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Post by tapsgator on Oct 10, 2022 11:40:44 GMT -5
66 yards passing is not good. AR seems more solid when he is rolling out of pocket, moving his feet. Almost like he sees the field better. The last interception might have been avoided if he rolled out maybe. I'm no coach, this is just my observation. #23 Jaydon Hill of Huntsville Alabama hero of the game. Who knew?? Hard to put the turnovers on him because the first looked like an awful call and the second the ball bounced around a little bit, but I don't know whether it is coaching, something ingrained in him, if he's dinged up, or what but he only plays the style he should about 40% of the time. To be effective and beat good teams/defenses Richardson needs to play Cam Newton/Lamar Jackson/Tim Tebow football. One read, two at most, if it's not there take off. When he tries to play a Trask/Wuerrfel style it is a shitshow of epic porportions. He can't process information or throw with anticipation. He's not accurate especially once the wheels start spinning. He needs to see people open at this point in his development. Now, playing the right style does leave him open to injuries, but most serious injuries to QBs happen in the pocket. And while it's true that there's not much behind him at all, Miller is back and honestly if you want a guy to go through progressions and manage the game from the pocket I think any of the QBs on the roster are probably better at it than AR because they've had to play that style coming up. It's like asking Usain Bolt to run a marathon. That's not who he is and anybody who has trained their whole life and was good enough to make a SEC roster will pull away from him. Who knows what's going on behind the scenes, maybe they are telling him to work through progressions or maybe they're saying let it all hang out, but he looks crossed up out there. If he's ever going to fulfill his potential and get close to his ceiling which is a consensus top 5 pick and probably #1 overall, he is going to have to let it all hang out and play aggressive. Let's hope it's in there and Napier and company can get it out.
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Post by tapsgator on Oct 10, 2022 11:26:53 GMT -5
I can't help but wonder what could have been if Stricklin had moved faster on Mullen instead of letting him continue poisoning the shallow well. Our linebacking core could have been: Diabate, Hopper, and Miller. Copeland would be helpful as a down the field threat since Richardson has a huge arm but struggles to throw with anything resembling anticipation. Allowing Mullen to stay in place when he clearly had neither the motivation nor the ability to build anything longterm set the program back another year in my opinion.
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Post by tapsgator on Oct 10, 2022 11:16:16 GMT -5
Ok. So why the hell would Napier call two timeouts on the Mizzous FG at the end of the first half just to let the clock run out when they got the ball back? I do not understand his TO/ clock strategy at all sometimes. Why not take at least one shot at the end zone there? You burned two timeouts to preserve clock? Pretty weak sauce imho. Scared money if I’ve ever seen it. I'll say it, and this is as a fan and a believer, his in game coaching has been pretty miserable at times, most notably Tennessee (which was bad but not terrible) and the end of the first half Saturday which was awful. It is tough to change personnel and kick a 40 yard field goal in 20 seconds. There was absolutely no reason to stop the clock there unless you're thinking about a 15 yard pass and then a Hail Mary or two shorter passes and a long FG which I would question given the state of our kicking game. It could have bit him in the ass big time. Even if they miss the kick you still get the ball at damn near the exact same spot with the same amount of time. Taking the second "ice the kicker" timeout was even stupider/more confusing and made me think "yeah his plan is, there is no plan." If you're going to try to score there (the only reason to use the first TO) you need that timeout to be able to use the middle of the field. The good news is, and this definitely falls into the believer and fan category, I think he will figure it out quickly because he seems pretty accountable.
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Post by tapsgator on Oct 7, 2022 10:01:34 GMT -5
If Richardson stays healthy and doesn't play scared I think we win a shootout. If not Mizzou will ugly it up and run the ball if they're in front. We can't come back if Richardson is limited or hesitant. He'll never be a guy who beats people strictly from the pocket. I think/hope that the Kentucky and South Florida games were reality checks for him and the staff. If he plays not to get hurt we are a 4-5 win team. We're just as bad with him playing scared as we would be with a backup. If he lets it hang out and just plays we've got a punchers chance against good teams and should steamroll bad ones. I think maybe the Defense wakes up a little bit (especially if Dean doesn't play) and we go over 38-17.
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Post by tapsgator on Sept 27, 2022 9:52:04 GMT -5
I'm not putting this on Napier, but I just realized in the last calendar year we are 1-7 in the SEC with a lone win against Vandy. We've lost 7 straight. Last year aside from UGA none of the losses were to ranked teams. The end of 2020 was when Mullen was riding highest and decided to throw his hat in the ring (largely unsolicited) for NFL jobs. We closed that year with 3 straight losses including 2 in the SEC. I knew he sucked, but NFL Dan really did a number on the program. All while Stricklin was playing his fiddle and ignoring sexual harassment in other sports.
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Post by tapsgator on Sept 27, 2022 9:41:17 GMT -5
I hate that chart. At it's core I know that the numbers can be supported, and generally I like analytics, but the over-reliance on them seems to hurt more than it helps. I know we were on the road, etc., but it's not like we had been lights out on short yardage and in the red zone. If we were blowing them off the ball and could run at will it would have been one thing, but where you are consistently going to 4th down (meaning you aren't converting third downs) and as a team you're averaging 3 yards a carry I think you should kick.
That said, even when I disagree with the decision at least there's a method to the madness these days. Unlike, oh for instance, giving a guy who is starting in the NFL as a rookie less than 10 carries per game when your passing game is a joke.
On Defense I think we might as well really go full youth movement. Dean has been bad for so long now it's an indictment of the previous regimes that he's still playing at all much less among the team leaders in snaps. And it's not just blown coverages, he's been bad in run support, like epically bad, which is supposed to be his strength. On Saturday Torrance who is supposed to be the safety with good ball skills and doesn't drop down into the box had 11 tackles and 2 assists. Dean had 3 tackles and 3 assists. So even his "strength" has become a liability. There's no reason for him to be out there. I'd be okay with blown coverages from Freshman and Sophomores, but this is his 6th year. 6 YEARS. And he's still blowing coverages like that. Inside there are times when our supposed top 15 talent is replaced by a 430 lbs. guy that cannot move laterally. Nobody can at that weight. The stench of Grant Ham is still all over this defense, maybe turn over the personnel to the extent possible to wash it off.
We're going with Co-coordinators at DC one of whom is a career position coach with a good resume but no DC experience to draw from and the other (who seems to be the lead dog) is in charge of the safeties (clearly the worst position group so far) and has a year of DC experience at Lousiana and a resume that doesn't really qualify him for the position. It seems like Raymond who is our best recruiter with the best reputation makes more sense at DC than either of them, but he hasn't been with Napier so maybe this is a feeling out year. The Defense has not appeared well coached so far, but I don't think you can do a 1 year leash with how bad things had gotten, but if it doesn't improve I wouldn't be surprised at all with a staff shuffle of responsibilities at the very least.
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Post by tapsgator on Sept 25, 2022 21:25:10 GMT -5
Also, in the last 2 games Gervon Dexter has 1 tackle. Desmond Watson has been more impactful. That’s difficult to say it very true
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Post by tapsgator on Sept 25, 2022 21:22:41 GMT -5
Even in his 6th season and his 4th number Trey dean still can’t play. I feel like maybe he doesn’t understand football
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Post by tapsgator on Sept 20, 2022 11:53:17 GMT -5
Yeah but will he show up in costume around Halloween and be a condescending douchebag? Actually, if he shows up in a Dan Mullen costume and starts patronizing reporters and quoting the most random stats possible we should build the guy a fucking statue.
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Post by tapsgator on Sept 20, 2022 11:50:36 GMT -5
Richardson is a different QB when he's feeling healthy versus when he's tweaked. Pre-scramble in the third quarter he was starting to look like he did against Utah. After he came up gimpy he started missing 10 yard throws by 5 yards, wasn't looking to run, and generally playing white dude at a wedding football (off-rhythm). Results, predictably, were way more Kentucky than Utah. The issue I have is he seems to be injury prone, and if even tweaks lead to a complete breakdown of mechanics and approach, he either needs to play a different style or learn to play through it because we haven't got shit behind him. For this season, and really this season alone because with NIL and the portal turnarounds are accelerated, we can fall back on "a win's a win." Next year it won't be good enough, and Napier knows it. Not sure how you practice playing through and injury as a mobile QB, but somehow he has to flip that switch to realize his potential.
Also, maybe it's just me, but Dexter looks fat, and objectively his impact has been limited to say the least. Guy was hyped as a sure fire first rounder and probably top 10-15 pick. We've heard his name way too infrequently so far. He has to dominate.
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Post by tapsgator on Sept 15, 2022 10:38:44 GMT -5
I think there will be days like this this year. I think/hope that Richardson's lack of running (designed and otherwise) was based on a tweak early in the game that will resolve by the Tennessee game. Agree with STC on the body language and demeanor but that could be if he was playing on 1 good leg in his 3rd start. Let's hope so anyway, few yellow flags on his maturity already, but Mullen wasn't much of a developer in his time here (physically or psychologically).
On the bright side, it increases the chances he'll be back next year and get another full off season and camp(s) with an actual coaching staff. Etienne is going to be a good one. Our receivers are not good. Obviously Richardson was throwing the ball like crap, but without scheming them open and/or the threat of a 240 lbs. sledgehammer coming down field they cannot separate.
I'd consider moving Wright to receiver or using more 2 back sets just to get an extra threat on the field. Especially if Richardson is dinged up which takes away our most effective weapon/leverage point. He's gonna keep the WILL at home if there's a potential for him to pull it, and he freezes at least one safety when he's right. Even if they use a spy (and they will because Stoops can gameplan on defense and has a few horses) that guy can't crash like last week once they realized Richardson wasn't right.
I thought the first string Defense looked good. I still can't believe that the University of Florida is at a place where a guy generously listed at 430 who gained weight over the Summer when he was supposed to cut another 40 lbs. is getting snaps. Regularly. In meaningful situations. When he can't move laterally at all. Every time he's in for a regular rotation there's been at least one run into the A gap on 1st or 2nd down. But we are where we are I guess.
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Post by tapsgator on Sept 8, 2022 10:29:55 GMT -5
I think we should send a gift basket to Scott Woodward because he wanted to make a splash by getting a moron who fakes accents and had his ability to hire staff removed at Notre Dame 5 years ago (in exchange for not being fired) over the guy down the street with recruiting ties in the State, training under 2 top 5 coaches, and success on his own merits. This is going to fail so spectacularly and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. A guy from Massachusetts faking a Cajun accent. Classic. I'm sure that the locals were amused. LSU broke the bank to get this idiot. His contract includes a $500K bonus for making a bowl game. Not a New Year's Six bowl. Not the national playoff. Any bowl game. They signed on for ten years of this to the tune of $100M plus bonuses which can reach $1.325M per season. I am floored by the bowl game clause. There are so many bowl games that over half the teams in FBS are invited to one. You don't even have to be at or above .500 to get to one. The buyout would be monstrous if they were inclined to think that way - and they will be. He didn't bother to try a Cajun accent. He just went straight Southern accent. What a donkey he is.
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Post by tapsgator on Sept 7, 2022 11:57:36 GMT -5
I think we should send a gift basket to Scott Woodward because he wanted to make a splash by getting a moron who fakes accents and had his ability to hire staff removed at Notre Dame 5 years ago (in exchange for not being fired) over the guy down the street with recruiting ties in the State, training under 2 top 5 coaches, and success on his own merits. This is going to fail so spectacularly and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
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Post by tapsgator on Sept 7, 2022 11:52:45 GMT -5
That was a great win. The offensive line can play. Physically Anthony Richardson is the #1 pick in the draft. If he stays healthy he'll go top 5. I'm sure Napier already knows it, but he's gone. The #12 prospect ranking by Kiper/McShay is about as low as I've seen even before he did anything. Confirms what we already knew as far as Mullen checking out. Etienne is better than advertised and the backfield is loaded. Wide Receivers looked good not great. Hopefully someone elevates as an over the top threat to open up the full playbook because Richardson can literally do everything on a football field.
Concerns are pretty much the same as I thought they would be. Depth, Depth, and Depth. Largely on Defense. The fact that we have a 430 (program weight) kid who gained 15 pounds (again in the program which means he probably gained 30 and weighs 445) between Spring Practice and the Season Opener getting meaningful snaps in the fourth quarter is funny but really an awful indictment of where Mullen left this roster. Every time he is in the game teams will run inside or off tackle. He can't move. I'd go tempo as well because he can't get off the field without a timeout. If Kentucky is smart (jury is out and Stoopes is a defensive guy) they'll exploit that. It sticks out in every which way. Utah is known for being physical up front, but they neutralized Dexter (1st round grade by most) & Cox (late 1/early 2) pretty good. Linebackers looked good. Dean had a great game but he's basically a LBer playing safety so this game was in his wheelhouse. At least he likes to hit and we're gonna need that at the second level it looks like. Torrance must have started tackling better in the second half, I had to listen to the first quarter and a half on radio. He'll be alright, snuck into the top 5 safety prospects on a lot of sites and scouting report is that scouts like his physicality. Again, behind those guys though we're really really green.
Lot to love about that gameplan and this team. With the transfers coming following from Louisiana and the seemingly 180 culture turnaround this is starting to feel a lot like early Urban Meyer minus the personality flaws. Hopefully we shore up the NIL organization and give Napier the support he needs in that area because I really think he's the guy and it's nice not to qualify my opinion on our coach with "I hope I'm wrong......." Go Gators.
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Post by tapsgator on Aug 30, 2022 13:24:20 GMT -5
Skittles needs to give Hawaii an NIL deal before I believe a win over the Rainbow Warriors is meaningful.
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Post by tapsgator on Aug 30, 2022 13:18:50 GMT -5
Frost is 15-30 at Nebraska. Pelini (who wasn't great by any means) was 67-27. Even Mike Reilly was 19-19. Frost left his recruiting bases in the two best states in the country for the athletes that thrive in his system (Oregon and the Nike money can always recruit Cali and Florida is Florida) so he could go home and be a hero in the middle of the heartland. Really bad move professionally, hope it worked out for him personally.
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Post by tapsgator on Aug 26, 2022 9:10:09 GMT -5
Spiraling at super speed. I just don't know how it corrects, I would say market correction but fans (especially super rich ones) are so delusional that even if they pay a kid in high school who never plays a down for their team they feel like they've "done something." If the kid hits? Next time someone will try to get the next big thing in middle school.
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Post by tapsgator on Aug 24, 2022 10:29:41 GMT -5
"Another Name, Image, and Likeness milestone came and went on Monday when KONGiQ Sports Performance and Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco, one of the top high school football programs in the nation, announced they had entered into a NIL agreement. Every player in the St. John Bosco program will earn money in exchange for posting content on social media and on the KONGiQ app. While the deal isn't expected to be nearly as lucrative as the reported NIL deals for top 2023 prospects, this is a huge deal for high school players around the country. Bosco's NIL deal is believed to be the first of its kind and more are coming. Remember when everybody was flipping out about the alleged $1 million deal Travis Hunter got from Jackson State? Now five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava allegedly has a $7 or $8 million NIL deal. Expect the value of these team-wide NIL deals to go up too. Right now there are fewer than 20 states that allow high school athletes to sign NIL deals. Of the four big recruiting hotbeds (California, Florida, Texas, and Georgia), California is the only one that will let prospects capitalize on their Name, Image, and Likeness. As these team-wide NIL deals get more and more valuable, expect players from around the country to start transferring to these schools. Dozens of top prospects already transfer to another state during each offseason but it will be interesting to see how quickly other states fall in line if dozens of top prospects from one state start transferring to another." source: www.n.rivals.com/news/three-point-stance-mid-atlantic-predictions-nil-teams-on-a-tear?ga_source=cmThe South needs to catch up here or else Lincoln Riley will wind up reeling off national championships. I'm sure they will. And it's not IF dozens of prospects change states, it's when. It won't be long before 90% of rising 5 stars take money to go to prep schools in California. If the kid is good enough they'll move their whole family out, and once they're out there it's gonna be hard to get them back.
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Post by tapsgator on Aug 15, 2022 11:30:11 GMT -5
a coach that gets it and sees this as a destination rather than a stepping stone. I'm really starting to like him. Love this: www.saturdaydownsouth.com/florida-football/billy-napier-speaks-about-recruiting-momentum-this-is-certainly-a-sign-that-were-gaining-traction/Specifically this part: “We’re going to be diligent, we’re going to be consistent,” Napier said. “I think we’ve got an incredible product to sell in the University of Florida that comes with that. There’s history here, there’s tradition here. There’s an elite education experience here. We have an alumni network that can help position our players for success when football’s over. We have one of the best game days, if not the best game day venue in all of sports. I think we’ve got a prime location.” That he mentions several times consistency of effort and diligence in following through tells you all you need to know about his predecessors and how we fell out of realistic national relevance. This is how we get back. Growing pains are fine as long as there's growth.
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Post by tapsgator on Aug 15, 2022 9:37:12 GMT -5
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Post by tapsgator on Aug 9, 2022 13:15:10 GMT -5
Coming off a season near .500 with a new coaching staff and roster questions, I get it. Prove it on the field. USC and Miami are ranked. Neither was anything last year. A coaching change is not likely to make that big of a difference in one season. And Notre Dame #5? The same Notre Dame who lost to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl? They also have a first year head coach who has never been a head coach before. I don't really put much stock in the results from last year, a much better indicator is talent on the roster and we'll know more once the talent composite comes out for 2022. What's odd to me is that USC, UM, and ND are all behind us in the most recent talent indicators which are from February. Let's set USC aside because Riley brought an absolute haul from the portal: the #1 QB, the top 2 WRs, #3 & 24 RB, #17 Oline, #2, 9, &18 LB, and #9 DB. They will be a top 10 team in terms of roster talent, Riley is widely considered a top 5 coach maybe just outside but certainly top 10. I could see them making a quick jump especially given the lack of competition (Riley went from a conference where most of the teams have no defense to one where most teams have no defense and no offense). This team is more talented at the top than recent OU teams but not as deep. I'm betting 15 ends up being too low. That coach with that talent against that competition? Cmon UM did okay in the portal and Cristobal can coach. We did better in the portal, will have a more talented roster, and Napier has had comparable results although at a smaller school. The only thing they have on us is their schedule. They play 3 top 25 teams and one of them is Pittsburgh who is not good. You lost your Heisman candidate from last year to the NFL and your best player to USC and you're Pittsburgh? And you're ranked? Seriously. They may make a decent run after Texas A&M and Jimbo isn't afraid to lose a game for no reason other than he's Jimbo, but that's still a silly ranking. Notre Dame being ranked 5th in a coaches' poll is more an indictment of Brian Kelly than anything else. I think Freeman is going to wind up being good, mainly because I (and evidently the majority of coaches and seemingly recruits) remember that Brian Kelly was a complete staff overhaul away from being unemployed 4 years ago. Nothing in life is certain aside from death, taxes, and Notre Dame being overrated in college football, but 5 is crazy. I just want us to look like a real football team moving in the right direction under a coach who cares about more than his next job. If he's not a raging weirdo that would be a refreshing change, you know like forego making up death threats and/or doing post game pressers in costume? I feel like that's not too much to ask.
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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 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 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 5, 2022 10:16:06 GMT -5
For certain, the NCAA thought they were untouchable. They were wrong. Their selective rules enforcement and self-serving decisions came back to bite them. Good riddance.
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Post by tapsgator on Jul 1, 2022 11:06:05 GMT -5
Exactly why former Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said that the NCAA would be better off in litigation (which they apparently wanted to avoid at all cost, even if it meant total chaos) than to have no rules about NIL. Much easier said than done. I don't think litigation would look the way he wants people to believe it would look. There's very little chance that any court would issue an injunction that allowed the NCAA to temporarily regulate the very same public market that the Courts have said they don't have authority over. Even less chance that they say "STOP" everything until we sort this out. I think he also has an agenda in that the Big 12 is going to die a not particularly slow death now that the majority of their cash cows are gone to the SEC. If things get tied up in litigation (which the NCAA is likely to lose based on really bad precedent) then maybe things slow down, but without an injunction more likely things continue as is or even accellerate. Also, the NCAA could get hit with private attorneys fees in a class action on behalf of every college athlete. It's a lot easier to spend other people's money, I wonder if the Big 12 would consider putting rules in place governing their institutions and NIL? Much easier to regulate a conference these days than the entire NCAA.
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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 tapsgator on Jun 29, 2022 10:26:06 GMT -5
www.gatorsports.com/story/football/2022/06/27/florida-gators-football-recruiting-reports-nil-jaden-rashada-social-media-inducement-accusations/7746637001/What a mess. Somebody pointed out the main reason for the "controversy," basically we have 2 NIL entities: The Gator Collective- For average fans to contribute what they can. Gator Guard- Bull Gators who are trying to hit the 20 mil threshold that Napier set for a war chest. 6park.news/oregon/big-money-gator-guard-collective-hopes-to-meet-billy-napiers-doable-number.htmlWhat could become an issue is if there's confusion between the two (as appears to have been the case for Rashada) and the Gator Collective really is run by less experienced people with access to the press. Obviously NIL is a fustercluck and has caused a lot of public fighting, but you know what nobody with any experience has done? Gone after player representatives. That is really stupid. This guy already has 25-30 blue chip kids including 2 of the top 5 QBs in the country. If he's getting kids 8 figure offers he's probably going to get more in the years to come. He's sure to be one of many, this is probably already a profile thing "I'm so good I got an agent in 10th grade." Is that great for college sports? Hell no, but it is reality, and the schools that accept it and structure accordingly are already getting results even more quickly than most anticipated. What's especially dumb is the timing. Nobody has signed letters of intent. Guys can go elsewhere. You've got plenty of uncommitted kids. At the time of all this we were at 38 in the country, a couple commitments later we're still at 31. We need a lot between now and NSD. Napier knows it. He's asked for help and 20mil not in that order. Stop cutting him off at the knees because you got butthurt about a quote from a lawyer. Guess who was in Miami when all this went down? Cormani McClain, the #3 prospect in the country, our number 1 target, the only 5 star (and kid in the top 75) that has any crystal ball projections to UF. I'm gonna go way out on a limb and say he's looking for an NIL deal and probably a bigger deal than the kid at 45 just got. He at least has an advisor if not a representative. To have a top 10 class he's a must get at this point. Yet in the ultimate relationship game we're out there burning bridges.
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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 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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