The Florida Gators thread

[Scalamania]

 

[Scalamania]

Quote

The Florida Gators suffered a de-commitment on Wednesday morning when Mobile (AL) Faith Academy four-star linebacker Shemar James backed off his commitment to UF. James had not visited UF's campus since July.

Seems like he's UGA bound - not great. Moves us down to 18th overall according to 247 and somehow FSU is seven spots ahead of us - absolutely unacceptable.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Scalamania

[jrry32]

3 hours ago, Scalamania said:

Seems like he's UGA bound - not great. Moves us down to 18th overall according to 247 and somehow FSU is seven spots ahead of us - absolutely unacceptable.

Absolute stud of a kid. Word is that we lost him because our assistants got lazy and Mullen refused to put in the effort. I'm now at the point where I am good with us firing Mullen. I've crossed the Rubicon.

[Scalamania]

5 minutes ago, jrry32 said:

Absolute stud of a kid. Word is that we lost him because our assistants got lazy and Mullen refused to put in the effort. I'm now at the point where I am good with us firing Mullen. I've crossed the Rubicon.

Yep - I don't think we'll fire Mullen yet but that seat is going to be scorching hot come next year if he doesn't figure this out and figure it out quick. 

[jrry32]

2 minutes ago, Scalamania said:

Yep - I don't think we'll fire Mullen yet but that seat is going to be scorching hot come next year if he doesn't figure this out and figure it out quick. 

I'm tired of waiting a year too long. The only way Mullen survives is if he starts AR the rest of the year, AR looks great, the Gators finish strong, and Grantham is gone. Otherwise, he needs to go.

[djw4bucs]

Mullen has lost his team, He hasnt even be that good of a recruiter since he got here, not a surprise we lost that recruit. i have no idea who we would try to get as a HC.

[Scalamania]

1 hour ago, jrry32 said:

I'm tired of waiting a year too long. The only way Mullen survives is if he starts AR the rest of the year, AR looks great, the Gators finish strong, and Grantham is gone. Otherwise, he needs to go.

From what I’ve read/heard TG has already been told to start looking for another job. Could just be smoke but the rumor is out there. 

[jrry32]

34 minutes ago, Scalamania said:

From what I’ve read/heard TG has already been told to start looking for another job. Could just be smoke but the rumor is out there. 

Yeah, that's what people said after 2020. 

[jrry32]

1 hour ago, djw4bucs said:

Mullen has lost his team, He hasnt even be that good of a recruiter since he got here, not a surprise we lost that recruit. i have no idea who we would try to get as a HC.

My top guys (not naming any of the usual suspects like Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer, Chris Petersen, etc. who seem unlikely) are (in no particular order and obviously barring how their seasons go):

Matt Campbell HC Iowa State

Kellen Moore OC Cowboys

Jamey Chadwell HC Coastal Carolina

Joe Brady OC Panthers

Billy Napier HC Louisiana

Jeff Traylor HC UTSA

Byron Leftwich OC Buccaneers

Dave Aranda HC Baylor

P.J. Fleck HC Minnesota 

I expect people will also throw out names like James Franklin, Mario Cristobal, Lane Kiffin, Mark Stoops, etc.

[Scalamania]

40 minutes ago, jrry32 said:

My top guys (not naming any of the usual suspects like Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer, Chris Petersen, etc. who seem unlikely) are (in no particular order and obviously barring how their seasons go):

Matt Campbell HC Iowa State

Kellen Moore OC Cowboys

Jamey Chadwell HC Coastal Carolina

Joe Brady OC Panthers

Billy Napier HC Louisiana

Jeff Traylor HC UTSA

Byron Leftwich OC Buccaneers

Dave Aranda HC Baylor

P.J. Fleck HC Minnesota 

I expect people will also throw out names like James Franklin, Mario Cristobal, Lane Kiffin, Mark Stoops, etc.

Let's assume Franklin goes to USC, Fickell goes to PSU and Joey Freshwater goes to LSU.

I think my top candidates would be Cristobal, Chadwell, Campbell, Aranda, Napier and Bill Clark - in that order. I like both Brady and Moore but I think they're destined for NFL gigs after this year. 

I think Cristobal would say no but I think Chadwell would be a very strong choice whether it's this year (likely not) or next year. 

[jrry32]

5 minutes ago, Scalamania said:

Let's assume Franklin goes to USC, Fickell goes to PSU and Joey Freshwater goes to LSU.

I think my top candidates would be Cristobal, Chadwell, Campbell, Aranda, Napier and Bill Clark - in that order. I like both Brady and Moore but I think they're destined for NFL gigs after this year. 

I think Cristobal would say no but I think Chadwell would be a very strong choice whether it's this year (likely not) or next year. 

If I'm being completely frank, I don't like Cristobal. He's a great recruiter, but Oregon has lost too many games to less talented teams during his time there. I am not disputing that he'd do well here, but I don't think he'd elevate us to where Georgia and Bama are. It's why I'm most interested in up-and-coming coaches. Would rather swing for the fences, even if we risk striking out. But I understand why others are more hesitant.

As for Chadwell, I agree. I know you can never anticipate how a coach will do with such a jump in competition, but I was extremely impressed with his squad when I watched the BYU game last year. BYU was far bigger than his team, yet Chadwell's team beat them because they were faster, more disciplined, and played with incredible intensity. Gotta respect that.

Jeff Traylor is another interesting one to me. He took over a UTSA program on an extreme downward trend, turned them around immediately, and has them absolutely dominating this year. He doesn't have much of a track record, but it's really impressive what he's done there.

Edited October 20, 2021 by jrry32

[Scalamania]

12 minutes ago, jrry32 said:

If I'm being completely frank, I don't like Cristobal. He's a great recruiter, but Oregon has lost too many games to less talented teams during his time there. I am not disputing that he'd do well here, but I don't think he'd elevate us to where Georgia and Bama are. It's why I'm most interested in up-and-coming coaches. Would rather swing for the fences, even if we risk striking out. But I understand why others are more hesitant.

As for Chadwell, I agree. I know you can never anticipate how a coach will do with such a jump in competition, but I was extremely impressed with his squad when I watched the BYU game last year. BYU was far bigger than his team, yet Chadwell's team beat them because they were faster, more disciplined, and played with incredible intensity. Gotta respect that.

Jeff Traylor is another interesting one to me. He took over a UTSA program on an extreme downward trend, turned them around immediately, and has them absolutely dominating this year. He doesn't have much of a track record, but it's really impressive what he's done there.

I've read similar concerns about Cristobal elsewhere - not disputing the fact that he's had some clunkers at Oregon, however, I just think his level of recruiting and his ability to keep those elite talents in state would elevate this program to where we all want it to be. 

I agree on Chadwell - it'd be a shame if he ended up landing a new gig this cycle and he won't be an option when/if we move on from Mullen. 

I'm not familiar with Traylor so I can't really comment anything but to say that's a risk I wouldn't mind taking. 

With all that said - after being a fan of this team for 25 years and living through the tenures of Champ, Mac and now Mullen looking to be another underwhelming hire I don't really have much faith in them to make the right hire. If I were a betting man, I'd say we hire someone like Bill O'Brien and just repeat the cycle of disappointment. 

[Oregon Ducks]

Cristobal isn’t the greatest in-game coach and like jrry mentioned, we’ve lost to lesser teams and rarely blow anyone out (including FCS teams). However, we also never get blown out and the few teams that we’ve faced that are more talented than us, we’ve beaten (USC and Ohio St.). He’s one of the best recruiters there is, though, and he would do filthy things in Florida.

He is best as a CEO, culture builder, motivator and recruiter but I’m not sure he’ll ever get you over the hump to compete for NCs in the SEC. I think it’s easier to do that in the PAC-12.

He has looked pissed and unhappy this year, though, and the team was booed at home last week. I can see him leaving for the right opportunity.

I was actually thinking of Mullen as a potential replacement. He was rumored to have agreed to come here before we hired Taggart but someone in the program leaked it and that was the end of that. Yay or nay for him in the PAC-12?

Edited October 20, 2021 by Oregon Ducks

[Scalamania]

4 minutes ago, Oregon Ducks said:

I was actually thinking of Mullen as a potential replacement. He was rumored to have agreed to come here before we hired Taggart but someone in the program leaked it and that was the end of that. Yay or nay for him in the PAC-12?

Do you enjoy piss poor recruiting, idiotic loyalty to ****ty asst. coaches and upper classmen, constantly hearing "I've gotta watch the tape" when asked any questions and playing down to your opponents (which in turn will cost you winnable games)?

If so, Mullen is the guy for you. 

[jrry32]

2 hours ago, Oregon Ducks said:

Cristobal isn’t the greatest in-game coach and like jrry mentioned, we’ve lost to lesser teams and rarely blow anyone out (including FCS teams). However, we also never get blown out and the few teams that we’ve faced that are more talented than us, we’ve beaten (USC and Ohio St.). He’s one of the best recruiters there is, though, and he would do filthy things in Florida.

He is best as a CEO, culture builder, motivator and recruiter but I’m not sure he’ll ever get you over the hump to compete for NCs in the SEC. I think it’s easier to do that in the PAC-12.

He has looked pissed and unhappy this year, though, and the team was booed at home last week. I can see him leaving for the right opportunity.

I was actually thinking of Mullen as a potential replacement. He was rumored to have agreed to come here before we hired Taggart but someone in the program leaked it and that was the end of that. Yay or nay for him in the PAC-12?

Mullen would probably do well in the Pac-12. He's a lazy and fairly ineffective recruiter. He's too loyal to underperforming assistants. And he doesn't take lesser teams seriously enough (by extension, neither does his team). But he's also a brilliant offensive mind who can outscheme more talented squads. His problems probably wouldn't be as big of a deal in a lesser conference. For example, I think he'd be the perfect coach for Miami. But they're very frustrating here.