Cormani McClain's decision

Yeah- Kearney and Dijon flip and they’re just “good kids who didn’t wanna go to rotten university’s and wanted to play for great coaches. But the kids who pick Miami “trolls who we don’t need”? Come on.
And even if he did troll us- why the hatred? Haven’t you ever watched wrasslin’? Isn’t there some fun in having a heel? A bad guy? Trolling your rivals?
That’s part of the fun in sports.
im telling you RIGHT NOW- if when Kearney flipped- he did the chop and then a throat slash and picked up
A gator hat- he’d be my all time favorite gator.
We gotta lighten a bit around gator nation We’re too stodgy. Is this what happens when you turn 50? You get white new balances, cargo shorts, play 9 and talk bad about 18 year old recruits and ‘the old ball and chain’? Sounds awful. Count me out.

 

You are right, we should not take the recruitment of 17-year old kids so seriously, but this particular one stung because Cormani Mclain's DB coach is former Gator All-American Ahmad Black, and all the major recruiting sites were predicting Florida. 247 Sports even made a video that they promptly removed right at announcement time. Current Gator commits Marcus Stokes and Treyaun Webb were just as surprised as the rest of us. The assumption is that Napier's staff encouraged Cormani to announce his commitment before the Florida-Georgia game while all eyes are on Florida and Georgia. Throw in the sting of losing to LSU in a winnable game, and a strong desire to see some signs that we are out of the doldrums as a program, and this one just stung.

Granted, if Napier can adjust his recruiting strategy and land a similarly rated 5-star like Desmond Ricks, then we will downplay the sting of losing Cormani Mclain. As it stands now, the 2023 class is as good as it can get without having any 5-star recruits. Napier's best Gator recruit is Myles Graham, a 2024 recruit and son of former Gator Earnest Graham. Other than that, he recruits are only slightly better than Dan Mullen's. The attachment shows how well Napier is doing at recruiting the kids on his offer list as reported by multiple sources. We are still losing recruiting battles to Miami, Alabama, Clemson, Texas, and Georgia, and there are more crystal balls pointing at FSU than UF right now. All that to say, this particular recruiting loss stings more than the others, and it will continue to sting until Napier's army can reel in some talent from the top of this list.

 

To the OP, I realize we all want to have a handle on something, anything, that relates to surety on any particular subject. If I may add to the discussion,

1) This isn't your older brother's game of player procurement. Kind of like the difference between being an accountant using a ledger book and one who uses a spreadsheet. Not that it is "progress", but it is a new game.

2) We do not know why any player - a young man with "Gen Z" ideas - does what they do. That is why I don't pay attention to anyone who says they have "committed" to a team. Triply especially those in signing years beyond this one. The first place to look is when they arrive on campus in January. After that...

3) Money isn't going to go away. It is what it is. Do we want to be one of "those programs", or are we prepared to be what we have always been, a damn good combination of athletics and academic accomplishments. For me, if all we do is become one of "them", I will be done with this mess. But I can not fathom how money becomes THE driving mechanism for a championship. If it is, I can see where the championships WILL be won by UTx or aTm, with a few "magical" moments by a few others. Kind of like the mess we have today in ML baseball. I just don't see it, although there are going to be a few tries to "corner the silver market", proverbially speaking. It is a game of folly IMO.

 

If that's your idea of fun, then UM is the perfect fit, and I wish him the absolute worst in his career. And I would have said the same thing 10, 20 or 30 years ago. If that's your idea of "fun" then you're basically a turd of a human being. Again, wishing only the worst for you and your trash choice of a team Mr. Mclain.

Interesting that you chide fans for reacting exactly how this POS wanted them to react. The whole plan was designed for this very purpose. Oh, and don't worry about that broken window. It's just "kids having fun." Hope every kid who pulls stunts like this (even ours) never sees a dime of NFL money. Then again, a character(less) like this? Even if he makes it to the NFL, he'll be broke in 5 years. Seems like the type.

 

Didn’t the Pouncey’s originally want to go to FSU?

 

One of the bigger issues to me is he didn't pick one of the big 3 in Bama, UGAG or ohoho state. That would have been another 5 star on their pile.

Maybe he wants to be a big fish in a small pond.

 

where have I criticized him?

link?

 

The issue isn't the decision to attend UM. The issue is leading everyone, including your HC and fellow recruits, to believe you are attending one school and then "shocking the world" and picking a hated rival and posing with a young kid wearing a Gator Hater shirt.

In reality, the only people "shocked" are the recruitniks who follow recruiting

If that is his character, UM is absolutely the right fit for him.

 

Yep…

"Mike Pouncey said one major reason he decommitted from FSU and committed to UF was because Bobby Bowden forgot he and his brother's names."

 

Cormani McClain spurns the Gators - Read & Reaction

 

You literally called him a man child.

 

I'm literally calling ALL recruits man-children.

And they all are.

Not a criticism. A fact. These are very large children.

 

That isn't what man-child means, its a condescending term -- But point taken.

 

That's what I understood by man-child. What @ColoradoNoVaGator meant.

The other: a man who acts childish, obviously doesn't apply.

 

the manner/context in which I'm using it would be "a child who (some) adults regard/treat/fête as if he's a adult"

Although I said "very large children" his size is immaterial. Especially considering McClain is a bit of a twig who needs a few burgers and more time in the squat rack.

At any rate, I don't expect most recruits to make adult-like decisions because they're not adults. Heck, half of adults don't make adult-like decisions.

 

He never verbally committed to the Gators. There have been plenty of instances of players giving verbal commitments and going elsewhere on NSD, but that is not even the case here. Miami was always on his list. He has a right to make a choice for himself. I’m sure if he was asked today about the Gators, he would only have good things to say.

 

Yep. He pretty much kept his mouth shut the entire time. All the folks that thought he was a gator lock were just guessing. They guessed wrong.

Time to move on. Gator bait.

 

I'm curious as to the source of your list...

 

Did he even take an official visit anywhere other than Miami?