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Post by tapsgator on Apr 19, 2024 9:53:39 GMT -5
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 19, 2024 9:42:42 GMT -5
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 19, 2024 9:40:29 GMT -5
Has anybody interviewed Tyler about the game yet? I'd like to hear his thoughts.
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 18, 2024 11:46:32 GMT -5
I know not everything can be as exciting as that play or Desmond Watson being Desmond Watson, but I heard Lagway looked pretty legit. Lagway did look good. So he probably won’t play much. Of course not, he needs to see how a slow footed weak armed white guy manages the offense in order to develop properly. Next year he's probably going to play for Lane Kiffin or Texas A&M, I hope it's Kiffin. In Gainesville. Being Athletically Directed by Steve Spurrier.
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 18, 2024 11:03:40 GMT -5
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 18, 2024 10:37:01 GMT -5
If anyone is interested it looks like it will be on SEC network at 8pm Eastern tonight. I’m going to watch some of it. Just for shiggles. I know not everything can be as exciting as that play or Desmond Watson being Desmond Watson, but I heard Lagway looked pretty legit.
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 17, 2024 13:59:57 GMT -5
They love their company lines at Team CWT, the stupider the better:
1) Unfinished business- That would make sense if Gutsy Graham the check down man had played all 5 of his years of college football (yay COVID!) at UF instead of 80% of them at Wisconsin which ended unceremoniously when a real coach (Fickell) replaced the so-called QB guru (Chryst) who got fired for insisting on playing Graham Mertz and immediately gave the job to something called Tanner Mordecai. He has no damn business to finish.
2) Looks just like an NFL practice. How many guys on this staff have legitimate NFL experience? The real answer is 0, but let's credit Harris (a partial season as an assistant secondary coach) and Sale (a full year as a HEAD offensive line coach). So 1.5.
3) We've learned how to practice. This is quickly becoming my favorite. To paraphrase Allen Iverson:
"(learned how to) Practice? We talkin bout (learning how to) practice?"
Seriously, in year 3 under Cajun Willie Taggert the guys have really figured out this whole practicing and watching films deal. That's something else. Right?
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 17, 2024 9:58:23 GMT -5
No reports on whether this will replace the plaque or they're just going to wait until they do a statue of Gutsy Graham, but here you go, a little hump day pick me up: "Things have changed. It’s hard for you guys because we’re in it every day. For us it’s the constant messaging, the constant urgency that we have to have every single day of what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, why we’re doing it. I can see that every day. I think that it starts from the Head Coach down, and he does a fantastic job every day reminding us of what we went through, being able to use that experience on a daily basis. If there’s a day where you’re tired, it makes it a lot easier to not be tired when you think back to sitting in the locker room after the Arkansas game, stuff like that. Going to Death Valley, losing that game. Yeah, unfinished business is a big theme for us. It’s not too hard to find motivation these days." Source: gatorswire.usatoday.com/lists/florida-football-graham-mertz-spring-camp-performance/Be warned, this article includes several powerful quotes, so have a box of tissues ready. You're welcome, now if you'll excuse me I'm so fired up I'm going to walk slowly through an open door.
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 16, 2024 12:50:20 GMT -5
x.com/GatorsFB/status/1779207294938747243This is the stuff of nightmares for opposing coordinators. As a DC, how can you hope to stop that level of arm talent and ability to drive the ball into tight windows? Especially since Head Coach of the Coaches of the Defensive Football of which he is the modern day Godfather and inventor of AND his fearless assistant/coachee/Defensive Coordinator in charge of coordinating the defense Titties McJiggles were so helpless to stop it? Likewise as an OC how do you combat that coverage scheme and execution and hope to possibly move the ball in the air if you do not have the competitive advantage of Gutsy Graham Mertz and his laser accurate arm cannon? I don't think there's 5 people on the planet that can make that throw against that kind of pressure, and we have one of them. The bestest one.
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 16, 2024 12:24:08 GMT -5
“We’re deeper. We’ve got more height and length. We’ve got more veteran players, and I think the young talent, the freshmen and the portal players, are going to help us,” he said. “That to go along with the changes that we made after evaluating the season, I feel good about where we’re at.” Dude our basketball team is going to be SICK next year. More height and length? More experience? Talented underclassmen from both the recruiting class AND the portal? Sign me the fuck up. Oh wait, this is football. www.onlygators.com/04/14/2024/florida-football-takeaways-dj-lagway-flashes-gators-work-in-progress-after-2024-orange-blue-game/Seriously, how many times last year did we look out there and think "you know if that guy was a little taller we would have been just fine?" We've obviously got the size, strength, speed, and gutsiness down. It goes without saying but the coaching and development are obviously beyond reproach what with Juniors in high school saying it reminds them of an NFL practice, the brand new recruiting budget, and the departments in charge of problematic units. We just weren't quite long enough or tall enough. For instance: 1) Etienne is only 5'9. Montrell Johnson (the real MJ) is listed at 5'11 up from 5'10 in high school. He's getting TALLER. That's what I call coaching. UGA is talking about starting Etienne when he's the shortest guy in their RB room. That's why we will continue to dominate Kirby Smart coached teams, he doesn't understand how to determine the RB depth chart, everybody knows you have them stand in a doorway and make a pencil mark at the top of their head. If it's too close to call you have them go back to back and move your hand horizontally to see who wins the starting job. Always check for tippy toes, to be on the safe side you should hire like 3 guys and call it a height determining and verifying department. 2) Ricky Pearsall was over an inch taller than Chimere Dike and I know that may be cause for concern, but wide receiver is probably the position where height matter the least. To my understanding as explained by Ron Roberts the inventor of modern football, catch radius is largely determined by your rapport with Graham Mertz. Plus, the Dikester averaged nearly 2 catches and was sooooo close to 30 receiving yards per game that I'm gonna give it to him. That was without Graham Mertz, probably with the guy that took his job. Gutless Gary or whatever his name is. Doesn't matter, it ain't Graham and he doesn't have a sweet Simple Jack hairstyle. 3) Similarly, some idiots have suggested that losing Princely at 6'5 was problematic, well look at this scouting report: Possesses accurate snap anticipation and timing to beat blockers off the edge. A chase-and-tackle Will prospect, Umanmielen is instinctive, reading and reacting quickly and showing the ability to absolutely fly around the field. Umanmielen has quickness in his hands and uses his length effectively. Accelerates rapidly and has a great feel for angles. He isn’t huge, but he packs a pop. He’s very good with his hands, a technician with the violence, quickness, and the long arms to ward off blockers. Umanmielen has a great motor and enough creativity to make plays late in the down as a pass rusher. His spin move is already NFL-caliber, and he displays a very good motor. For those of you who don't speak Cajun Willie allow me to translate: He's too short and takes plays off. Everybody knows it. He used to be tall and have a good motor, but when he entered the portal he starting taking plays off retroactively and shrunk. I'm surprised that NFL people haven't updated his profile to reflect that the experts at Gator Country have reviewed the tape and determined he took a lot of plays off and there's serious character concerns since he lied about how well he was coached. The fact that stuff like this is the rule and not the exception from a guy making 7.4 million dollars to coach what was the pre-eminent program in America less than 20 years ago is preposterous.
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 16, 2024 9:17:46 GMT -5
I can't help but think he's at least loosely referencing shit like this that I got so disgusted with I don't even remember if I posted already: www.gainesville.com/story/sports/college/football/2024/03/21/steve-spurrier-isnt-giving-up-on-florida-footballs-billy-napier-yet/72988527007/The title is completely incongruous with the article. Which also kind of paints him as a latter day Bobby Bowden-esque figure head who opines about the glory days. I'm guessing that didn't go over great with Spurrier (because it's bullshit and now the company line has elected to throw the greatest Gator of all time to the wolves in an effort to put lipstick on a pig) and he's mocking the Pollyanna portion of the fanbase and sunshine pumping media 100%. They of course don't realize it because they are fucking idiots, but that is par for the course these days. It's so bad that I'm planning to go to a game in Austin rather than one in Gainesville this year since I don't want to be surrounded by it. Sorry, was venting in an effort to get back to laughing, but the fact that the media and I'm sure many of the "fans" really believe that when Spurrier says things like "I picked them to go 8-4 and win a bowl game, and if we do that, we can do cartwheels and somersaults around here. We’ll be a happy bunch of Gators” as a compliment to the coaching staff and state of the program is pretty damn hilarious.
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 15, 2024 11:38:53 GMT -5
I didn't see the entire game but caught a recap and highlights. It's difficult to gather much intel based on the way that game is set up, but to me it looked like Lagway is a playmaker limited by the offense. Mertz looked comfortable in the offense and limited by his ability. I think if you give Lagway Trey Wilson, he would have looked even better. The final score was misleading because the Orange team missed several kicks, and the clock had run out when the Blue team made the last field goal. It definitely had a better feel than last year's game, but basically seemed like the same thing we've come to appreciate... rack up a bunch of yards in between the twenties and then kick. I am sure it was a great day for football though, and we saw a lot of maturity and growth since January as always. I find it hilarious that on 2 kicks we lined up with 10 guys. Less is more except when it comes to analysts.
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 15, 2024 10:14:29 GMT -5
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 11, 2024 10:26:13 GMT -5
Before Ron Roberts my understanding is that many teams did not field a defense. Or if they did it was not modern.
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 9, 2024 13:53:42 GMT -5
So Lagway evidently has turned the ball over 6 times in the first 2 scrimmages to a Defense that had 7 turnovers all year last year. Granted they didn't have The Godfather of Modern Football Defense in Ron Roberts, but nevertheless it seems that the mentoring program is going swimmingly. The best part? I feel like there is still work to do. Or business left to finish as the case may be. As such, I believe for the good of the game of modern football Graham Mertz shall be granted an additional year of eligibility (year 7) in order to continue to aid young DJ in his development. He will also be given a coaching title like co-coordinator of the head coaching coordination of projects involving quarterbacks. He'll be doing a deal where he is like a coach playing while coaching the players that play and get coached. Right? Gutsy Graham the check down man is in business not only to do business but also to finish business. And business, my friends, is good.
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 9, 2024 9:53:33 GMT -5
After clearing the vomit taste out of my mouth I did some fun research. At this point they really are insulting the fanbase's intelligence. "Another notable increase in the report is a $6.55 million pool for assistant coaches. Especially in an age where college head coaches and assistants are on the move, programs simply have to pay top assistant coaches more than ever. Whether it be a promotion to another Power 4 or taking a step back and becoming a head coach at a smaller Group of 5 program, it is encouraging to see Florida taking this action." Let's get in the way back machine, all the way back to December of 2021, with this article that had me (and I'm guessing a lot of us) excited about the new direction of the program: www.si.com/college/florida/football/florida-gators-billy-napier-shares-coaching-staff-responsibilities-plan"Napier will certainly have the resources required to surround himself with an elite staff, one that he said will be "unprecedented," as Florida has allotted a $7.5 million budget for hiring assistant coaches, compared to Dan Mullen's $6.1 million pool this past season." That's what we in the legal field call "bullshit." There are numerous other examples in the article including his proactive plan to handle NIL and be out in front of it just like Georgia and Ohio State. Whereas the results. Where fucking as the results. Back to the original article: "To an extent, Florida is behind the curve on this, yet they have some of the most resources in the SEC. Ideally, this pool should have happened at the onset of Napier’s hiring. On paper, this still seems like a huge victory, as Florida is on track to produce a top-ten 2024 recruiting class. However, there are multiple reasons to show skepticism about the numbers and Florida’s overall recruitment budget outlook." First of all, what? Who wrote that first sentence? Who proofread it? I would have been embarrassed if my 14 year olds had used that as the introductory sentence in a paragraph. When they were 11. Number B, what fucking paper shows us on track to produce a top-ten recruiting class? ?? Especially in 2024 what with the fact that the recruiting classes of 2024 have been set formally since NSD on February 7th, and basically set since on December 6th. So you either missed by 2 or 4 months. Let's assume he was talking about the class of 2025 (we'll ignore the fact that this budget increase was from the 22-23 fiscal year so the effectiveness should be measured by the 24 class since everybody else seems inclined to act like this is brand new), I can find absolutely zero publications or services that have us in the top 10, here's our rankings: On3: 17 Rivals: 25 24/7: 23 I really can't believe that there are people in the fanbase that blindly accept articles/propaganda at this point. The Dynamic Delta Duo are con men who somehow keep rolling their marks despite the fact that their minions are just repeating themselves 28 months after the initial hire. Seriously, if you look at articles from 2 years ago it is the exact same shit. It's the definition of insanity.
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Post by tapsgator on Apr 5, 2024 22:56:07 GMT -5
I think there's also a good bit of "well fuck you then" happening as well. He had mostly decent things to say when he left, then the sunshine pumpers came with the "he takes plays off" crap and, of course, the coaching staff was mute on the point which could easily be mistaken (or not as the case may be) for agreement, particularly by a 22 year old kid who had over 1/3 of your sacks last year, didn't slam you on the way out the door, had the highest Defensive ranking on the team by over 10% among regulars, and was one of only 2 guys (along with another kid who transferred and started off nice until he and his family were baited) with round 1-2 grades in either of the next 2-3 drafts. Also, seeing teams top edge pass rushers dropping into coverage or lining up in the middle of the field is bad coaching (looking at you LSU and your use of Perkins), but when nobody else on the team has 3 sacks (seriously Wingo a MLBer was 2nd with 2.5 sacks) it is a fireable offense at a real football program. Unfortunately we no longer meet that criterion. So we've brought in the guy who taught that style of defense to be the coach of the fat kid who has shown no ability to even be a successful position coach above the Sun Belt. The genius who hired that guy has not shown the ability to even be a coordinator at the power 5 level but I guess he was a decent TEs coach? The guy who hired him is a dipshit from Starkville who came over after a run of mediocrity at his alma matter where they teach cow bell ringing. I see no way that things don't vastly improve and business gets finished this year. Is there a line on whether Lagway is on the roster in 2025?
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 28, 2024 21:25:38 GMT -5
Well you got your special teams analysis department, you've got your head coach of the defense, you've got your nutritionist, you've got your GM type guy, you've got your special analyst in charge of head coaching projects, you've got two offensive line coaches, and then you've got 2 offensive coordinators who don't call plays or anything but they're co-coordinators. As far as the recruiting budget I don't even know what differences explain nearly doubling the budget for worse results but it's par for the course.
As far as NIL, the rumor was that they lost the 4 of the top 6 commits because of NIL money, and it's pretty well known that McCray required a mad scramble to outbid Auburn. Lagway there's lots of smoke about why it took so long to get his LOI and 11th hour negotiations. Get ready for part 2 this Summer given that we gave away his closest connection on the staff to Texas A&M. Although after a year of watching Graham Mertz "mentor" him, we may very well not be at the table at all.
Lest we forget the NIL that gave us Rashada has been scrapped in favor of one that has at least one builder on the board and our AD is asking for 700+ million from boosters so that we can reduce capacity and make the luxury seating more luxurious. No conflicts of interest there whatsoever.
At this point, if you have any respect for the intelligence of either Napier or Stricklin, you have to believe they are intentionally misallocating funds for their own good over the success of the program. If you have the capacity to run the program successfully and put a passable product on the field, and have been this wrong this consistently and continue to do the same damn thing over and over again, you aren't trying.
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 28, 2024 16:01:41 GMT -5
I don't ever want to be mistaken for defending this shitshow, but the complaints about dropping into coverage randomly kind of seem like he's trying to cover for blown assignments and lack of coverage skills. Why he would be dropping into a zone is a better question considering he had over 1/3 of our sacks, but the mechanics of zone coverage should have been coached since pee-weee football at least at a base level.
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 28, 2024 10:46:47 GMT -5
Okay found the time to actually look it up because I kept hearing about how now that he has this super duper budget and assistant salary pool things are going to be different. I'm assuming most Gator boosters are UF graduates. UF is a good school. How is the fanbase falling for this crap? Love is blind I guess? I do too much research on this stuff, but I mean cmon, just read the article that you're citing in your fanboy sessions where you "call out" anybody who is remotely objective as "not a real fan." It's right there. This isn't/wasn't a future act, it was what happened over the last fiscal year. www.gainesville.com/story/sports/college/2024/03/15/florida-gators-athletics-2022-23-ncaa-financial-report-recruiting-spending-florida-football/72884438007/#:~:text=UF%20athletics%20boosts%20recruiting%20spending,to%20%242%2C966%2C896%20the%20year%20before. "The Gators made a significant investment in recruiting for all sports in 2022-23, spending $4,563,927, compared to $2,966,896 the year before. The biggest beneficiary was football, which increased its recruiting spending by 78 percent, from $1,641,320 to $2,892,538." The title of these articles and the company line generally are (probably intentionally) inaccurate and misleading to say the least. I know that there seems to be a grammatical/syntax problem in Gainesville and certainly with Napier but using an "s" instead of a "d" here is kind of important, and if writers had any semblance of journalistic integrity they wouldn't do this, at least if they took 6th grade English. UF increaseD the recruiting and assistant salary budgets from 2022-23.meaning we have seen the entirety of the "benefits" of the increased spending. A worse record on the field, a lower ranked recruiting class, our 2 best players leaving via the portal, and less qualified assistants, but adding a kicking specialist, a guy who was part of the Jimbo purge at Texas A&M to be our GM, a first time strength coach who was an intern 12 months ago, a DB coach from the staff purge in San Diego, some guys from the Sun Belt, and the fired Auburn DC. At this point I'm really tempted to say that since I'm in the minority, the majority kind of deserves what they're getting. They keep going to the fertilizer store and wondering why they're coming home with bullshit.
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 27, 2024 11:29:00 GMT -5
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 27, 2024 10:27:58 GMT -5
Imagine IF Etienne's punishment is having to sit out the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party......... Only for GA to still win by 25+ (which GA still could cover as in past years) lol I'll be honest with you, the media and kool-aid fans secretly want him to play because it gives them an excuse and the made up moral high ground. It's part of the toxic mentality that has allowed for what is now far and away the biggest fall-off of the pre-eminent football program in the country without major sanctions, and we're closing the gap there too. Pretty soon it will just be the biggest destruction of the pre-eminent football and basketball program in college sports history regardless of sanctions.
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 26, 2024 9:43:01 GMT -5
I would be shocked if we get to 5 wins. I have pretty much settled on 3-9. Honestly this would be the ideal situation in my mind other than losing the 3 of the first 5 or 6 and going to an interim for the rest of the year. The interim should be named Steve Spurrier
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 26, 2024 9:40:42 GMT -5
I wish we were USC who just flipped a 5 star from Georgia. I mean Georgia will either get him back or replace him with another one, but at least you won something. Contrary to the popular opinion of Kool-Aid drinkers a kid being stupid (and I don't throw my glasses in a stone house, so I'll disclose that at 22 I got my 2nd DUI and my record was much worse than Etienne's) is not a "win" in any sense of the word, and celebrating it like we actually did something on the field or recruiting trail is pathetic.
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 25, 2024 12:58:45 GMT -5
I haven't done the rounds yet, but I'm sure this is proof positive that Napier is weeding out the bad apples, changing the culture, and generally being one of the best human beings ever. Between this and the tough schedule I think he should definitely get year 4 regardless, probably need 6 years to overhaul the culture that he created while evaluating the culture that preceded him. There's really no such thing as good news right now, everything is a bullshit excuse and if it's not we ignore it. Tough schedule doesn't work as an excuse when you're playing the same schedule next year, there's no such thing as an easy schedule in the SEC unless you are one of the best teams in the SEC. Funny how that works. We're going to pretend to be Vandy until we turn into Vandy on the field and UF off the field. And the most vocal part of the fanbase will cheer between sips of Kool-Aid as it happens.
I hope Etienne gets his shit figured out, he seems like a good kid and is very talented. UGA will suspend him for a game or two, he ain't getting kicked off the team. We can bust UGA's balls about arrests but I far preferred it when the shoe was on the other foot.
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 24, 2024 0:09:09 GMT -5
So with the recruiting budget I’m 99% sure that it increased over the last fiscal year which I believe is spring practice to spring practice or maybe that’s just when they release it. So, I think we’ve seen first hand what spending more money on recruiting and staff budget has accomplished in the form of the a 15th ranked class, 4 of our top 6 recruits decommitting and the other two damn near flipping, and the worst qualified Gator coaching staff in at least 35 years.
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 22, 2024 13:42:49 GMT -5
"What we've elected to do for the guys looking to lose weight is decrease their food intake and increase their metabolic output. Muscle weighs more than fat!"
Also, what we're doing is trying to increase the amount of weight used in resistance exercises soas to get stronger. It is a revolutionary concept called "progressive resistance" Fitz explained it to Tyler the intern. And a whole new world was born.
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 22, 2024 13:39:04 GMT -5
the more repulsive and ridiculous it is that people are even considering another year for Napier without a total and complete turnaround. I'm talking serious consideration for the playoffs level turnaround and a top 25 finish should be an absolute requirement. I really don't understand why or how the bar has dropped to a place that it hasn't been in at least 35 years/when SOS came in. Every coach since 1990 has been held to a higher standard, and considerably higher. Mullen never gave a shit about UF, treated and looked at the job as a stepping stone job, always hated/specifically stopped recruiting, and quit trying in a petulant tantrum because he didn't get the NFL job he (and he alone) felt he had qualified for. I hate the fucking guy, he wouldn't have survived more than 5-6 games last year if he had started like CWT and we had an actual semblance of standards.
Mullen- First 3 seasons- finished 6, 7, 12 with the last one being the closest we actually came to the play-offs, then has a 5-6 season where he does some weird shit and he's gone. Recruiting classes starting with transition class: 17, 8, 7, 10
Cajun Willie- 6-7, 5-7, tbd. Recruiting classes starting with transition: 18, 13, 15.
So how in the Sam Hell does 7-5 get him another season? Especially since he's shown neither the ability nor the inclination to change? How can any realistic Gator fan find this acceptable?
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 22, 2024 11:25:42 GMT -5
Armstrong added. “A big part of our system that we managed directly from him. He’s one of the fathers of modern defensive football and to have him in this building and to have him at my right arm at all times helping us, I couldn’t be luckier.” Clearly, what he meant to say is that Roberts is a father who coaches in modern day football. Right? He's one of the best, you know, in America at being a, you know, father and defensive football modern is, you know, the best in America. You know? Explain to me how is it that we are lucky to get a coach that was fired from Auburn? What am I missing? Because it removed the barrier that was in place in years 1&2 of the CWT regime when he was the DC, not to be confused with the Defensive Head coach/surrogate father figure, at Baylor (68th ranked defense in the country under a Defensive head coach) and Auburn (where he got fired) respectively, but he basically gave birth to the system that won a co-championship in the Sunbelt so I guess you could say, you know, he's the most greatest person in all of America and this is all part of the plan, you know, it's a good deal. Right?
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Post by tapsgator on Mar 21, 2024 21:47:40 GMT -5
They were also really really old. Like 7th year senior old. I bet the average age out there was like 23-24. NFL scouts love old dudes. Especially if they have low mileage from never getting to play.
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