Florida football held its penultimate practice of the spring season on Thursday as it prepares for the Orange and Blue Game on Saturday.
Following the workouts, running backs coach Chris Foster, who is in his first year with the Gators after spending the 2025 campaign as the Duke Blue Devils’ running backs coach, spoke with the media about how his position room is panning out early on.
Running backs Jadan Baugh and Duke Clark took up much of the conversation, as well as transfer portal acquisition Evan Pryor and redshirt freshman Byron Louis. The discussion took some deep dives into the team’s offensive approaches over the course of the 10-minute talk.
Below is a look at what Foster said on Thursday.
Jadan’s not getting a ton of work because you guys kind of know what you have in him. What gives you a sense of comfort in his skill set?
“Well, you know, he’s going to play two years, you know, in this league, and you know, he knows what this league about, but one thing about Jadan, Jadan wants more, when he tells me, ‘Coach, I can go some more.’ But I said, ‘Jade, I got to see what these other guys can do.’
“I got to have it; to me, developing the other guys is so important right now, who’s gonna be behind them, you know? And so because we know this league is a long season, so we got to make sure we has some guys that we can rotate in.
“But, you know, he has that football instincts that you see every day at practice that make him special and different, and you say, ‘Okay, yeah, he’s got it,’ so it don’t take much to see.”
How have you seen Duke Clark really embrace the challenge of fighting off new guys for reps?
“Well, you know, one thing about dude’s gonna bring a good difference here. element. You know, Force in that backfield. Duke is very explosive Duke, right now doesn’t know how good he can be, you know, but he’s a guy that I have to challenge every day. He’s a guy that has all the ability in tools, but he has to be consistent.
“And you and that’s something that we were working on. But it’s been really promising to see the things that he’s shown over 14 presents and, you know, two scrimmages. What’s you about his game? He’s explosive. I mean, he’s you know, like I tell people, you spell football, S-P-E-E-D, and he got it. He’s got speed.”
Sumrall has mentioned Byron Louis a couple times; what have you seen from him?
“I’ll tell you know, Byron’s been a very pleasant surprise. You know, he’s a guy that steal as a freshman, a freshman, but, you know, he flashed a lot when we went shortly yardage and goal line, and just his power running and leg drive was really impressive to see.
“So once again, you know, he continues to get better each and every day. I mean, he works really, really hard. He’s changed his body over the offseason. How’s that help him? It’s been very helpful. And, you know, how big his deal is, you know, you got to better play fast, and you, he trimmed out some of the fat.
“I think Jake and his nutritionist staff, Aloma coach Whititt, and his trend staff has did a great job with all the guys, but especially him, you know, you can see, like you say, his body changed, which allow him to be more explosive and play faster.”
Have you seen the guys behind Jadan really handle not getting the top-end reps?
“Well, you know, and they’ happened it very well, you know, honestly, because once again, they coach each other. It’s a group that, you know, they’re not competing against each other, they’re competing together. And so they understand that.
“And so, you know, it’s special to see, but that’s the course that Coach Sumrall has built here. Just understand, you know, we all play for Florida in a side job to make sure that when a rep comes, it’s my time, all right? It’s my time to get everything I got, and they understand and know that, but you know, they all compete together.”
How do you harness Pryor’s talents in terms of putting him in positions and in space to make big plays?
“Well, I just think with Coach Faulkner’s offense, it allows him to have the ability to make places in space. We do so many different things with the running backs, and that’s pretty unique and different. But, you know, he’s flashed more, you know, like, you know, he can’t run in between the tackles.
“He’s proven that, but he flashes more with the ball in his hands out space. He just have a natural feel when he gets the ball out there, reading his blocks and then just slipping through and then accelerating. So I’m excited about having him because he’s going to bring a different element of being exposed to get the ball out in space.”
What does Buster do with the running backs that is maybe something unique?
“To me, I just need to line up everywhere. They line up everywhere, and you don’t know, you know they know when they line up everywhere, you don’t know what they want to d. And so I just think he does a good job of putting him in position to be successful based on numbers, number one — the person there, whoever is in the game.
“So he knows, Evan in the game, yes, he can still run in between tackles, but he does a good job of kind of spreading it out and him just, you know, keeping the defense to me on the heel a little bit based on the back’s alignment.”
What kind of year could Jadan be looking at?
“It can be a special year, just like I talked about earlier, man, this offense is an NFL-style offense, in which it allows him to showcase his ability in all phases of the game, block and catch, and all the different run schemes that we do have.
“So I think they’ll give him a chance to really, you know, have an explosive run because, you, I think he haven’t had a run over 26 yards, I want to say, since he’s been here. And I just think, you know, this offense will create some confusion that to me… having that big run that he’s looking for.
I hope that he’ll be lined up in the wildcat sometimes — how involved are you in that and how much can that elevate this game too?
“I tell you what, you know, it’s just an element that once again, keep defense on the hill. But Coach Faulkner, once again, he kind of oversees all of that, but he does a great job, because his mindset is players, not plays and make sure that we get the players the ball in their hand whenever they need it.
His arm?
“I’ll tell you what, we’ll see.”
Physical things — willingness to pick up blitzes — what have you seen so far from this group?
“From this group, I think you know one thing about it. The mentality is there. They will stick their nose in there. You know, the football IQ piece of understanding where the press are coming from, we still are working towards that. We can be better, but, you know, we are better than when we started.
“And so that’s what’s part of going to the spring is the full football IQ piece.”
We’ve heard a lot about some two running back sets, which hasn’t been here in a few years. How much of that is a challenge?
“Yeah, you know, I’ve been a part of an offense where we did that, you know, when I was at Georgia Southern, we would have three on the field at times. And so, you know, we so, you know, that’s, you know, that does, but it helps where they have to understand the concept and where they fit within the play.
“So to me, it helps, number one, them understand the offense even better because they know, okay, now I’m at this position. You know, I got to, you know, execute whatever players call. So I think you know, like Coach said, he’s going to always put the best players on the field. And if it’s two backs, if it’s one back, whoever’s on the field to help us go win.”
How do you think Jadan projects? Going forward, he’s obviously very talented
“Yeah, I think Jadan brings a different element, man. He’s a very good gifted athlete. And I think with Jadan, you, the other guys I had were more smaller guys, 190, 195 (pounds). He’s between 225, 230, and can move like a 195 guy.
“So I think that is more appealing to the NFL because now they see him as more of an every-down back in the NFL.
He’s down a little bit, weight-wise — has that affected his speed?
“He’s, yes, it’s helped him being down just a little bit, helped him move a little bit more sudden, being more explosive. So, no, it’s really helped him a lot.
What has Clark shown during this camp?
“Duke Clark has shown that he has the home run ability. He’s shown he will stick in there and break some tackles that was the last scrimm. He had, like a 15, 20-yard run where he was pushing a pile and broke through three or four tackles. So he’s shown a lot of capability of what he can do.
“But like I told you earlier, he brings a different element where, you know, Duke Clark is so explosive, and man, it could be one cut and strike the band up. You know, he has that type.”
How are you getting the football to all these guys?
“Well, you know, we play with one football, right? But them guys understand that we have to earn our roles, whatever it is, and so they’re doing a good job of competing each and every day, like I say, with each other, not against each other.
“And so when the numbers or opportunities call, I told them, every rep matters, every rep counts, and you have to make the best of it. And they all have to do that this spring.”
Special teams are also with these guys
“It’s very important. London has been the one that Coach Galante has spoke very highly, who’s kind of stood out in a special team, but I want them all on there, because once again, they all have goals and aspirations to play at the next level, and that that’s one key component in helping you get to the next level, is playing special teams.
What have you seen from the run-blocking O-line?
“I tell you what, they have came together, you know, from day one to now, you know, day 14, like, you, Coach Traut, Coach Polly, Coach Emil, I mean, I’m they got them guys playing hard, they got them guys starting to come off the balls. So you have so much improvement from day one and now. So I’m pleased with you, where they at as a group right now.”
Do you think about the offense in general, just the personnel you guys have, the potential on that side of the ball?
“We got potential to be very explosive. You know, we do, especially with Coach Faulkner — he just got a very innovative mind. And so you know, it’s impressive to be able to learn under his leadership.
“But you know, but I do think we have a chance to be really explosive.
How much does Duke’s experience from high school, where he played some receiver, help him out as a pass-catching back?
“Well, I just think they all catch the ball, but Duke have shown to have good hands. But now that allows us to move him in different spots, keep him in the backfield and release him, you, re-releasing or, putting him out his slot, out wide, you know, to me to create mismatches.
“And so once again, it allows us to do that, do different things and move them around the field because of his past receiving ability.”
Evans’s kind of got that, too, right? From his time at Cincinnati?
“Yeah, he does. He’s pretty natural at catching the football. Yes, sir.”
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida’s Chris Foster on Jadan Baugh, running back room during spring
Reporting by Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
