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Zach Goodall
Indiana can can sort of cement itself as we are no longer this team
Charles Barkley
that's going to be fighting for six wins anymore.
Bud Elliott
Malachi, Tony, is he going to be ready?
Zach Goodall
Dante Moore, he showed improvement, better command.
Bud Elliott
What's going on y'? All? Bud Elliott here of the COVID 3 college football podcast. And this is summer school. That's my man, Zach Goodall, Florida 247 Sports does a great job for us all the time. Zach, how you been, man?
Zach Goodall
Doing great, bud. Really appreciate you having me on.
Bud Elliott
Yeah, dude, for sure. All right, so we'll just jump into this. Obviously these are pretty fast and furious. You know Billy Napier out a ton of roster turnover. They do bring in John Summerall who crushed it at Troy. Really kind of just kept doing the same thing at Tulane. A guy with, with SEC experience, given his time at Kentucky for a while as one of Mark Stoops top lieutenants. Also played in the sec. What, what have you noticed different about the program under summer all so far you obviously haven't played any games but you know, it's been been about six months now, I guess.
Zach Goodall
Yeah, I mean it really depends on how you look at it. Like selfishly from a media members perspective. Huge fan of their transparency, huge fan of them willing to come out summer all especially and just be blunt, be honest with what his thoughts are on the state of the roster. He's not overhyping anything. Although I think that there's a. He's taken a different approach too in terms of like the patience versus the wanting to win right now compared To Billy Napier. And I think a lot of that comes from the success he added. Troy and Tulane, like you mentioned, like to go in there and did what he did as quickly as he did. He's not treating this like a multi year rebuild. Like I think he will be upset if they don't win 10 games this year. And I don't want to set that as the expectation. But like that's just his kind of approach every year with Billy Napier. And we heard that it's going to be a process. It's taking some time for us to get the pieces in place. And Summer I was not coming in. Trying to be patient as they can
Bud Elliott
do was offensively they bring in Buster Faulkner in Georgia Tech. I know that's the guy that Summerall had wanted to get when he went to Tulane, but back when Faulkner was an OC or sorry, like an analyst at Georgia, obviously he didn't take two lane because he got the Georgia Tech offensive coordinator job. But those two have known each other for a while and they're able to reunite. How do you think this offense looks different under. Under Buster Faulkner than it did under Billy Napier?
Zach Goodall
Yeah, I think the, the main word, the buzzword if you will, will be aggression. Under Billy Napier, they, they attempted to be methodical. You didn't really see a ton of, you know, first down targeting the sticks, second down targeting the sticks. They were trying to set up third and manageable kind of perpetually. Indeed often times that didn't really work out. Whether it was personnel, whether it was play calling, a mix of the two. I think that quite often we're just going to see this offense take shots. I think we're going to see a lot less 12 personnel, but there will be some in there. There's more room for there to be 10 personnel sometimes the occasional five receiver set. Not often, but you know, coming from originally an air raid back background, Buster Faulkner has kind of seen it all. To then go and do quarterback run heavy scheme that he utilized with Haynes King there at Georgia Tech. I think he's going to really, you know, another kind of buzz term but try and suit his offense to the strengths of the players. I think it won't be a consistent offense scheme wise from one year to the next. They'll make changes and it obviously runs through Buster or through Jaden Baugh this year, bringing him back as the workhorse running back. But they've got a really talented and deep receiver core too. It's obviously going to come down to what they can get out of their Quarterbacks Aaron Filo or Tramell Jones, whoever wins the job, but whoever that is is going to have a lot of weapons that they're disposed. So I don't see this necessarily as like a 60, 40 run to pass offense. They're going to have to hear it out as well.
Bud Elliott
So you mentioned Philo and obviously Tramell Jones. For people who haven't seen him, I've seen Jones a lot here, you know, in Florida with the recruiting stuff and you know, in some action last year for the Gators. And you know, I think a lot of the country who's real die hards probably saw Philo some because Haynes King would kind of stay banged up at Georgia Tech. So you'd have to come in a little bit. Like we know Georgia Tech was really excited about him and I assume some of that excitement extends to Buster Faulkner given that he went out and got him in the portal. What, what do you see as like the key differences between these guys so far? And like, do you have a feel for who has the edge going into fall?
Zach Goodall
It seems as though Philo has the edge if only because he spent time developing in this game, whereas Tramell Jones hasn't. You know, I'm obviously no quarterback guru, but from when I see it, I think Jones has more of the live arm. I think he can make some of those what they call NFL throws, targeting outside the numbers, obviously deep ball. I think he's got that, I think he's got a bit more arm power philosophy a little bit more, can take those 10 to 20 yard throws into the middle of the field. I think he throws us some better accuracy there. Although he can be a risk taker for those two interceptions in the spring game, one of them was a bit of an accuracy issue, but I think more often he's trying to. He's willing to go and attack those, you know, kind of small windows in the middle of the field and he will hit them more often than not. One thing I think that is going to be vital in this quarterback competition, honestly is their ability as rushers in the ground game. Florida's got offensive tackle issues at this point, or at least questions. I don't think they know exactly what they want there or who's going to be the starters of either spot, which makes running the ball and being a decisive scrambler even more important. And Aaron Filo, not only do I think he might be the better rusher of the two, not that he's some blazer, but he's physical and tough to bring down. But again to the, to the point of developing in this offense the last two years he's learned to be a decisive runner because that's what they did with Haynes King building that offense around him and his legs. So that gives Philo, I think another leg up in this competition. Now they are advertising it'll go into fall camp. They've not made a decision, but at this point in time at least all the signs seem to point to it being Aaron Milo out of the gate.
Bud Elliott
So you obviously mentioned Jaden Boss. Stud running back like Florida clearly had to pay up to keep him. Everybody in the country, well, not everybody, but a good number of like the really good teams out there certainly recognize Jaden Boss value. If you look at Several's track record, he is not afraid to really lean on one guy. I mean Vidal in 22 for Troy got 231 carries. And then in 23 Vidal had 297 carries over 14 games. Now granted that passing offense was lacking, to put it charitably, so they really had to lean on him. But do you think Boss the kind of guy who can handle that kind of workload if needed?
Zach Goodall
Yeah, I definitely think so. I think we started to see that a bit last year and like you mentioned, in this day and age, especially like if you are paying that amount of money to a running back or to any player for that matter, you gotta, you know, get your money's worth out of it, so to speak. And Jaden Bough I would assume is one of the highest paid players on this roster, if not the highest, because of the leverage you could say he had everyone wanting him to go into the portal. So yeah, I think that they're going to have to feed him. At the same time they've also made some investments to make sure that if that becomes too much, they have other options. They brought back two running backs, Duke Clark and Byron Lewis, who were Class of 2025 recruits, both freshmen last year. They like Duke Clark a lot, but also they brought in two transfers, Evan Pryor and London Montgomery. I could see Prior and maybe Clark being more of that third down kind of back pass protectors catching the ball out of the backfield and giving Paul a breather. But that's not to say Boss incapable of those things either. I think they truly view him as a three down back who they're going to work as much as they can.
Bud Elliott
Receivers where I feel like the, maybe like the, the widest variance on this team is like I, I know we Talked on Cover 3 and I was like, guys, I Could see them having the best receiving core in the sec. If all these guys click, like when, you know, Brown has a lot of potential. Singleton's like kind of a known stud, at least, you know, college level stud. And then you get like a big wild card in Dallas Wilson, who physically, like, there's just not many guys in, in the sport of football who can move like him when he's healthy, which so far seems like almost never. But like, I think you have to account for the possibility that like, if he was to stay healthy for 12 games, like, or even like stay healthy for. For nine SEC games, like, am I wrong to think this is like a crazy high upside receiver room?
Zach Goodall
I don't think so at all. I mean, I don't mean to be hyperbolic about Dallas Wilson, and I'm not trying to say he is this guy, but you look at him when he's healthy and the impact he can make, and it is a similar style of impact to what Jeremiah Smith does at Ohio State. That's the type of build of receiver. If Florida really hasn't had someone like that in some time, you pair those three and to Dallas Wilson's health issues. I think an underrated move Florida made in the portal this offseason was getting Micah Mays Jr. From Bray Forest. His production, you know, didn't really light it up there, but we got a glimpse of it in the spring game. 6, 2 can go up and get it. Also a bit of a verbal threat. I think we averaged something like 28 yards per catch over four in that spring game too. So he's someone that say Wilson has another setback with his foot. I think they're pretty confident they could put him in that lineup. And all of a sudden you're talking, you've got four capable receivers, potential starting quality. Bailey Stoughton is another one they added who's a bit more upside out of the slot. Another guy with experience in Faulkner's offense. So they've got a lot of options. And I think that the upside's honestly through the roof.
Bud Elliott
I feel like tight end is just kind of okay. Like not like not a major concern, but like nothing to be like super excited about is that like just they'll be a part of the offense. I don't know how much time I need to devote tight end, I guess.
Zach Goodall
No, yeah. I. If. If they can get really quality passing game contributions out of the tight end room, I think that's a huge plus. And honestly, the way I look at it, they only have to go up compared to the last few years. Tight ends utilize that well.
Bud Elliott
You mentioned offensive line earlier. You know, they. They lose Jake Slaughter, right? You. You lose. I mean, quite a bit of tackle snaps, obviously. I, I guess we'll start there. Like, if tackle doesn't end up being a concern for them, who in your mind has stepped up and solidified it?
Zach Goodall
See, I think the interior is pretty solidified. Nijah here is coming back. I think TJ Shanahan, the transfer from Penn State, and Harrison Moore, the center transfer from Georgia Tech. That's probably your starting three. They've got through spring camp four different tackles who were competing and they were moving, playing them on both sides, mixing guys with the first and second team, and they're waiting on Fletcher West Ball to come back from multiple injuries last year that derailed his fresh 2025 season. It's just right now, there were a lot of ups. There were a lot of downs. I, I think you have to keep your eye on Egan Boyer, if only because he developed for multiple years at Penn State under Phil Troutwine. Kaden Jones is the returning starter, but I don't know if they're necessarily banking on him being the guy. He's had some ups and downs, too. It's. It's one of the positions that I truly don't think we'll know a stir on either side until we're much closer to the season.
Bud Elliott
Is there a guy on offense who we've not spoken about yet, who you're like, okay, if he puts it together, like, maybe a year before he's expected to, maybe he's a guy everybody kind of points to and says that that's probably a dude they need to count on in 27. But, you know, maybe if the light comes on over summer, all of a sudden you're like, oh, wow, like, it really changes your opinion about this offense or, Or, I don't know, maybe that guy's just Dallas Wilson.
Zach Goodall
Dallas Wilson's the easy one for sure. Yeah, I'd probably go. Fletcher Westfield, I mean, he was, I think, the highest rated offensive line commitment of the entire Billy Napier tenure. And it's just been unfortunate. He was able to play, I want to say, 70 snaps as a freshman. Played solid, huge build, like 68340, former blue chip guy. And the fact he wasn't able to play and really practice much at all last year was a huge setback for him. But if he's able to be fully healthy, it was a. It was a hip issue and a wrist issue, which is not great for a big tackle like that, but if you can put it all together, then all of a sudden he's got, I think three more years of eligibility. So that's someone that you would hope can turn into one of your bookend tackers.
Bud Elliott
Makes a lot of sense. Okay. All right, Zach, we'll hit a quick break here on the flip side, a little defense, little schedule, little expectations for the Gators in the first year under John Sumrall.
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Bud Elliott
All right, guys, welcome back to summer school. Here. We're going to talk a little defense. Now that's Zach Goodall talking all things for the Gators for us on 24. 7 sports. So I, I look at this defense and I just feel like I trust John Summerall to put Together damn good defenses year after year, like, like he almost never has a bad one. How do you think this thing's going to look different than what they ran last year?
Zach Goodall
I think last year, and honestly, even over all three defensive coordinators that were here the last four years, they just, it was kind of like the offense that they just kept doing the same thing. It wasn't that multiple. Now, there were some unique pressure packages and they did a lot of simulated pressures, but you saw the fall off this year compared to when it really peaked in 24, because I think offenses knew what was coming. Brad White, when he was at Kentucky in Summerall for that matter, over his time being a defensive coach and obviously head coach, they work in multiple looks, whether it's, you know, up front in the secondary and they kind of try to blend it together, but you'll see them attacking you from a lot of different ways, whether it's in coverage, whether it's, you know, blitz packages or even maybe three man rushes. We won't see the same thing over and over. And I think that also a huge part of the off season, Florida is that they brought back a lot of talent, whether it's guys who are known contributors, no greater than, I guess, Miles Graham or some players that are expected to rise into bigger roles. Jaden woods being a Great example. Top 10 transfer when he was in the Portal, only to come back. They've got a lot of foundational pieces who are familiar with playing with some of their teammates already.
Bud Elliott
Defensive line, I, I feel like, you know, Banks is obviously the headlining loss, but he didn't really play very much last year for them. But, you know, SAP did, Gums did, and then Mai Baro left for, for Ole Miss in the Portal. There's a lot, I think, to like here, but I, I'd like some help kind of sorting this out. Who do you think are going to be, you know, the, the guy for this D line?
Zach Goodall
Yeah, it starts, I think, with Jaden woods at that edge spot. Whether he's hand in the dirt or off ball, they're viewing him as their number one pass rusher, edge rusher, I guess all around, for that matter. They've got another guy, KJ Ford, the blue chip recruit from this past cycle. I think they view him as someone who can kind of do what Jaden woods did within a rotation as a freshman. And then you go across the interior. I think that when you entered spring camp, this is one of their bigger question marks at that point, one of the ones that you would hope that There's a spring portal window and you can go attack but they've gained some confidence in that group. Brandon Bett, the transfer from Baylor last offseason who really stepped up I think more than anyone to fill him for Caleb Banks has made some progress. It looks like he's going to be doing a bit more nose which is interesting, but it seems like that's the spot that they want him at. Joseph mbachu and Jeremiah McLeod both had I think 130 to 150 snaps as true freshmen. Again as a result of Banks not being able to play. Kind of thrown into the fire a bit. But that ultimately I think served them well. And they both seem like they're trending toward factoring into whether it's the first team line or first guy off the sideline whenever they run a rotation through the unit. And then I think one of the more big time transfers they got was Emmanuel Oya, Bedagio or Badejo. Still trying to figure that one out. But 35 some pressures in his first season of college football at Jacksonville State. Very interestingly working him at the strong side defensive end, I think that there's potential for him to play 3 tech from 66300 but they like him as that big end kind of the what you saw a lot in the Kentucky Stevens under Brad White is a big, big bodied guy on the opposite edge of someone like Jaden Woods. Hopes are really high for him to come in and take the next step in his game.
Bud Elliott
So linebacker, you know Graham's back, Childs are back. I know maybe like some of the PFF stuff didn't love them but I thought they were pretty good players at the very least. Like what's your confidence level in this group?
Zach Goodall
It's really high. I noticed the same thing even going into last year. I remember EA Sports putting out the rankings for college football. 26 linebacker was the lowest graded position on the team. That just never made sense to me.
Bud Elliott
Yeah, I think they're good.
Zach Goodall
Like yeah, I do see Miles Graham is kind of an all around guy who if anything he just needed to bulk up a little bit more. But he can play in coverage. I think he's really good at shooting gaps against the run game. Had seven tackles for loss last year. Jaden Robinson's another one who he might even still stark over Aaron Giles. They kind of flip flop in terms of how much they're used in the rotation. But he was a great pass rusher in their simulated blitzki last year. I think he had 3.5 sacks or something like that. A bunch of pressures they've got. I'd imagine we're not going to see a bunch of Sam looks. It'll probably be the 4, 2, 5 or something of that, like, but we'll see those three guys playing a lot. They're high on their rise in sophomore linebackers Miles Johnson and Ty Jackson, too. How much they'll be able to play because of those three guys already ahead of them remains to be seen. But not only are they top heavy, they've definitely got some depth there.
Bud Elliott
Secondary looks pretty low to me. You lose Devin Moore, fourth round pick to the Cowboys, you lose a safety to Kentucky. But like, I mean, maybe this is the old way of thinking about it, but I'm like, all right, if you're going for Florida to Kentucky, given that Florida has, you know, some are all calling the defense along with Brad White, like, doesn't feel like a big loss. And then everybody else returns, like, Cormani's back and, you know, the second year, like, playing they have Johnson. I mean, I thought Hanks coming out of high school was like an absolute stud. And like, from reading your coverage, it sounds like. Sounds like he's looking okay there so far and maybe kind of on track to be. Be what they want. The Portal guys I'm interested in, like, so they, they take Cam Dooley from Kentucky, like, who I think played a lot of nickel there. Brad White comes over from Kentucky, so I assume he would kind of know what his capabilities are in the SEC above and beyond, just, you know, watching him play in the sec. How about some of the other guys? They took. Anybody you expect from the Portal to like, really come in and play a lot for them at db?
Zach Goodall
Yeah, I think DJ Coleman is one as well coming from Baylor. He also played a lot of nipple in his last year at Baylor, and I thought that was his best fall. So I'm curious to see where exactly they fit him in, because it seems like they've had him a bit more deep safety next to Bryce Thornton so far. And Cam Julie will certainly factor in there too. And there's an underrated one as well. Kanye Clark out of UCLA last year was when he really started getting some playing time there, made some plays. But also I want to say it was like 200 snaps. So he's still a bit under the radar at this point, but from all I heard is that he was largely operating as their first team star nickel corner throughout the spring. So you've got options, you got veteran options there and then to your point about Ben Hanks too. Yeah. All I've heard is that they're thrilled with the progress he's made since, you know, finishing his regular season with that interception against Florida State. It's just he's continued to make plays in practice and they're looking more for consistency rather than flashy plays at cornerback. They've had some ups and downs throughout spring, but it sounded as though he was the most consistent of the group.
Bud Elliott
So last year they were 15th in the SEC in explosive pass percentage allowed, which like kind of to me, given the amount of talent they have, didn't really like. It was like something's not really translating to like overall team pass defense.
Zach Goodall
It.
Bud Elliott
Have they talked about that at all? Is there reason to think that that can change?
Zach Goodall
They haven't a ton. But honestly, I would raise what you mentioned about the safety transferring to Kentucky, Jordan Costello. I think that he was always better suited as more of a boxing someone to come downhill and attack the run game, which I think he did a solid job of when called on him. But they played him so much as their free safety as their deep guy and coverage never really was his thing. Bryce Thornton has been the better coverage player, but it seemed as though Castel got more of the deep rangy responsibilities than Thornton did. I'm wondering if just that change, having Thornton playing deep will do a lot more. And then yeah, again to Paris. I really think they're looking for more down to down consistent presence at corner because Devin Moore when he was healthy was that guy. They didn't really have that on a consistent basis. On the other side, whether it was Johnson or Monty McLain, even when Hanks in Jabari flowers, flowers being like 17 years old at the time. So it makes a little sense. They just didn't get that a ton at that point. So between the change at safety and ideally quarterbacks making a more consistent jump, that's where I think they're hoping to reduce the explosive pass rank.
Bud Elliott
So Zach, running down the schedule, I'll read it off just because we have a large audio audience, but hopefully everybody clicks and watches us on YouTube. Open FAU in the swamp. Then the Campbell Camels come to the Swamp. Then the first real test at Auburn, which also has a new team and a new coaching staff there with Alex Golesch. Ole Miss comes to town. Then you get at Missouri, then you host South Carolina and then at Texas before finally a bye week. Then Georgia neutral site allegedly in Mercedes Benz. So that's. Yeah. And then Oklahoma comes to town at Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Then close it out with Florida State. There's some stuff I really like about this. I think I'd rather play Auburn early than Auburn late. You know, given that they're new as well, you know, certainly with four to be in a new team, some of the road trips are not crazy intimidating. So if you think it's like a real high upside team, I think it makes sense to go ahead and play your lesser foes on the road, which they mostly do with the exception of at Texas. But I think like playing your kind of lesser SEC opponents on the road also. And again, it just kind of increases like the potential outcomes for this season.
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Bud Elliott
If you're really good and at Missouri and at Kentucky ends up being no sweat, then. Okay, cool. Right. If you're more of that, like, you know, team that's kind of power rated in like the 20 to 35 range, then like at Missouri, not Kentucky, not Auburn. That's no joke. Are there trouble spots here that you're like, oh, shoot, like that's going to be harder than people realize?
Zach Goodall
No, I largely see it like you do like that Auburn game, even with them both being new staffs, that's going to be a real measuring stick for both programs. One, how much has Auburn improved and can they hold off this team that's completely revamped and they quite frankly don't have much a scout on and they won't have much of a scout on considering Florida Atlantic being a bit more respectable. But then going up against Campbell. Right. So they won't have a full feel as to what this team is capable of comparatively. Florida goes in and wins in a game in an environment like that on the road, even with similar scouting circumstances. But to go into Jordan Hare and pull that off would give Florida fans in Florida itself a lot of confidence. Like you mentioned about the rest of the away slate, maybe even with some of the opponents they're bringing at home. Like, if you go in and you beat Auburn there, what's the confidence level that even though you're facing, you know, a reigning college football playoff team, what can you do against Ole Miss? How well will you hold up? Is that a game that becomes an upset alert? So, yeah, no, I largely see it like you, I think that it's set up at least a lot more favorably than the last two seasons.
Bud Elliott
Is there a, like a win number that you think all. All Florida fans like? All right, yeah, like Summerall's the right guy. This is definitely step in the right direction. Is it, I don't know, Set five eight and four, nine and three. Like, is there something where you're like, yeah, like that. That for sure would get it done and keep everybody happy.
Zach Goodall
I think all Florida Fans always want 10, and there will be your ones that will be mad if it's not. But no, I. I think doubling from last year, Florida shouldn't have only won four games last year. Even with how poorly things went. That just is not what should have happened. If they can double that in year one, with 52 new players and an entire new coach and staff, I think most reasonable fans at least will say, okay, we're obviously on the right track here.
Bud Elliott
Gotcha. Zach, man, really appreciate the time. We'll have to check in again soon, man.
Zach Goodall
Absolutely. Appreciate it, bud. Thank you.
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Episode Date: June 2, 2026
Hosts: Bud Elliott (Cover 3), Guest: Zach Goodall (Florida 247 Sports)
This episode of Cover 3's "Summer School" series features Bud Elliott and Florida insider Zach Goodall breaking down the 2026 Florida Gators ahead of John Summerall's first season as head coach. The conversation dives deep into the program’s coaching changes, offensive and defensive makeovers, key returning and new personnel, positional battles, and overall expectations for the Gators, highlighting areas of high upside and lingering questions.
On John Summerall’s approach:
"He's not coming in trying to be as patient as they can… He will be upset if they don't win 10 games this year." – Zach Goodall (02:07)
On offensive style with Buster Faulkner:
"I think that quite often we're just going to see this offense take shots… I don't see this necessarily as like a 60-40 run to pass offense. They're going to have to air it out." – Zach Goodall (03:27)
On the receiver group’s upside:
"If [Dallas Wilson] was to stay healthy for 12 games, or even for nine SEC games… this is like a crazy high upside receiver room." – Bud Elliott (09:05)
On comparing schemes:
"I think last year… they just kept doing the same thing. It wasn't that multiple… Brad White and Summerall work in multiple looks… attacking you from a lot of different ways." – Zach Goodall (15:47)
The 2026 Florida Gators enter a new era under John Summerall with hopes of rapid improvement thanks to an aggressive new offense, loaded skill positions, and a more dynamic defense. While tackle and secondary consistency are question marks, the talent and depth give reason for optimism that Florida can make a substantial jump in the SEC standings.
Guests: Bud Elliott and Zach Goodall
For more: Follow Cover 3 on your favorite podcast platform or on YouTube for full episode access.