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Post by gatorgibson on Dec 16, 2021 9:41:16 GMT -5
I Would say Napier and company did a fantastic job bringing in some good talent in a very short time frame. I have a good feeling about this guy!
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Post by bimigator on Dec 16, 2021 10:48:26 GMT -5
Yes, cautiously optimistic. They did well with what they had (which wasn't a lot to start with).
Hopefully they'll make some splashes ahead of the February NSD. Nobody is expecting a top 3 class, but a few big names and flips would be nice to see
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Post by SoTxCaiman on Dec 16, 2021 11:32:10 GMT -5
Did Mullen get 2 5 stars last year?
Getting James and Wilson given the position we are in is amazing. I am looking forward to the future.
Regarding all the rats jumping off the ship, I doubt very many will make it back to shore before the sharks eat them. Good riddance.
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Post by tapsgator on Dec 16, 2021 14:49:32 GMT -5
Did Mullen get 2 5 stars last year? Getting James and Wilson given the position we are in is amazing. I am looking forward to the future. Regarding all the rats jumping off the ship, I doubt very many will make it back to shore before the sharks eat them. Good riddance. Per Rivals he got 3 5 stars in 4 years. Collier last year (#30 player), and Wingo (31) and Dexter (23) in 20. Didn't sign any in his transitional class and doesn't get credit for Steele in 19 because he left without playing a down when they wanted him to keep rooming with a guy that had 2 date rape accusations so he could be a good influence. James is the #13 kid in Rivals and hasn't been re-ranked by 24/7 composite after Rivals 27 slot bump and Wilson is 34 on Rivals and 28 on 24/7. All that to say, we could not have had a better day yesterday. There was no reaching to try to control public sentiment. It seems like as speculated Napier encouraged some divas/bad fits to leave rather than co-sign Mullen's BS. Oh yeah and he got a kid back that was considered gone and is higher ranked than any recruit in Mullen's tenure plus another kid who was considered a UGA lock (nice to see a flip in the right direction there). Good day for the present, but more importantly great day in terms of what the future holds. Always easier to build depth through regular NSD and portal than it is to get superstars. Look at Mullen's transfer wins where he actually got former 4 stars, 2 RBs that can't get on the field and a WR who hasn't stepped up beyond a role player. Where guys like Greenard, Reese and the two DTs came in with less fanfare and played well (Greenard great) in rotational type roles. Cox is the only former 5 star I'd say you'd really call a hit. |
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Post by SoTxCaiman on Dec 16, 2021 15:06:59 GMT -5
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Post by SoTxCaiman on Dec 16, 2021 15:23:55 GMT -5
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Post by SoTxCaiman on Jan 9, 2022 22:42:41 GMT -5
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Post by Mojave Gator on Jan 9, 2022 22:53:00 GMT -5
Mohamoud Diabate is a terrific player. Great instincts, nose for the ball, some would say the heart of the Oklahoma defense in 2021. He would be a huge get.
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Post by Rock Gator on Jan 10, 2022 8:30:31 GMT -5
Mohamoud Diabate is a terrific player. Great instincts, nose for the ball, some would say the heart of the Oklahoma defense in 2021. He would be a huge get. You lost me here. Diabate (Gator) went to Utah.  RG |
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Post by Mojave Gator on Jan 11, 2022 3:04:56 GMT -5
Sorry, I was thinking about a guy at Oklahoma. My bad.
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Post by Mojave Gator on Jan 11, 2022 3:07:12 GMT -5
Mohamoud Diabate is a terrific player. Great instincts, nose for the ball, some would say the heart of the Oklahoma defense in 2021. He would be a huge get. You lost me here. Diabate (Gator) went to Utah. RG So we will see him again in September. |
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Post by SoTxCaiman on Jan 26, 2022 14:11:46 GMT -5
Is it Feb 2nd yet? Fingers and toes crossed, lots of kids out there saying good things about our new staff and overall program changes. That said at the end of the day when the pen hits the paper second place is just the first loser. Here is to hoping Coach Billy pulls the rabbit out of Mullens ass.
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Post by gatorgibson on Feb 2, 2022 12:47:38 GMT -5
Off to a good start! Will be interested to see where we end up at the end of the day!
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Post by tapsgator on Feb 3, 2022 10:45:56 GMT -5
Mixed bag on the big day, more misses than hits but Napier was playing with one hand tied behind his back. Main observation to me is that Cristobal is the scariest in-state competition since Jimbo was actually trying at FSU.
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Post by gatorgibson on Jun 27, 2022 5:43:43 GMT -5
Recruiting 2023 class not off to a good start. Unless we can start bringing in 5 star talent it will be a slow and painful rebuild. We shall see where we end up but not looking good out of the gate.
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Post by tapsgator on Jun 27, 2022 12:53:31 GMT -5
Honestly it's a rocky and borderline terrible start, and I'm saying that while still a fan/believer in Napier. In the last week we had a strong lean (Mitchell) leave us out of his top 4 and then pick Bama. Holstein was our top realistic QB target but that only would have happened if Manning had picked Bama so he's Bama bound, but Rashada was a close 2nd and most expected him to come to Gainesville until 5 days ago when Miami scooped him up. I don't think there's a plan B at QB which becomes relevant if Richardson fulfills his potential as most analysts expect. We have 0 commitments from the top 25 in Florida and are crystal ball leaders on McClain at #1 (but that's going to be a war and we're fighting Trob at Bama plus the Miami collective and they've both been more effective to date), and then the #16 and #25 kids. Absent a bunch of unexpected wins (which can definitely happen) McClain has become a must get and I think we kinda need Mauigoa. I also don't feel like this reads great from the last week: footballscoop.com/news/billy-napier-pens-open-letter-florida-fansThat's "we need you to open up your wallets so we can compete in the arms race, it's the Wild West out there." footballscoop.com/news/college-football-recruiting-nil-florida-gators-miami-hurricanes-mario-cristobalThat's "I can't believe it's the Wild West out there, we aren't getting involved in that stuff, that guy is a liar pants." History is always written by the winners, but it really is the Wild West, there's gonna be gun fights, we can't be carrying a gun shaped knife and then crying about the unfairness of it all as we bleed out. |
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Post by SoTxCaiman on Jun 27, 2022 14:01:47 GMT -5
Recruiting this year will be a mess at best. Not sure how you go recruit when as a staff of coaches you have not played a single game yet. As of yet none of these kids have seen the product Napier and staff are going to put on the field wearing Orange and Blue. Never more than now is the old saying "talk is cheap" been more relevant. We live in a show me world, thus the BAMA recruiting dynasty, which is only recently been challenged by the GA (BAMA 2.0) staff. But now we have the NIL (play for pay) and the introduction of Texas oil money at both A&M and Texas to deal with as well. I think before this staff is going to do well on the recruiting trail we need to get some really good football on film and some W's in the win column. This staff has already opened a few doors (IMG) and hopefully some good play on the field this year will help as we move on. We can not be in this boat next season at this time.
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Post by Mojave Gator on Jun 27, 2022 20:32:34 GMT -5
Recruiting this year will be a mess at best. Not sure how you go recruit when as a staff of coaches you have not played a single game yet. As of yet none of these kids have seen the product Napier and staff are going to put on the field wearing Orange and Blue. Never more than now is the old saying "talk is cheap" been more relevant. We live in a show me world, thus the BAMA recruiting dynasty, which is only recently been challenged by the GA (BAMA 2.0) staff. But now we have the NIL (play for pay) and the introduction of Texas oil money at both A&M and Texas to deal with as well. I think before this staff is going to do well on the recruiting trail we need to get some really good football on film and some W's in the win column. This staff has already opened a few doors (IMG) and hopefully some good play on the field this year will help as we move on. We can not be in this boat next season at this time. Could not agree more. What Napier did for the program at Louisiana is irrelevant to kids who are considering signing with him now. It's just like us entering the season unranked. Until we show something on the field, nobody is a real believer. |
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Post by wahhappen on Jun 28, 2022 13:50:22 GMT -5
I can’t remember. Are we in recruiting season right now or is it football season? Is it safe to ask the coach how it is going with recruiting?
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Post by tapsgator on Jun 28, 2022 14:41:26 GMT -5
At this point my concerns aren't really with Napier for a lot of the reasons people have listed. Moving forward, it's really a collaborative effort amongst the coach and his staff (I think we check that column), the AD (nope), and the collective/boosters (tbd). How it reads right now is:
Napier & staff- get it, are asking for help, laying out a cohesive tangible plan while acknowledging that this is now largely a money game (it always was but now it's more prominent and above board)
Stricklin- just trying to keep his job and seeing if his non-football hires can at some point stop having fairly serious allegations levied against them. He's reactive not proactive and slow to react at that. He's not a conceited as Foley but that's largely because he's never done anything.
Collective- I don't know what's going on there, but their response to Rashada's rep's accusation is weak, reeks of sour grapes, and insults the fanbase's intelligence. To believe that Rashada became a heavy Florida lean, was their top target, and then all of a sudden this representative (who represents other blue chip QBs) just came out of nowhere and accused the Gator Collective of being unorganized for no reason and was trying really hard to get you to do something untowards but you refused unlike those bastards from Miami and Tennessee and Texas A&M and everywhere else around the country having any semblance of success in recruiting in the NIL age is preposterous. Especially after you just gave multiple interviews talking about how we were putting together a collective for the purpose of raising NIL money. It's absurd.
Napier's letter is his version of what Saban was doing at the speaking gig where he called out Jimbo. I think it was a good move, unfortunate that he seems to be working from behind and his hands are tied by his dance partners. Hopefully they can clean it up, because we cannot realistically contend without recruiting picking up significantly, and I can't remember the last team that successfully waited for on-field success to drive recruiting rather than vice-versa, and it's more unlikely than ever now.
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Post by tapsgator on Jun 28, 2022 14:55:54 GMT -5
Here's what I'm talking about Championship games the last 5 years (champs listed first) with their roster rankings in the 24/7 talent composite:
2017- Bama (1) beats UGA (4)
2018- Clemson (6) beats Bama (2)
2019- LSU (5) beats Clemson (9),
2020- Bama (2) beats Ohio State (3)
2021- Georgia (2) beats Bama (1)
With the transfer portal I think you'll see an even broader gap between the haves and have nots. NIL and the portal is an opportunity to make a jump in recruiting/bring new folks to the party, but you better get out in front of it or you'll wind up crying from behind.
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Post by gatorgibson on Jun 29, 2022 10:37:07 GMT -5
What a sad joke this all has become.
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Post by Mojave Gator on Jun 29, 2022 21:49:14 GMT -5
What a sad joke this all has become. Recently retired Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said that he mentioned to the NCAA getting ahead of the NIL game and putting regulations in place. The NCAA blew it off, not wanting to be sued. Bowlsby said that the NCAA would be far better off in litigation than the way that it is now, with no real rules in place. |
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Post by tapsgator on Jul 1, 2022 10:54:10 GMT -5
They should have paid these kids a long time ago. They should have settled the O'Bannon suit. They had so many chances to not be gluttonous pigs making Billions of dollars (capital B) and not passing any of it through. If you look at the history of the cases the courts kept firing warning shots across their bow and they too arrogant to heed any warnings. So now it's a free for all and the NCAA has lost any semblance of power over the conferences. The SEC is in the cat birds seat with Sankey far and away the most powerful man in college football because they don't need anybody. They don't care how teams are in the playoff, they don't give a damn what the NCAA says, they've got the ultimate "take our ball and go home" trump card. If the SEC leaves the NCAA and plays nothing but division games that will be the best football around. Especially in a couple years. The Big 10 stands alone as a distant second. A little less distant with USC and (I guess) UCLA, but still clearly second.
The bad news is its a fustercluck. The good news is that we will see higher quality football the next couple years because there's way less reason to jump to NFL early if you're making more in NIL than you would under the first rookie contract. The bad news is that we're behind in the arms race, the good news is that Napier has the intention and the Bull Gators have the money to catch up. I don't get riled up about the changing environment, that's wasted energy. These kids have been getting paid under the table forever, and the NCAA was enjoying the fruits of their labor. No other billion dollar industry doesn't pay it's employees (and no to a kid whose only future plan is playing sports books and tuition is not fair market value), so I don't mind them getting what the market allows. Calling these kids amateurs as they generate the majority of some institutions' revenue is wishful thinking.
This will end one of two ways or a combo of the two: inflation will stop when the "can't miss" kids miss to the tune of 8 figure 3rd string QBs and/or the NFL which is the 1,000 lbs. gorilla to the SEC's 800 lbs. will raise their rookie contracts to nip it in the bud. It'll be interesting.
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Post by gatorgibson on Jul 5, 2022 5:13:40 GMT -5
I agree these kids should be compensated more than just a free ride with college tuition. But unless it's a fair flat rate for all it's going to be a problem. The big payday for the best come after their college career and they join the NFL.
This NIL will ruin college football period. And the "no penalty" transfer portal is a joke!
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Post by tapsgator on Jul 5, 2022 10:32:59 GMT -5
Oh yeah, there should be a pay scale, etc. but that shipped has sailed because the NCAA fucked around and found out they aren't 10% as bulletproof as they thought. Could have even done a merit based sliding scale and regulated it, but they hid behind "amateur" status which has always been bullshit and code for "we want to keep all the money."
I think NIL will self correct at some level, it will be interesting because you can't really put the genie back in the bottle. I think the transfer portal is kind of the same deal. They've let coaches leave kids forever with no real penalties. Hell actually rewards. I don't think it should be the Wild West, but I don't think arbitrary restrictions (eg. you can't transfer here and lose time but you can go this other place) are the way to go either. Without NIL the portal would be much less of a problem, but as it stands now every top tier kid should enter the transfer portal and basically shop the NIL market. Bryce Young and CJ Stroud could have used it as a way to "renegotiate" their NIL deals.
Saban is the smartest player in the game. If people actually think him going after Jimbo was a reactionary shot/sour grapes about one recruiting class I've got a prime piece of beachfront property in Williston, FL for you. It (like everything Saint Nick does) was a pre-emptive strike and an attempt to rally the Bama boosters to find enough money to compete with the oil tycoons. It was about upcoming high school classes and the portal. Saban wins across the board on the kids he wants in high school or at other schools if you take NIL out or give everybody the same budget. It ain't really that close although Kirby can beat him on the recruiting trail on some kids now that he's on the downside.
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Post by tapsgator on Jul 6, 2022 8:45:19 GMT -5
Mixed bag on the big day, more misses than hits but Napier was playing with one hand tied behind his back. Main observation to me is that Cristobal is the scariest in-state competition since Jimbo was actually trying at FSU. Getting scarier by the day. Just got the top tackle in the country. They could wind up top 5 pretty easily. There's some newcomers to the top of the recruiting rankings early in the cycle. Be interesting to see if that holds. |
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Post by soflaisgatorcountry on Jul 7, 2022 18:57:04 GMT -5
Truth is its not Mario Cristobal, its John Ruiz. He's the out of control booster with lots of funny money to throw around that he made via legal insurance fraud. Like many with shady money he is willing to spend it all and like always scUM as a program is willing to look the other way and let a booster run wild (Uncle Luke, Nevin Shapiro and now Ruiz). Once Ruiz loses his worth (look at the possible pump and dump he did with MSP Recovery) and/or he ends up in jail or broke scUM will be back to being small pockets U.
Sadly to stop renegade boosters and schools from breaking NIL rules i think the only true way is getting very tough on players transferring. It would be very hard to put a salary cap or other type restrictions but strict no transfer rules IF an NIL deal is signed might be the way to stop the transfer portal chaos. Many players who can earn large NIL deals will pull a Q.Ewers and go to Ohio St for example with only the intention of staying 1 season and cashing in on a large NIL deal to then leave for another program (TX) and receive one there with instant eligibility.
Its a hot mess and hopefully in the case of scUM they will do exactly as they always have, be mediocre and underachieving when they dont have an out of control booster "paying for play"........ sadly for now, i dont know how this issue is resolved and the ncaa may not either.
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Post by tapsgator on Jul 15, 2022 10:50:08 GMT -5
Thing is we have the means to compete with anybody except maybe the Texas schools monetarily. I think the problem Cristobal presents is he is a good recruiter and a good coach. Right now he's the most accomplished in both at the major Universities in Florida. You're right UM money is fleeting and will go away, but his momentum won't. I don't know that it's an overly bad thing to be honest, we were a lot better when kids were staying in Florida than when the programs all dropped off and the floodgates opened. Easier to beat UM and FSU than it is to beat Bama and Ohio State (at least recently).
I think limiting transfers or locking kids into contracts is probably the way to go, but the question is will the NCAA ever get it done and accept reality? Kinda not their thing, they've been pretending CFB is an amateur sport for years. In 2020-21 in the midst of a global pandemic the SEC alone generated 777.8 million dollars in revenue off football as a conference. This is not amateur sports anymore and it hasn't been for a long, long time, but they seem content trying to play victim to the mean courts for actually allowing things to be a free market. A cynic would say they don't want to fix it because it's keep CFB front and center year round. Personally I think it's a mix between a lack of aptitude and incentive so it will go largely unchecked until something forces a market correction. I just can't think of what that might be.
More importantly, it's the world we live in at this point. Crying about it won't do any good as much of a fustercluck as it is. Adapt or die. Things seem to be picking up recruiting wise. We got a couple kids that are around 150 in the nation and may rise and are up to 20-25th ranked class depending on the service, we flipped a 4 star QB from Penn State, and supposedly are still in a good spot with McClain. Plenty of rubber left to hit the road. Go Gators.
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Post by Rock Gator on Aug 2, 2022 15:14:12 GMT -5
Recruiting looking up. Billy Napier and staff landed these recruits in the month of July. ⬇️ - 4⭐️(WR) Aidan Mizell 4⭐️(WR) Eugene Wilson III 4⭐️(DE) T.J. Searcy 4⭐️(RB) Treyaun Webb 4⭐️(CB) Ja'Keem Jackson 4⭐️(S) Jordan Castell 4⭐️(WR) Andy Jean 4⭐️(QB) Marcus Stokes This is from Twitter so I know it's accurate.  RG |
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