Notes from around the country as spring football starts to heat up.

Florida
Gators have a lot to do this spring
Finally, Ron Zook and the Gators get to take the field.

Florida opens spring practice Tuesday with a lot of work ahead of it. There's a new offense and new defense to learn. Even special teams will all be new.

"We have a lot to do and we have to make sure we get everybody on the same page," Zook told the Gainesville Sun. "It's going to take a little time."

New offensive coordinator Ed Zaunbrecher, who came to Florida from Marshall, plans to spread the field like the Gators did under Steve Spurrier, but will also make sure the running game is a bigger part of the offense.

"A lot of the concepts are exactly the same as they've been here the last 12 years," Zaunbrecher told the Gainseville Sun. "How we get into them might change a little bit. But the concepts will remain the same.

"We're going to be up tempo and attack defenses and keep moving the ball and scoring touchdowns."

Defensively, look for new coordinator John Thompson to add many new alignments and blitz packages.

"John Thompson has a lot of the same philosophies I do," Zook told The Sun. "We've already added a few things in that we felt could help the defense. I'm excited to see the whole package."

Georgia
Richt not happy with practice
The list was long -- and Georgia coach Mark Richt wasn't happy about it.

Too many players looking scared, not going at full speed, unsure of themselves. After donning pads for the first time after three light practices, the Bulldogs did not please their coach over the weekend.

"I did not see a lot of things to get excited (about)," Richt told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

While Richt told the AJC there were "some good things, and I saw some very good things. But I am disappointed. A percentage of the team was getting after it. But we don't want a percentage, we want 100 percent."

BYU
BYU gets defensive
It was over four months ago, but BYU still remembers the 72 points Hawaii hung on them to ruin the Cougars' perfect season.

BYU is working on defense in spring practice. A new scheme emphasizing speed and versatility is being installed.

"We're trying to match up," defensive coordinator Ken Schmidt told the Salt Lake Tribune. "Get a better match against some of these teams that spread you out."

BYU, which usually runs a 4-3 defense, is working with schemes that feature five fast linebackers on the field vs. spread offenses in hopes of covering extra receivers as well as confusing the QB by better disguising blitz packages. Schmidt and other BYU coaches will visit Oregon and Virginia Tech to study their schemes that crowd safeties near the line of scrimmage.

"How much we're going to use it, I'm not sure," Schmidt told the SLT. "Maybe a lot, I don't know. What we have to do is look at it, feel comfortable with it, and work from there. So I can't say we're going to use it 'X' amount of time. I don't know yet."

Alabama
Franchione happy with workouts
One of the bright spots of spring practice for coach Dennis Franchione and Alabama has been the improved play of the secondary. Melvin Smith, who left Mississippi State to assume the same role as safeties coach at 'Bama, has even gone so far to say the Crimson Tide will lead the SEC in interceptions.

"We only had six interceptions last year," Franchione told the Birmingham News after his team endured a driving rain in the final 45 minutes of a 2½-hour session. "We touched 60 balls and caught six. That's not very good. We caught more balls today. And we've caught more in the three days. That's encouraging. There were several guys who had (interceptions) during the day in different drills."

One of the keys has been the steady improvement of newcomers like redshirt freshmen Charlie Peprah and Roman Harper as well as veterans such as Gerald Dixon and Waine Bacon.

Alabama will resume practice on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tennessee
Offense ahead of defense in spring drills
Working in pads for the first time, the Vols offense seems to have the edge over the defense so far.

"It was a pretty good start," UT coach Phillip Fulmer told the Knoxville News Sentinel about about the offensive line's performance. "I don't know how challenged they really are right now with the defensive front."

Tennessee returns seven players with starting experience on the O-Line while only four starters return on defense. Tackle Will Ofenheusle and G Chavis Smith stood out on offense, overpowering the defensive lineman. Tackle Sean Young, C Scott Wells and G Jason Respert also turned some heads.

In a lighter moment, Tennessee offensive players keep making locomotive shistle sounds everytime Jabari "J-Train" Davis lineup to take on LB Jason Mitchell. The two battled with the sounds of pads popping much to the delight of their teammates.

Once the scrimmage started, the offense lit it up. WR Kelley Washigton broke free from tight coverage and caught a long TD pass from Casey Clausen. TE Jason Witten made a one-handed catch over the middle.

"Both of them (Washington and Witten) are talented guys, and Casey's throwing the ball really well," Fulmer told the News-Sentinel. "But I'm more interested in who else and where else we can help our team. I'm trying to look at the big picture.

"Our overall receiving corps isn't up to speed, and our defensive front is not up to speed."

The Vols practice again Tuesday and will also work out on Thursday and Friday before taking the following week off for spring break.