HARD realities and decisions

Hard reality: Florida lost a lot of players off an experienced (should have been better) defense last year, and replaced them with almost nothing during a coaching transition.

Mohamoud Diabate - 2nd leading tackler
Tyron Hopper - 4th leading tackler, #3 TFL (8) - one of missouri's best players now,
Jeremiah Moon - 6th leading tackler
Zac Carter - 9th leading tackler, #2 TFL - (11)
Kair Elam - 10th leading tackler, one of the best corners in the SEC
Khris Bogle - LB/DE
Antonio Valentino - SR DT
Daquan Newkirk - SR DT
Tyrone Truesdell - SR DT

Florida did not replace these losses in the portal - probably the biggest mistake by the new staff right now.
6 of the top 10 tacklers on this team this year are sophomores.
All of our DT's are sophomores or younger - big problem. Not getting enough pub as the season goes along how this coaching staff is using a giant fat man and some other youngsters to try to hold the line.
Our best LB is a low 3 star guy form 6 years ago
4 of our top 5 players in the secondary are sophomores, and the one senior, Trey Dean, is having a tough year.

I think many of us thought this might get worse before it got better. And we are kind of seeing that now.
We can debate maybe how the coaches could be covering up for their players better - but keep in mind that one of the best coaches of all time inherited a similar mess, but in fact it was year 3 of his tenure, and Meyers Florida's defense gave up 25.5 PPG, and had to win shootouts against Troy 59-31, Ole Miss 30-24, Kentucky 45-37, Vanderbilt 49-22, and South Carolina 51-31.

So... Again, I know it looks bad right now. But I'd just pump the brakes right now on any declarations that these coaches are incapable. We need more data before we can make that decision.