The Florida Gators have plenty of rebuilding to do following last season’s SEC East Championship. But while the obvious hole is at quarterback, the secondary is also in need of some new stars after Vernon Hargreaves, Brian Poole and Keanu Neal all left.

Who is stepping up? Three athletes with ties to the Central Florida area.

Melbourne native Marcus Maye could easily have been in the group of departing juniors, but chose to stay for one more year instead. The Holy Trinity graduate finished last season with 82 tackles, and figures to be a big part of this season as well.

Fellow safety Marcell Harris is still looking for his breakout year. To date, the Dr. Phillips graduate has made just one start in his UF career.

“I’ve become a lot older, I’ve become a lot smarter. The game has slowed down for me honestly and now I see a lot of things better,” said Harris. “I am moving better and I feel a lot better coming out of my breaks. So this year for me, I feel like it should be one of the best.”

Also factoring in as a player in the defensive scheme? Freshman early enrollee Chauncey Gardner of Cocoa High School, who was moved to safety and is already making an impact.

“Chauncey we put to safety right away and he actually caused a turnover on the goal line, which was great to see,” said Head Coach Jim McElwain, talking about the first scrimmage of the spring.  

“Sometimes he is not getting to the deep middle third like you’d like him in some of the rotational things but part of that is being young.”

The loudmouth from Cocoa is bringing the same excitement and dedication with him to Florida.

“The thing about Chauncey, he is very talkative, great personality. But the thing that people don’t see is how much he studies,” said Defensive Coordinator Geoff Collins.

“He is the first one in the building, he is bugging Marcus Maye, he is bugging T, he is getting in their heads, staying after meetings. Everyone sees his personality, sees that he is kind of flamboyant, but he loves football, he is a great person, he is highly intelligent, and football is important to him.”

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