What strikes you first is their confidence: their faces calm and smiling, even after an offseason of so much upheaval and uncertainty.
A legendary coach gone, a 38-year-old former Ole Miss point guard brought in to replace him, a projected sixth-place finish in a top-heavy, mostly mediocre Southeastern Conference.
But Florida’s confidence isn’t lacking.
You saw it on Monday night, when the Gators thrashed North Carolina A&T by 50, piling up their largest point total since Nov. 25, 2011.
"2011?" Dorian Finney-Smith said, laughing. "Yeah, it’s been a while."
In his regular season home debut, you saw the quintessential Mike White: pacing the sideline, squatting, shouting, pointing, jumping, shaking.