I'M AN OPTIMISTIC GATOR FAN

Ask Trask or Driskel.

 

Definitely Trask was a victim of that. But, I would say that Driskel's troubles were caused by the opposite; he was a very talented athlete who was thrown into the fray before he was developed.

 

Gee Murph, you have been on a reality tear the last couple of days......................

 

There is some logic behind your comments - Kerwin Bell, (red-shirt freshman) Chris leak (I think he started as a Frosh)? ........ but we have a really solid guy in Mertz that completed what, 73% of his passes, and was a warrior IMO. Heck, Tebow didn't even start his Freshman year or Danny W, a couple of Heisman guys.

I do really hope Napier has some situational packages to break DJ in however and get him a feel for the realities of the SEC. Then of course Mertz could very well get injured and DJ plays anyway.

 

Always, brother. I don't get why a very good recruiting class is being seen as a bad one just because it isn't on par with the best programs in the nation... which we clearly aren't right now. When we finish in the top of the standings, then we should expect top 5 classes. As it is now, we punch well above our weight when it comes to recruiting, and Billy Napier should be commended for the job he and his staff pulled off.

 

Thanks.

According to ET, moderation of Gator Country has ceased in favor of page views, allowing trolls and what appears to be unlimited attacks on forum members, players and coaches.

IMO ruining the experience here and allowing a miserable minority an unwanted platform to spew garbage.

 

The drive by trolls usually out themselves pretty quickly...the ones that are really annoying are those that stick around for years and years and pretend to be Gators when they are not.

 

I think the reason people are disappointed is that without better recruiting…we are going to continue to see on field results like we have the last 3 seasons. No gator fan wants to see that. Depending on the rating service, we finished with the 8th or 9th best class in the SEC and also trailed two more opponents next year, fsu and Miami. You cannot compete for SEC titles recruiting at that level unless you have ELITE on field coaching and and ELITE qb. Lagway could end up being an elite qb. Bit to date, our on field coaching has been average at best. And that is being generous.

Miami went 5-7 in a horrid ACC last year and finished with the 7th best class. This year, they went 7-5 in a bad ACC and their coach had the worst on field play call of the century to lose a game (not kneeling) and yet they finished 3rd overall in recruiting. One example of that It is possible to recruit above your weight in recruiting. And that is what is needed to compete in the SEC.

 

TAMU had a great class and look what it got them. Miami went 7-5 and we went 5-7. It makes sense they had a slightly better recruiting class. But what I understand about our class is that its quality over quantity, which doesn’t reflect in the class rankings.

You may not realize it, but you all are low key dissing the guys who signed with us. How would you feel as a new signee with half the fanbase saying that our class isn’t good enough. To me, the story is despite some decommits, UF had a strong class… much stronger than we deserved… and we signed the #1 overall player according to Maxpreps. Let that sink in… we got the best player in the nation and not only did he sign, but he never wavered. He wants to be a Gator.

It’s all a matter of perspective, and I refuse to join the dark side. Be negative all you want and see where it gets us/you.

And another thing, I don’t get why you guys hit someone with bacon then want to have a gentlemanly conversation with them. Bacon is a rude way to engage someone.

 

I don’t consider reality to be negative and I bet you the players that signed don’t consider it dissing them to recognize we lost 6 top 150 recruits that decommitted and left the class in the past month. Every player who signed would’ve liked to have more guys sign with them - helps the team succeed and thus helps them succeed.

I am far from a pessimistic fan. However, I am a data guy and usually look at historical analysis of how recruiting impacts performance and on field results and records. I acknowledged in my post we signed an elite qb. I think he is the best high school qb in the country. Hope he balls out and dominates from day 1. We also signed a ton of high end talent. But i also am able to recognize we needed more of that talent. Doesn’t infer anything negative about a single player or the group we signed.

 

Au Contraire, Bacon is tasty!

 

More drama than ESD

 

I think what has been missed a little is what I consider the Big-3 signees: Lagway, Graham, and McCray. These are the Alphas you can build a team around. Not denying the disappointment of losing the flips.

 

They have free will and they left. It happens. The reason it's a big deal to some of you is that they even committed in the first place. We are in an environment where players get poached due to more money being thrown at them, coaching changes, friends sign with other teams, etc... Worry about the guys who stayed. Guys who left aren't our concern anymore. Success breeds success, but success isn't always linear. It can go from good, to bad, to great and there isn't always a solid explanation for it.

 

Corny

 

Somebody, somebody please!?

 

I like the guys that signed on very much. There are some great prospects and every one of them is a potential star. Size was below expectations but with the portal I don’t think it really matters. My only worry is that the SEC is so brutal that the record next year might not be what we want. I like Napier and I’m in for the long haul.

 

Clueless