It's not where we were, either. The last top class was 2010. Muschamp had two #3 classes, but as we all now know, those top players were on defense. But when several of your opponents are consistently out-recruiting you, they tend to prevail. From 2011 to 2024, looking at todays SEC as well as FSU and Miami, : Recruiting average: Alabama 1.5 Georgia 4.6 LSU 6.8 Texas 8.9 Auburn 11.1 Oklahoma 11.1 FSU 11.3 Florida 11.4 Texas A&M 12.6 Tennessee 14.8 Miami 15.7 Ole Miss 22.9 South Carolina 24.1 Arkansas 26.8 Miss State 27.1 Kentucky 31.8 Mizzou 36.2 Vandy 47.1 W/L winning percentage: Alabama 0.899 Georgia 0.814 Oklahoma 0.782 LSU 0.732 FSU 0.701 Texas A&M 0.634 Florida 0.598 Texas 0.594 Miami 0.583 Auburn 0.575 Mizzou 0.573 Miss State 0.572 Ole Miss 0.559 South Carolina 0.558 Tennessee 0.540 Kentucky 0.494 Arkansas 0.444 Vandy 0.380 Jessies and Joes
Obviously we don’t which guys will be willing to move. It’s not like they advertise it. My point is it doesn’t matter. Once we know a coach cannot have success ANYONE is an upgrade because there is a probability of success. Of course a better coach has a higher probability but we could hire you and have our success probability rise.
I agree the UAA is a problem. But that lands to our recruiting rankings. The UAA won’t cause a coach to underperform his players true talent. Regardless just because the UAA stinks doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to find a good coach. They are independent issues that need to be independently solved. You make it seem like firing previous coaches hurt the program. It did not. We got 2 national titles out of it. If we kept Muschamp or Mac we’d be in the same spot. Mullen was quick on paper, but he basically quit. Should we have forced him to stay?
But both Spurrier and Meyer benefitted tremendously by inheriting loaded rosters of talent. They also benefitted from having the easiest schedules of their time at Florida their first year. But I will also say that based on everything we've seen, with being middle-of-the-pack of the SEC in recruiting, middle of the pack of the SEC in The Portal (averaged 7th in the SEC the last three years), and unknown but probably struggling in NIL, I would be forced to say that Strickland, Napier and the entire army of staffers are all dead men walking. A great coach would struggle to win seven games this year. Any less than that, and they are all toast, at least if the mood here is anything to go by. Who to replace them all with? No one knows, but I think Stoopsie, Da Ball Coach, Urbs and Kerwin Bell are all getting older by the day...
Talent compared to the teams on our schedule is much more relevant than the 125 teams recruiting is compared to. What’s our talent level compared to the 9 ranked teams on our schedule as they are the only ones that really matter. Then you can simply add up star ranking numbers or you can look at all the highly ranked freshman that make our roster look so talented and then realize they aren’t going to affect the product on the field much next year. 5.5 is a realistic number and getting to 7-5 is going to be a tough road. These portal guys are going to have to perform much better than the ones we brought in last year. The youngsters are not going to carry a team to sec wins.
To say stars don't matter suggests that our coaches can identify talent better than the others. You believe that? The recruiting and W/L record in the SEC are similar.
The talent seemed loaded bc that is what good coaches do. If Meyer came instead of Napier we’d be winning 9+
Disagree. Meyer's talent in 2005 was far better than what we have now, and we won 9 games. Meyer's talent was far better in 2010 and won only 8 games. Spurrier inherited a dominant defense from the 1989 Gators, whose season was ruined by the flux in coaching resulting from Galen's unfair (but understandable) dismissal. He also had two 9-win seasons with much greater talent than our team. This is, of course, barring any unforseen stars in the rough, or stars outside the Portal. It's like free agency in baseball, at least to a degree.
Again, I'm not arguing we are top 10 program, I don't think we are. I still haven't seen anything that says we should be outside the top 25 based on resources, recruiting, brand name, fan engagement, etc. The people running the organization is the issue, both on the sideline and in the office.
Seem to be 2 separate debates going on here. The program IS not top 25 right now. The program SHOULD BE top 25, minimum. Anyone in charge of the program at all levels is failing if they are not maintaining that standard.
Lots of people would be willing to take a shot for 7 million and a 5 year contract. Any of them good? Who knows but we love trying to find a diamond in the rough.
..but UF didn’t do that, this time, unfortunately. It was a 7yr contract for $51.8mil. Redonkulous, imho.
Absolutely! He would bring in great coaches like he did to OSU and UF..not clowns from the minor leagues. Players come to play for that guy and would run through a wall for him. Hell after watching the series I felt like going for a 2am workout I was so wound up. Whatever you think of him personally is another story but the guy can flat out build a team and get 100% buy in from his guys. Anyone who wants to point to his flame out inn his last year has to realize he had family issues (self caused)...or health issues whichever you want to believe. With the NIL though Im not sure he could ever keep his esophagus happy...its a total disaster.
It is so funny that these threads take a left turn into discussions that have nothing to do with the subject. 7 wins, a bowl game, and we keep the train on the track.
Probably what concerns me the most with Miami is that they have a lot of experience returning on offense and defense. Miami's offense should be able to score points. If it is a shootout, can Florida’s defense come up with a few stops? I cannot affirmatively provide an answer. If the OL comes together that is a plus, but our defense is the question. Where UM especially has the edge is on defense; but, they also have the edge at qb. And I especially give them the edge on qb due to mobility. If Mertz had the mobility of Ward, they would be about even; although, Ward had WAY better numbers--75% completion rate and nearly 4,000 yards! As a runner, he reminds me of Jayden Daniels--elusive! Up to now, the Gator defense has not handled mobile qb's. There are many questions with the Gators, and I would feel more confident if there were not so many things that need to come together for the Gators to win. If the Gators can hang with Miami, I will be ecstatic!
