Jadan Baugh Gets HONEST About His Future at Florida-and Where the Gators Are Headed

Gauntlet 2.0 in the summer? Nah, I wasn't too much thinking about no Gauntlet 2.0. I can't do it. Man, that's all different. And I don't think a lot of people can survive through it in the time frame that we did, honestly. Here's your first SEC media day, right? Yeah, it is. How's it going so far? It's going good. I'm happy to answer any questions they had for me. With it being my first time, I thought it would be a little bit harder. Yeah, yeah. I have a little bit more nervousness, but I think the team prepared me for any question, any aspect of what was going on out here. Yeah, no, for sure. I think the biggest question was probably like, obviously, what made you stay in Florida was the one that was ringing true. You were prepared for that one, which is cool to see. I've got a question for you, man. I think Allie probably talked to you about it a little bit already, but offensive line, obviously, would be a question mark. We already asked John about that. That's a big thing headed into it. How is it looking for you headed into the season for this offensive line? How have they answered the buck? Each and every day, I continue to just fall in love with their bond that they're having. They're doing everything together. If you see one of them, you see all of them, just because they're that close. If you have a line that's that close, they're going to play very, very hard for them and their brothers. I know for a fact that just gives me a lot more confidence because I know they're going to do their job. Yeah, yeah. How is this running back room? It's very enticing with just the youthfulness and, obviously, with Clark. Then you've got Landon and Evan Pryor coming in. We've been talking, obviously, making some names up with you and Pryor, that one-two punch with the spiciness we've seen him bring in Cincinnati. How has that evolved thus far in the offseason? Like you just said, it's very exciting just to see each and every guy in our room just work hard because you have a couple different backs. You've got Landon. He's a downhill runner, but he's very explosive. You have Duke Clark. He can go north, south, east, west. He can do anything, and he's very, very explosive. Then you have Evan Pryor. He's very fast. If you see him, you'll see him for that quick second, and if he catches daylight, he might be gone. Just to be able to just be in a room with those type of guys, I can take some things from their game and add it to my game. They can take some things from my game and add it to theirs. It's just like we're all out there competing, and we're competing like we're brothers, but also we compete for that spot. I was about to ask, what is something, obviously, London and Evan haven't been in the league as long or just longer than you have. I'm sure there's some things you have picked up on. What are some things that you've liked from their game that you've implemented to yours? London going 100% 24-7. He's never 75. He's never 80. He's 100% 24-7. That's one thing I learned definitely from him is the effort part and just to build more on my effort. For Duke and Evan, I literally just continue to be explosive, be able to cut in certain ways, ankle mobility a lot more. Those two guys, they're definitely different. I don't think a lot of people can see that or do the things that they do. That's important that 100% is contagious, which is great. Yeah, because I feel like when you got one person doing it and you see somebody else doing it, everybody's going to start doing it. That's really what it's been for us. Yeah, yeah. Who's been a guy this offseason? Obviously, the quarterback room has been a big conversation. I know you've answered that plenty today. But who's been a guy that has really elevated themselves on this team or kind of taken the role as leadership this offseason, not including yourself? This show is, of course, brought to you by Price Picks. Right now, when you download the app and use the code HMA and you play $5 brand new, you get $150 when you win that lineup. Right now, they've got a great new feature on the app. You can take your chances on game lines and pick your favorite team to win. We're going to rock and roll with the Braves on this pick. But again, be sure to use that code HMA. Download the app. Use the link in the description. You play $5. It's brand new. You get $150 if you win. Price Picks, it's good to be right. I can say Jaden Woods. Jaden Woods, LJ McCray, Kofi Azhar, Cam James. That defensive room, Aaron Childs and all them, they definitely have stepped up to just be more vocal leaders. Because last year, it's not too much of being vocal leaders. You're a sophomore. You don't get too many people to listen to you. But those guys have stepped up in a way that I can say is helping the team, and they don't even know it. I love hearing that. Obviously, those guys have transformed tremendously on the offseason. And last question, kind of how has been that transformation with Rusty Witt coming in and changing you guys? How has going through the gauntlet and going now through, we haven't heard as much, is there like a gauntlet 2.0 in the summer? Nah, I wasn't too much thinking about no gauntlet 2.0. I can't do it. Man, that's all different. And I don't think a lot of people can survive through it in the time frame that we did, honestly. Coach Witt has instilled a standard into us. He don't care about that soft or weak stuff that people might have, that soft mentality or that mindset. He more of like, if you're going to be here, you're going to work hard. You're going to be strong, and we're going to build you to be strong. But we're also going to take care of your bodies. And I feel like he has did that tremendously, because I think as of right now we have got everybody on the team who's not just jumped up 30 pounds into weight. They jumped up 50, 60 pounds in weight and very strong as well. So he's doing the right thing at the right time, and it's helping all of us. The gauntlet back in January, right? Oh, yeah, yeah. Is that something that maybe a reason you go to the NFL? I don't want to see that again. We would love to see you again. Yeah, but it's like, bro, that just hurts. The first one, I'm like, oh, I can do this. We did it outside. But when they moved us inside, it was like, yeah, no, Coach, everybody throwing up. We're going to have to make this somewhere else. But it's fun to a point where you actually get the hang of it and you understand that it's not you versus the next person. It's more about you versus the drill and you versus the whole gauntlet. And at first we was going into it with the mindset, oh, it's us versus the next person that we're going against. No, we had to understand it was us versus the drill. And when we did that, we completed it, and it was actually – it gave us so much relief to the point, like, we was all happy. We didn't too much care about anything else. The biggest point, too, I think the object of that is obviously in season you're fighting for your life, right? This should be harder than the season. I assume you going through two seasons, it was. Yeah, no, it definitely was hard. This is the hardest thing I probably did in my life. I'm not going to lie. That was different because it's like if you mess up, if you're not perfect in the drill, you got up-downs. And at one point you start getting tired of the up-downs, so that's when the mental fatigue starts setting in and everybody just starts going into different looks, and you're not there mentally. But as it goes on, that's where the leader starts to show. Whoever's the leader at that time, you're literally going to be speaking out, speaking up to get the team right and the mindset right. And I think about it like the fourth or fifth time, we start to get it. We start to understand that. The leader starts showing a lot more. But that sixth to seventh, when we got to eighth, that's when you see the team as not just that one leader. Last week he was speaking. No, the whole team is speaking. Everybody encouraging everybody. Everybody wants something out of everybody to just be good. And I feel like that's what's going to set our team apart because we don't have just one leader. Everybody on our team is a leader, and it just separates us from everybody else. Very cool. Well, Jayden, I appreciate it, man. Thanks for your time. No problem. Go Gators, man. Good to see you. All the best. All right, buddy.