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Even after leaving Florida, Brian Poole and Anthony Harrell support Treon Harris

John Crist

By John Crist

Published:

If you were a defensive player for Florida in 2015, fans would understand if you blew a gasket watching your teammates muck it up on the other side of the football.

The Gators were one of the premier defenses in the country, ranking ninth in total yards allowed, 25th against the run and 13th against the pass — their 18.3 points allowed weren’t that far behind the national champion Crimson Tide’s 15.1. Defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard and cornerbacks Vernon Hargreaves III and Jalen Tabor were named first-team All-SEC. Tight end Jake McGee’s second-team nod was the offense’s only recognition.

A UF program with three national championships and three Heisman Trophy winners in its history finished the campaign with the No. 112 offense in America, four spots behind Army, which averaged a Pop Warner-like 94 yards per game through the air.

While Florida struggled to put the pieces together both running and passing, a smothering D carried first-year coach Jim McElwain to a 10-1 record in November and the SEC East crown. But three straight losses to Florida State at home, Alabama in the conference title game and Michigan in the Citrus Bowl — aggregate score, 97-24 — to end the slate proved that the defense could no longer compensate for an offense that was hopelessly inept.

Two members of that Gators defense, corner Brian Poole and linebacker Anthony Harrell, are participating in workouts this week leading up to the East-West Shrine Game on Saturday at Tropicana Field.

Both are fringe NFL prospects at best, as CBSSports.com has made Poole the No. 34 corner available — Hargreaves is No. 3, by the way — and Harrell isn’t ranked at all among linebackers, but scouts from the CFL have descended upon St. Petersburg, too. Harrell’s father, James, is the defensive coordinator for the East under coach Charlie Weis.

Neither Poole nor Harrell is answering to McElwain anymore, meaning they can now say whatever they want to the media with no fear of punishment, yet they continue to support their ex-comrades in orange and blue.

“As a defense, we focus on just controlling the controllables,” Poole told Saturday Down South following Wednesday’s practice. “We can’t control what goes on over there. Really, the only thing we can control is what we do. At the end of the day, if (the opponents) don’t score, they don’t win.”

Even when they needed a last-second field goal to beat a Vanderbilt squad that finished 4-8. Even when they required overtime to defeat a Florida Atlantic program that limped to 3-9 — both of those duds came at The Swamp, too. Even when they were held to eight second-half points offensively combined in poor performances vs. the Seminoles, Tide and Wolverines.

At no time did the defense lose faith, either publicly or privately, which is a tribute to McElwain’s ability to keep his roster united despite the tipping of the proverbial scales.

“You don’t want to do that,” Harrell said. “That separates the locker room. That’s when teams go losing, so we never did that. We all stayed together. We had our ups, had our downs, and we still stayed together as one unit.”

The passing game took flight when Will Grier emerged as the full-time quarterback, as he completed 65.8 percent of his throws and assembled a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 10-to-3. His coming-out party nationally was Oct. 3 against then-No. 3 Ole Miss, when he connected on 24-of-29 for 271 yards with 4 TDs and 0 INTs — completely outplaying Chad Kelly — in a 38-10 rout of the Rebels.

However, shortly thereafter, Grier was suspended by the NCAA when he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Treon Harris rose to the top of the depth chart again, and while he played well in a 35-28 defeat at LSU his first game back as the starter, any level of effectiveness was temporary. His accuracy was problematic, his pocket awareness was lacking and his propensity for getting sacked — even with his nimble feet — killed many a drive and produced many a groan in Gainesville.

Gator Nation may be stuck with Harris under center again next season, as Grier unexpectedly decided to transfer prior to the bowl game.

“I was surprised,” Poole said. “I thought being that we had his back through everything, like I thought he would do the same and come back and play for us. But if that’s the best decision for him, then I still support him either way.”

Harris has been a lightning rod for criticism. Type his name into the search field on Twitter. See for yourself. The results aren’t pretty. Transfers Luke Del Rio and Austin Appleby — the former from Oregon State and Alabama, the latter via Purdue — and early enrollee Feleipe Franks will likely all get a chance to unseat Harris.

Nevertheless, Harris didn’t get any flak from his fellow Gators in the huddle, on the sideline or in the locker room, and he continues to be supported by the most recent alumni.

“We have each other’s back at the end of the day,” Harrell said. “We’re a brotherhood, so we’re going to protect each other and have each other’s back at all times.”

Still, Poole stopped short of giving Harris an endorsement for 2016.

“I just feel like they’ll have a competition,” he said, “and I’m sure Coach Mac will choose the right guy.”

While he was adamant throughout his recruitment that he wanted to stay at quarterback, it’s not unreasonable to suggest Harris is a candidate for a position switch. His rushing numbers don’t do him justice, as he averaged just 2.5 yards on 96 carries this year — 31 of those attempts were sacks for negative yardage, though. Turn on the tape, and it’s not hard to envision some sort of runner/receiver hybrid for a creative play caller.

Consider Harrell a believer.

“I think he’s an athlete,” he said. “I’ll just leave it at that. I think he can play quarterback. He can play whatever he wants to play really. He’s a great athlete, a great teammate, a great player.”

Poole and Harrell continue to be great teammates themselves, even with no eligibility left.

John Crist

John Crist is an award-winning contributor to Saturday Down South.

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