 1992-93 to have back-to-back 100 tackle seasons. Morrison finished with a career-high 103 tackles coming off major reconstructive knee surgery after getting hurt in last year's Birmingham Bowl … Michigan's victory Friday snapped the SEC's five-game win streak against the Big Ten in the Citrus Bowl … Walk-on linebacker Cristian Garcia, a redshirt sophomore from Belen Jesuit Prep in Miami, made his debut in the Citrus Bowl. Garcia recorded two tackles, not bad for a player who started preseason camp assisting the Gators' video department … The most notable UF injury in the Citrus Bowl was freshman defensive lineman Cece Jefferson, who left the game with a left leg injury. Jefferson blossomed in the second half of the season, finishing with 29 tackles, 8.5 tackles-for-loss and 3.5 sacks … Freshman Antonio Callaway's touchdown pass in the Citrus Bowl was the first for a Florida receiver since Andre Caldwell threw a 5-yard scoring pass to Tate Casey in the 2006 SEC Championship Game … Callaway finished his freshman season with 678 yards receiving, breaking Reidel Anthony's freshman school record of 615 yards set in 1994 … Maye forced his fifth fumble of the season in the Citrus Bowl, the most by a Gator since Guss Scott forced five in 2003.