I think 247 has us underrated in talent, but maybe I'm just counting on where we will be after we sign all the 2024 recruits. We should move up considerably on the talent, especially if we hit big in the Portal for 3 or 4 great players. But I'm happy where we are right now. Much of the discussion surrounding Florida football is the cleanup job that Billy Napier has had to do in the wake of the dumpster fire left behind by Dan Mullen. Napier has run off a number of Mullen holdovers while bringing in guys who believe in the vision of Napier. And while not much is expected from the national media in 2023, we would be remised if we went into the season thinking the Gators had a roster nobody could win with. Florida Football: It’s about the Jimmys and the Joes The 247 Talent Composite compiles the recruiting star rating that players had coming out of high school and puts together a list of which teams are, on paper, the most talented in the country. Florida Football: 247 Talent Composite confirms Gators have a solid roster
This is why I say we should beat FSU, Tennessee, Kentucky and USC this year... and every year, really.
Painful to think what could have been. Any decent defensive coordinator and Florida wins a title in 2020. Possibly 19.
The 247 Sports Team Composite Ranking: 2023 College Football Team Talent Composite (247sports.com) Only two teams on Florida's schedule have better talent, Georgia and LSU. UF is ranked 15 and UTn is ranked 16. FSU is ranked 20. Stewart (3-9/1-7) Mandel should be sent a copy of this ranking.
Welcome to my thread... Lol. This should be merged into my OP... since it's essentially the same information without the story. Florida Football: 247 Talent Composite confirms Gators have a solid roster | Swamp Gas Forums
Mullen's last recruiting class wound up at #32, good for last place in SEC, per this ESPN article. I won't dispute your point about NFL players. However...that might be some front-loading on Mullen's recruiting (and inherited recruiting.) It's likely that not enough from his last three classes ever panned out at Florida.
Mandel could just counter asking what TAMU’s talent rating was last season. Having people think we have talent is good, but what we clearly want is winning games. Let’s see how that goes before we get too cocky about the number of 4 stars on the roster.
Not cocky, but Mandel is wrong. UF doesn't have a talent issue to the degree Mandel used to base his decision on. If he said UF has lousy coaches who can't coach the talent we have, I'd have simply said to each their own. That isn't what he did. He said UF doesn't have enough player talent to be better than his prediction. I'm okay with sticking up for our players. The coaches can defend themselves.
My point is that talent evaluations are hypotheses, and hypotheses, including our own, are not yet tested. I’m sure few on here would have celebrated any suggestion of us winning four games in 2013, but that would have proved a sage prediction. If we end up winning 10 games, I’ll be happy to co-sign any number of letters to Mandel telling him to eat crow, but for now, his guess remains a possible, if unlikely seeming, reality.
