A special-teams rule tweak that could trip up a lot of SEC programs may not be much of a problem for Florida at all.
That’s because the Gators were already operating in the look officials will now be demanding. At SEC Media Days, SEC Coordinator of Football Officials John McDaid spent a good chunk of his remarks walking through how 2026 enforcement will work on punt “numbering exceptions,” a technical change aimed at stopping teams from hiding players downfield who normally wouldn’t be allowed there.
The new standard is pretty specific. If a team uses a player not wearing 50 through 79 on a punt and that player is treated as an offensive lineman for the play, he has to line up in a traditional offensive lineman spot so officials can identify him easily. Teams also have to use a two-by-two setup around the snapper, with two players on each side within arm’s reach, when they’re using those numbering exceptions.
McDaid pointed to Florida as the example of how to do it right.
“This is just a random punt from the 2025 Florida team punt unit. You'll see here that they're in a pretty-easy-to-officiate formation when it comes to numbering exceptions. They have that two-by-two formation around the snapper.
Why do I show you this? I'm not even going to show you the play.
Why do I show you this? The University of Florida had the top-ranked punting unit in all of FBS last year.
Now, you could say, John, they had Tommy Doman as their punter. He was one of only two punters that were drafted to the National Football League.
That's what helped them be the punt unit they were. And you wouldn't be wrong.
But when you are measuring all the statistics, such as not just gross yards, but net yards, number of punts inside the 20-yard line, the number of kicks that were not returned by your opponent, the net average return yards, it just doesn't take one excellent punter to create the statistics. It takes a team.
It takes ten other athletes on the field. It takes a scheme and technique to make that happen.
Florida was able to be -- a Pro Football Focus and the calculus they use to try to come up with the most effective punting unit, Florida was No. 1 in the nation. They did it schematically with a two-by-two punt formation and a three-man shield.”
For Florida, that’s a useful little head start. The Gators’ special teams under Billy Napier never exactly inspired confidence, and the phrase “Great play by the special teams unit from Florida” was not used often during the Billy Napier Era. Napier first had Chris Couch as his GameChanger Coordinator, then later added Joe Houston as special teams coordinator when it was clear Couch wasn’t getting the job done.
Even so, 2025 was about bigger issues for Florida than special teams, and the unit mostly stayed away from the kinds of mistakes that had burned the Gators in earlier seasons. Now, with the SEC tightening the screws on punt formations, Florida’s 2025 setup may end up looking a lot more modern than most of the league’s.
In Other News...
Kirby Smart Just Raised The Stakes For Florida's Offense
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Florida has come painfully close in the last two meetings, only to come up short when the offense could not make enough explosive plays to finish the job. With Buster Faulkner now in the mix and additions like Jadan Baugh, Vernell Brown III, Dallas Wilson and Eric Singleton Jr. in the fold, the 2026 matchup looms as a real test of whether Florida can finally match Georgias claimed explosiveness or whether Smarts point holds up again when the teams meet. [Read more 🡒]
Alabamas 5-Star QB Commit Just Added To Florida Fans Frustration
Elijah Havens rise has only sharpened the sting for Florida fans watching the 2027 quarterback board unfold. The five-star Alabama commit is already being talked about as one of the premier passers in the class, and the SEC chase around him included Florida, Georgia and Auburn before the Gators and Bulldogs went in different directions at the position.
Florida was in the mix long enough to make Haven a real possibility, including multiple visits in 2025, but the Gators ultimately landed Davin Davidson instead. Georgia finished second in Havens recruitment before moving on to Colton Nussmeier, leaving Alabama with a quarterback commitment that gives its class a notable boost while its overall 2027 group still sits 13th in the SEC. [Read more 🡒]