Kickoff is inching closer; just six days until the torture of the offseason is over.

For the past four seasons, the linebacking corps has been led by the man in the middle, Brandon Spikes; whose intense, aggressive style of play set the tone for Charlie Strong’s top-ranked defenses. In three of the past four seasons, the Spikes-led unit ranked among the top, if not the top spot in the nation in most major categories; thanks in large part to the linebackers.

That was then, this is now. Gone is the architect in Strong who left the team for a head coaching gig at Louisville. Gone is the heart and soul in Spikes; who took his talents to the NFL where he joined forces once again with fellow linebacker Jermaine Cunningham in New England. Gone also is the always too slow, too short but too good to keep on the sideline, Ryan Stamper.

Now the Gators’ defense has a brand new look. The new architect is Teryl Austin, a former Arizona Cardinals assistant with a similar coaching philosophy to Strong. Redshirt freshman, Jelani Jenkins looks like the frontrunner to replace Spikes in the middle of the defense. (Talk about filling big shoes, Jenkins and Brantley must attend the same therapy sessions) The only notable holdovers from the 2009 unit are the very talented A.J. Jones, who looks to be the leader of the unit while Jenkins gets his feet wet, and the always solid Brandon Hicks rounds out the starters.

Jones was having a breakout season a year ago, accumulating 37 tackles, 4.5 of which were behind the line of scrimmage while taking down the quarterback 3 times. He also flashed his coverage skills, collecting 3 interceptions. Hicks has worked from the shadows, starting only the three games Jones missed in 2009 due to injury. However, the senior playmaker was still able to record 32 tackles, of which 5 were in the backfield and 4 put the quarterback in the dirt.

The linebacking unit will be tasked with leading a stout Gator defense into the Swamp just six days from now to take on Miami (Ohio). They will have two weeks to get their feet wet and gel as a unit before they are tossed into the thick of the SEC elite.