Dallas Wilson saw a moment when Florida’s locker room needed a voice, so the sophomore receiver stepped forward and spoke from the heart.
Following a second consecutive loss, Wilson urged his teammates to ignore outside narratives, eliminate distractions and remain together as a team. He also expressed confidence in quarterback Aaron Philo and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner as the Gators prepared to visit Texas.
Wilson also discussed Vernell Brown III’s difficult injury recovery, the secondary’s response to recent struggles and why Florida cannot rely on last season’s victory over the Longhorns.
Here’s everything Wilson had to say.
How would you describe the morale in Florida’s locker room?
Spirits are high. You’ve got to keep working, go back to the base and stick to the basics. Do what you were
coached to do, do everything you were taught to do and be that guy for the team. That’s the morale right now.
What was your message when you addressed the team after the game?
Really, it was just to keep our spirits high and keep doing the things we’re doing, but be more intentional with what we’re doing when we’re working. Let’s cut all the small chatter and stuff. Let’s stay away from the media and things like that.
We’re a team, and we’ve got to stick together. It’s the point of the season when people are looking for us to get torn apart or say, “Oh, these are the Florida Gators from before.”
They’ll always try to push a narrative, so it’s always good to keep your team tight-knit.
Had you addressed the team like that before?
I felt like it was a good moment. It was after the prayer and everything. I was done talking and had to go somewhere. I asked Coach Sumrall, “Can I say something?” I just said what my heart felt, and that was it.
How has Vernell Brown III handled his injury?
I look at his situation almost like last year with me when I was hurt. I know how I felt when I was hurt. I was so frustrated, and I wanted to get back out there with the guys. I didn’t want anybody to question whether I really loved the sport.
I know VB is a great guy and a wonderful man. He’s probably one of the hardest-working people on the team. When VB talks, everybody listens. When we’re working, we’re all watching what VB is doing. He’s a great person to be around, so I know it hurts him when he isn’t out there.
How hard is Brown working to return?
Every day, man. When we’re in film, he’s helping us with the film. When we’re out there and a play is being called, he’s with us and making sure we have the correct checks and everything.
VB is an all-around guy. He’s a perfect being.
What has it been like going from the Ole Miss win to two consecutive losses?
When everything was high, everybody was looking at it like, “OK, well, they’re playing that team. They’re playing that team.”
When we go out there, there’s never a choice to lose. We’re all working toward one goal. We’ve just got to keep working. We’ve got to keep nicking at it. We’re not perfect. We are not perfect. There are a lot of things we’ve got to work on.
Like Coach Sumrall says, we’re not the best team. We’re not at the point where we should think we’re this good or that good. We need to keep working and keep hitting that board.
How do you process the emotional swings of a season?
That’s a team thing. It’s about the morale between the coaches and players. When we’re all together, what is the energy like at practice? When we’re in meetings, are we focused? What’s going on?
You have to make sure your feelings aren’t fluctuating as much when those types of things are happening.
How confident is the offense in Philo?
Aaron is just literally living, man. Aaron, that’s my boy. He always has a smile on his face and has always been known to be a leader.
The offense has never lost confidence at all. We’re still the same offense. There are just some things we’ve got to work on, and that’s OK.
That happens. It always happens, but it’s fine. Aaron is working hard. You’ve even got Will Griffin over there with the scout team. He puts those boys to work and puts the defense to work.
It’s always good to see competition at this level.
Where does your optimism come from?
When you’re on the football field, it’s a team sport. It’s never about myself. It’s never an “I” or “me” thing. I always look at it like, if I’m down, people are looking at me and seeing how I react to what’s going on.
I always want to be a leader of men. When they look at me, I want them to see, “Dallas is still hopeful. Dallas is still doing this.”
I’m making sure I’m leading not just for myself but for my brothers who are out there on the field with me.
Can the receivers help Florida’s secondary improve?
I feel like we’re always picking each other’s brains. I’m always picking Ben’s, Cormani’s or J-Rock’s brain. I’m always picking the receivers’ brains, like asking a slot receiver what he does when he faces a particular type of defensive back or asking a defensive back what he does when facing a receiver like me.
It’s always good to pick each other’s brains and see what tendencies people have.
How is the secondary handling its recent coverage problems?
They’re always motivated, man. I think they’re always working toward that next step. When we go out to practice, they’re going hard. They take everything so seriously, and they’re so committed to their craft and what they’re learning on film.
You see all the defensive backs go up to the film room. Those guys are a real tight-knit group. We’re going to push through adversity.
How motivated is Faulkner to get the offense back on track?
Buster is on fire right now, man. He’s a very motivated guy. He has more passion than anybody, I believe. Buster is very motivated to put this team in the right place and push it to where he thinks we can go. I believe Buster is going to get us very far.
What is the challenge of an 11 a.m. kickoff?
I feel like it’s the same thing as an 8 p.m. kickoff. It’s football at the end of the day. The only difference between an 8 p.m. kickoff and an 11 a.m. kickoff is night and day. Your team goes out there and plays. That’s all.
Can you draw anything from your performance against Texas last season?
Texas is a pretty good team, so we’re going to go in there and play as hard as we can. It’s not like I had Texas circled on the schedule. I had every team circled because we want to win against every team we play. Playing Texas is just another team on the board for us.
Can Florida draw confidence from beating Texas last season?
Coach Sumrall always says, “Be where your feet are.”
We never really dwell on the past or worry about what happened in the past. Where are we right now? We’re just focused on Monday and Monday’s practice.
How disappointing has it been to play without Brown?
When you put it like that, I wouldn’t say it’s a bummer because we have other guys who are starting to shine. Bailey Stockton just had about 130 yards and has two touchdowns. That boy lit up the field, man.
Then you had TJ Abrams out there. Eric Singleton was playing in this game, and you had Kahleil out there. There were a lot of guys showing a lot of explosiveness who haven’t been getting the spotlight they deserve.
Has the way defenses cover you changed without Brown?
I feel like every team plays us differently. They look at the film and know what they want to do against each guy.
I don’t think a team would be completely focused on me because, if that were the case, we would be scoring here, scoring there, scoring here and scoring there.
If you’re trying to double-cover me or put anything on me, you’re leaving a lot of receivers open because those boys are through the roof.
What was the mood at practice following a second consecutive loss?
It was about sticking to the basics, like I said. Go back to our craft and go back to the things we did when everything was going well.
Make sure we’re locked in. Make sure we’re focused. When the coaches are coaching or we’re in meetings, make sure we know everything that’s going on.
It’s about paying even more attention to detail and being a 4D Gator.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Dallas Wilson urges Florida to stay united after consecutive losses
