I think the distinction here is that we definitely have enough talent to be a decent defense. The talent isn't championship level, but I believe a good coach would improve the defense substantially with zero change to the roster.
Harold Perkins was a freshman as well at LSU but he got on the field. I really think it’s more the fact that outside of James, we got no production from that position last year. I actually agree that given some good coaching, pup could become an outstanding player but we shouldn’t be in a position where we have to rely on him from day 1.
KY kicks our butt yearly with a D that plays sound fundamentally. They make us beat them not the other way around. It's ironic that the same coach on offense hopes the opposing D beats themselves.
Going back to safety play again, iirc below 60 grade is "bench" level. If you can't see it, coverage grade: Castell 49.7 Douglas 45.5
makes me sad to hear you reference Perkins because i’ll always remember him being THISCLOSE to being a Gator 2 years ago outta HS. Coulda def used him but we probably woulda misused him and ruined him
I find it hard to believe our safeties are just morons, there's gotta be some coaching screwup happening at that position.
Not sure why y’all are worried about losing players. I’m ok with cleaning house. These same players haven’t won any games or shown anything. They are getting paid now and they don’t really need to be on payroll on what we are seeing.
Well...for my part, first, bc they're Gators (ie--actually matriculated UF students) who chose us over other schools; second, they took a chance on us--and we did not meet our end of the bargain, not vice versa (ie no conduct violations, and subpar performance is on us, via incompetent coaching); third, I see no indication of a cultural issue in the locker room that would suggest a cleansing is or was necessary. We have a real shitty coaching problem, not a player problem. The first indispensable step, is to remove the actual tumor--ie Scared Money--before resorting to chemo. Tap a successor, see how everyone responds when they realize that their job is on the line, and that this ain't no show up and collect a check government gig. NB: Naptime ain't no Gator. He's a hired gun/ mercenary (when we got better gun men in our own town...).
Perkins wasn't playing ILB. As he played inside more following year his stats plummeted. Comparing Pup with Perkins is apples and oranges, regardless that Perkins may be more athletic. Perkins and James may be more athletic, but I would prefer Pup over both at ILB.
How Bridges was playing against aTm i see no reason that Douglas would get a snap, considering he adds nothing to run defense that Bridges can't do. The lack of gang help by LB and S in runs down the middle was maddening. Our edges can't hold up, so the rb got butt pushed for 3 seconds while 2 DT are trying to hold the pile of 5 OL plus rb. A 1 to 2 yard gain turned into a 6 to 8 yard gain. It should have been 11 v 6 before the rb got 3 yards.
harold Perkins was the 5th overall prospect in the nation out of high school. So pup Howard isn’t talented because as a true freshman he didn’t have a freshman season like Perkins? Kind of a high bar. I’m guessing since Nico, the Tenn QB, didn’t start as a true freshman last year he isnt talented either? He sat behind a bum in Joe Milton so Nico can’t be good. Howard played in every game as a true freshman at SC. He made 19 tackles with a 100% tackle rate, highest on the team. Just because he didn’t start and wasn’t a freshman all American like Perkins doesn’t mean he isn’t talented.
I find it incredibly hard to understand folks that do not understand this. Everybody agrees that we do not have UGA talent. And we have witnessed players out of position, confused, with poor technique, etc for THREE years! We play like a bottom SEC team when that is not the talent coming in the door, and the commonality is coaching. As a fan when you watch a BN offense, do you expect a schematic advantage? Now imagine being 20 years old and told to run into an 8 man box... again and again. Football is a game of passion and belief so when your coach repeatedly sends you out to fight with one hand behind your back, what do folks expect to happen? I was as disgusted as anyone with the lack of effort after the UM interception by our linemen. And we do have roster holes that present mismatches. Ultimately though the guys paid to "acquire talent" and coach it up to its maximum potential have failed so colossally that our team presents as eggshell confidence that cracks under any pressure. Coaching is the root cause of this shit show. Our new coach will sort the players, but given their poor coaching in every respect, I find it very hard to judge almost all of our players.
...and then there's that spectacular record of our kids going elsewhere, and suddenly remembering how to play @#$#$ football. Suddenly looking like studs, while we make them look like...well... like they're just clearly not playing anywhere close to their upside potential. That's 1000% coaching (...for which we've paid a @#$#$ fortune...). We paid for Billy "scared money don't make money" the Kid Napier--all we got was the 'Scared Money'. Billy "Scared Money" Naptime. @#$#&'n disgusting. And to put that shit on the players is complete crap. The players deserve better. Period. They. Are. Gators.
