Let's be honest about who we are.

They’re allowed one free transfer as an undergrad. They’re allowed one free transfer as a grad. If they transfer multiple times as an undergrad, they’re required to sit a year unless they get a waiver. I don’t think the situational waivers are an issue, the initial free pass is the issue.

Players leaving before their first season is another issue all together because that doesn’t even cost them their one free undergraduate move. The schools release them from their LOI, so it’s treated the same as the initial signing. It’s not a transfer.

 

If you’ve ever bought tickets from the University, you’re a booster. You can’t throw a fit because another individual isn’t spending enough money to satisfy you. You can open up your own wallet. How someone else spends their money is up to them. Be appreciative of what they are willing to spend, or find a way to raise the money yourself.

 

Texas isn't exactly a dumb dumb school either. You don't have to go full on lsu to have a good football program.

 

Yep, and one as a graduate transfer. And they don't have to honor their commitment as a freshman. That should be an NCAA rule, and not up to the head ball coaches.

It's a mess... there needs to be a fix in here somewhere. Do you have any good suggestions to make the transfer portal more fair to the schools, lass crazy?

 

Other than two decades of greatness, we've pretty much always been a "Wait 'til next year" program. We were before 1990 and we are since 2009. I've been going since I was in first grade in 1961. Been thru the highs and lows. Charley Pell showed us what we could be, but, alas, we know how that turned out. SOS and Urban brought our greatest hopes home to us. But, things aren't what they used to be and probably never will be again on a consistent basis. I'll always be a Gator, no matter what. But, I no longer get the enjoyment out of it, like I no longer enjoy the NFL. I'm glad I was there for the greatness and will always hope for the best, but the losses don't ruin my life like they used to. Only been to two games since 2012 with last year against S. Carolina being the first. I loved the experience, but it isn't the same. From the end of some great traditional rivalries that I watched even without really caring who won, to the transfer portal, now the NIL, the control of virtually the entire system by ESPN, etc. I'm glad I grew up to be a Gator in a different era. Rightly or wrongly, other than my family and friends, Gators football was the most important thing in my life. Now, if they getting pounded, I don't sit and suffer thru it until the last second ticks off of the clock like I used to. Never left a game early, never turned off the TV, but now, I have other things that I can do. It does sadden me, because my family had ten seasons tickets for decades, and it was an opportunity for all of us to be together, even though most of us didn't live in Gainesville anymore, and Gators football gave us that. Prior to that, my grandpa had faculty and staff tickets in section 4. I used to see at least 40 people every game that I had known since I was a kid. Even before we gave up our seats, other than my family, I rarely saw anyone I knew. With a new era comes changes, and in my opinion the changes are ruining something that I loved, and I don't think we'll ever see again.

 

I don't know anything about Gary Condron's family situation but he founded his company in 1987. He's new money. UGA's boosters are what Gone With The Wind is based on.

 

As if that has ever occurred. NCAA is toothless today. They did little smart/fair when the had all of the power.

 

I think that genie is out of the bottle. I was not a fan of them giving the free pass to undergrads, but they were handing out waivers left and right for no reason at that point, so I’m not really sure it mattered anyway.

I’m also not a fan of releasing them from their LOI, but everyone does it, so the optics are terrible for anyone who tries to buck the system.

The whole system is broken. I don’t see any simple fixes for any of it.

 

Didn't read past "not a football school."

 

Until you address coaches making millions and leaving whenever, or being fired and getting their entire contracted money, you can't hold kids to a different standard.

 

To the OP:

Nothing wrong with your take...with a couple of questions or provisos.

First of all, there is absolutely nothing written in stone that says UF (or any other academic institution) shall be elite in anything - academics, general athletics, football. But somehow, we became quite elite in all three. That to me is quite remarkable. But now comes the questions/provisos.

The game of major college football has changed. There is no going back. Actually, the true answer is that it proclaimed to be a "dog" when it was always a "bear". Calling it one thing when it is patently something else is foolish. It is just that we wanted to believe it. So what is a "dog"? Amateur competition filled with passionate and loyal student-athletes. The "bear"? Obviously a semi-professional sport. All that has happened in the recent past is that the "formula" to success got sophisticated and Bama got it perfected. Then UGa (and Clemson) stole it and now they are brewing it just about as well. The outliers like Oklahoma, OSU and Michigan (along with other latter-day blue bloods) are trying hard to get into the game.

Now to UF. There are two distinct paths we can go. The first is to be Vanderbilt or Harvard or Yale. And I would use Harvard and Yale because Vanderbilt may hear the siren's song of the SEC money. We shall see. That is the way we are heading, IF the academic side wins. The other path is the old "if you can't beat them, join them." We ARE in the SEC. That means we have already "joined them." But is collecting revenue and spending it "wisely" the way the brain trust - and their other money - thinks? If I had to take a temperature, I would plainly say that UF is attempting to be "a bit pregnant", and you should know that is not possible. And so, we have THE question:

If/when we decide to go "all-in, but not ALL-IN", what are YOU going to do? Are you going to cheer for those guys who have been bought and paid for...for at least one season...because that is what you have always done? Really? Methinks your "nobility" is going to wane and suddenly the fall leaves and walks in the woods is going to be more compelling. But that is in the future. Say the next 3-5 years from now. And now back to the first path. You are going to put on your best "Harvard" shirt and proclaim that "losing big in football is as noble as academics"? REALLY???

I can't speak for the nouveau UF fans. But I would say that the ones who cheer the loudest and spend the most dough are passionate about being a player in the major college arena. And so, Path 2 is really the only one. Again, unless the pure academicians win. We shall see.

 

I pretty much agree with the entirety of this post. The only place where I wonder is whether the NIL era leaves any space for fandom. Unless we're content to just root for a jersey, which you could just as easily do for an NFL team or a Pop Warner team, the NIL era makes it a lot harder as an alum to justify rooting for much of anything from "your" team. In the last few hours, UF has seen key players jump into the portal and even celebrate an offer from FSU. I don't begrudge them the choice, their skills are rare and they need to do what is best for them and their families with those skills. The problem is, since the NIL era means that schools like UF are doing little more than renting players on a season by season basis with little room for a lasting connection or sense of loyalty to the university, why should I care about what these players do even while they are wearing a Gator jersey if they could just as easily be wearing an FSU one in a few months?

 

We may not be a blue blood football program but to say we’re not a football school is ridiculous. We have one of the most signature home environments in the sport. The peak of the Spurrier and Meyer eras were electric and we were THAT hated team. But we are not Alabama or Ohio State where we attract NFL coaches and naturally draw in 5 stars with no effort. Aggressive, out of the box coaching got us our best years and it will always take that kind of style to get us back to the top.

 

Easy solution for all this. Let's go back to 1869, Rutgers vs. Princeton. No scholarships, no recruiting, no NIL. Everybody is admitted to the university on the basis of academic merit. Then, at some point in early fall, anyone who wants to can try out for the football team. The team is then chosen from this group of real students, and that team represents the university. Totally even playing field. The quality won't be nearly as good, but I'll bet the games would be interesting. Sort of like Division 24 football, or however many divisions there are. If kids want to play pro football, let the NFL form a minor league of football players. Why should universities have to pay to be a training ground for professional athletes?

As you can tell, I'm really old.

Oh, and coaches get paid a normal academic salary.

 

Let's be honest about who we are.
College football has become .....

 

Well, that’s the reason you say “one free transfer” without having to sit. The genie was already out of the bottle (or at least they destroyed their credibility by granting waivers on the sit-out rule). But they can still crack down on a second or third transfer. Just make it so there is no exception on multiple transfers after the “free” one. No additional waivers. That seems entirely reasonable compared to kids playing at 3 or 4 (or potentially even more) schools in their career.

 

We are a football school that has spent the past 13 years making bad hires. Some downright absurd hires. With a competent athletic director we have a competitive program, without one, we have what we have seen for 13 years now. The other side of that, if we have major boosters that get in the way of making legitimate hires they are doing more harm than good. For example, Hugh Freeze could have just finished up his second season in Gainesville, or Lane Kiffin. Instead we hired a coach that should be cutting his teeth at a place like Houston or Georgia Tech.

The football program’s issue is bad leadership at the top hiring mediocre leadership to run the program.

 

The recent tenor of this forum is giving a new meaning of "Swamp Gas".

 

Can’t stand the give up and accept mediocrity mentality. I agree about the change in the football landscape with NIL and the ridiculous free agency portal. BUT, I won’t settle for mediocrity and neither should the fans. Georgia is no slouch in the Public University rankings at #20 & we were in the SEC championship game 3 years ago.

If you wanna accept mediocrity to help your enjoyment of being a fan, go for it. In my opinion, it’s absolutely ridiculous to say UF can’t be a consistent winner again. GA was a good program for 30+ years and it took their head coach 6 years to be great & win a Natty.

Please do not accept mediocrity Gator Nation!!!!