re: Is TJGator a long troll Nole fan?

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I've always said he could be, not that he was. That he has some tendencies and I can post multiple times where I not only said that, but that I never said outright he is like Muschamp.

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Agree to disagree... I don't bookmark shite like this because ultimately it doesn't matter, but I think the spirit of your comments has been quite clear, even if semantically this may be an accurate statement.

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He has a ton of things that are similar -- his offensive vision, can't adjust to mobile quarterbacks ''because he has no tape on them'' and his attitude in general.

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He's a defensive minded coach, his offensive "vision" is defined based on the talent available and what is going to best work with what we have. We had a totally different offensive approach in 2016 vs 2017... one worked, one didn't... not sure you can say you know what his "vision" is just yet.

We did just fine with mobile QBs in Brandon Wimbush, Nick Fitzgerald, and Jalen Hurts... not having a plan for replacing a QB in the second half who came out playing really well against what was (in retrospect) a poor decision to play soft defense to try and bleed clock. There were so many things that went into the outcome of that game, blaming Smart exclusively for that seems disingenuous to say the least. Can't control officiating, can't make your players run the play as it's called (final TD play for Alabama), etc...

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just never assume that bringing in amazing recruiting classes will save bad coaching

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Definitely not... but as of now, there isn't anything that would indicate that Smart is a "bad coach"... he may not be Saban, but he's not been a bad coach either, by any objective metric. 2018 will be interesting, as it will involve replacing a lot more starters on defense...

Either way, I'm happy with the trajectory at this time. If I'm wrong in the future, so be it.

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You guys caught Wimbush and Fitzgerald very early in the year, which was fortunate

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We had a true freshman QB starting his first and third games ever... you could say the same for them. When we played them didn't magically make them worse... Fitzgerald had just played a fantastic game at home to lead a big win over LSU. You could argue that they weren't the same *caliber* of DT QB as Hurts or Tua, but the timing is a bit of a lame excuse.

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and that is what I refer to in the end regarding the Alabama game. It wasn't just the refs, there were blown assignments all over the field and a freshman QB with very little real game experience came out and moved the ball with almost no effort.

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You do realize, this is making my point for me, right? Blown assignments aren't necessarily due to bad coaching decisions... like the last play of the game... Kirby didn't "make a mistake" there... Dom Sanders simply bit on trying to play ball hawk on the underneath stuff instead of playing his assignment. That doesn't mean Kirby was perfect either, as I think both offensively and defensively, we played far too tight in the second half... but you do have to credit Saban for simply making a decision that literally only tGOAT (or another coach who felt like he was a teflon Don) could make... bench your starting QB who took you to the national championship game 2 years in a row for a true freshman. You can discount the idea that it was a QB that we hadn't prepared for, but he presented a passing threat that Hurts literally didn't. You knew what Hurts was going to do and we defended that well... Tua is significantly more accurate, which changes things quite a bit. I'd argue that *not* preparing for Tua at all, was a mistake... but hindsight is a hell of a thing.

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Will the defensive scheme change? That's what'll tell us he's growing as a coach, not necessarily his offensive scheme.

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I think we *wanted* to have a very different defensive scheme... the issue was simply that we didn't have enough talent (that was game ready) to put our corners on an island very often... Baker has become a very good corner, but the opposite side always needed help... whether it was Parrish or McGhee or even Aaron Davis working in the corner spot there. All season long, when you saw breakdowns in our pass defense it was some combination of one of those players coupled with the safety support they had/didn't have.

Not to get too UGA heavy here on your board, but it's why many of us see Tyson Campbell as the most important remaining target on the board. That would be the highest rated corner we have landed in a long time that I can recall... particularly if you discount Malcolm Mitchell or Mecole Hardman who both played both ways, but ended up settling into roles as WRs.

That's something that UF has seemingly *never* had a problem with... hell even when you don't land super highly rated guys, they've turned out pretty damn well. If I'm envious of any single position that UF has recruited over the past 10-20 years, it's gotta be DB. We've had some great safeties, but corner has been a struggle at times... at least to field 2 really good ones at any given time.




--- Back to UF now... ---




As far as UF goes, I've said before, it's multi-faceted... a) what is the patience level/expectation for Mullen... if year one isn't great, and then year 2 is only mediocre, is he in trouble in year 3 already? (not fired trouble, but hot-seat discussion) - $6M/year doesn't buy you a lot of "let's wait and see" IMO. b) and somewhat attached to that... how quickly can he rebuild the talent level there... as many people (yes... even TJ) pointed out, Mac pretty singlehandedly decimated the talent level there. You can put maybe some on Champ's last seasons, but Mac didn't seem to have that recruiting drive that you see in Saban, Kirby, or even Pruitt. If Mullen gets out-hustled on the recruiting trail by not just Saban and Kirby, but then Pruitt, Taggart, and Richt... it could be rough sledding. My guess is he'll be fine and have top 10-15 classes most years even if that *does* happen, but the issue of course becomes "relative success"... kind of like what we saw with Richt... he was always doing "good"... but not good relative to the teams that mattered (UF, Alabama, and LSU for example) when it came to the larger SEC picture. UF of course has to also deal with FSU yearly, and Miami occasionally (not sure what that arrangement looks like).

I've said elsewhere, but if Mullen can manage to either get EJ ready this year or next, you're probably in decent shape offensively, but will need to land some of those targets you guys are after on the OL to get things humming. If I had to pick a single recruit that I would like for UF to *not* have in the 2019 cycle (right now), it's David Baldwin... that is the kind of QB that I think would be retarded good in a Mullen offense. He's only a 3* composite right now, but he's a mid-range 4* on 247, and the offers are starting to swing his way (UF, UGA, and Ole Miss all just this week). Would have to imagine he ends up a composite 4* before all is said and done with at worst. More importantly, he's a 6'4", ~220lb QB who runs like a damn gazelle and can actually throw the ball into tight windows. I haven't had a chance to run through all of the 2019 recruits yet, but when I saw his film, I immediately said "please don't go to UF." :lol:

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Then there's the fact that McElwain just wasn't motivated. I mean, he beat Georgia (I have to laugh at this)

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FWIW, winning in 2015 was not a feat... us trotting out Bautasaurus Rex just added insult to injury. The 2016 win was, on the other hand, baffling. As bad as we were, you guys really weren't better, and yet... we saw how it went. Chaney went full Chaney to say the least.

I know it's optimism time right now for Gators, so not really here to rain on that parade... I don't know that I see as much room for excitement as I've seen some mention... it seems like you're a little more level headed in your expectations from him though.

Dan Mullen has a gold mind in a few areas on the field.

Top 3 RB group in the SEC(as shown by SECcountry as well)

I'd argue top 3 WR group when adding Watkins, Jefferson, and Grimes to players like Cleveland and Toney. Def highly rated players all over the place including Swain and Hammond.

DE/OLB we have a lot of talent that have proven themselves.

Two soph corners that are very good.


We have major issues as well too. MLB is weak, DT is weak, TE hasn't existed for years, Offensive line is experienced but struggled so wait and see if new coaching and S&C fixes that some. Safeties are a nightmare.

If Jones is a good QB. Our offense will be nasty next year. He has the talent to really move the ball with all the skill players if he is up to the task. Plenty of Freshman have started from day one and been good. No reason he couldn't. He has a strong run game and skill on the outside to help him out and let him grow.

If Jones isn't ready...well we are going to still suck despite the skill players.

Right now this troll is trying to claim that Addazio is as good of an OC as Mullen was.

It's...baffling we let him keep the name Gator in his profile.

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Most the Negagators are pretty quiet today, Mullen did a great job with this class and finished strong. They can't ever spin this negatively. The future is bright and they hate it!

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Mullen had a shot at 3 top instate OLs that were UF leans at the time of his arrival and UF only got 1. Also no DTs or CBs in this class with Silvera going to Miami and Boykin going to ND. Boykin stings, we could have gone after Taiyon Palmer who picked NC ST over the Vols and late runs by Bama and Clemson.

The really good thing is that we did not reach just to fill slots. What we did reach for is OL and Hevesy does have a history of developing OLs.

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That's kind of unfair as:

NPF always was a big mystery with everyone just reading tea leaves. Saying he's a ''UF Lean'' isn't actually truthful because he never really let anyone know what he was really thinking.

So 1 for 2 is more ''fair''.

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Ohio State, Bama, Clemson, FSU, Miami, and UGA do not play "fair". NPF was an instate OL. His interest in Ohio State was late in the process. It counts as an L for this staff.

Watkins and Dean can both be converted into CB and I think will see time. DT is a need but not a huge this year but next year we will be able to offer some serious playing time.

Watkins should be on offense. He is a dynamic player with the ball. UF needs that type of player on offense.

I agree that Dean could play CB but there was a need for at least one true CB.

DTs need at least a year to develop to play in the SEC. Relying on a freshman at DT is a great way to get the ball shoved down your throat. In the 3-4 you need one run stuffer every cycle.

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The good news is that the players we took on won't necessarily be playing right away, at least the green horns won't. Almost our entire line is coming back for at least one more year, and so it's possible that we'll be able to get some meat, work in some footwork and get everything will be okay.

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The OL is going to be a mess next year. They are completely changing schemes. There was a lack of organization and good OL calls by our centers. McDowell may have to start.

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There are still a few, but this is the highest class Mullen has ever signed and with only 19 players counted toward it, along with the highest average.

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It better be his highest class, he was recruiting kids to Miss State.

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That's...not how this works or how I was using the word ''fair''. You said they were ''Gator leans'' and I provided you evidence that one very much so was not as most people have no idea who was actually trending as evidenced by many experts picking it incorrectly.

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Being "fair" to the staff is making an excuse for the staff.

Your evidence is your opinion. That is biased. NPF visited UF multiple times. Took one of his 5 OVs to UF. Proximity and academics were high priorities for NPF, UF had the advantage in proximity and UF has very good academics if sold with the new Academic center. Those are facts pointing to the opinion that he was a UF lean. NPF was there for the taking. Hevesy did not close. They also let Barnes slip away in favor of 2 Miss State level recruits.

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Maybe. He plays offense and defense and could also be a sort of player like that at UF where he plays Nickel on defense and occasionally fills in on slot for Toney.

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Asking a true freshman to learn both offense and defense is difficult. Pick one, let him learn that, then in a year or two try both. No matter what Watkins should get a shot at PR/KR.

As for Toney, he should be a 5 - 10 touch guy. He is not durable.

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Yeah, you're not tracking this conversation pretty well.

We have Dunlap (JR, 6'3'' 328 pounds), Slaton (SO, 6'4'' 349) and Campbell (SO, 6'3'' 323) for our bigs so we're good for about a year and I doubt Dunlap leaves early. Then we have almost 4 other bodies of serviceable guys so it's not an immediate need.

Even if we bring in a guy next year, he'll have a year to fill in for injuries or fatigue.

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You don't recruit DTs for immediate needs. Recruiting is not reactive, it is proactive especially with the bigger guys. DTs take at least a year for a super talented guy to develop, more than likely two years. Ivie, Brantley, and Bryan did not preform at UF DT level until senior year. It is a gap that could come back to haunt us.

While not as bad, the Muschamp class with no LBs still haunts this team due to depth issues.

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Our OL didn't look that bad this year even when they were hindered by terrible playcalling and QB play. The system is more simple, not as complicated as the atrocity Nussmeier was trying to walk on the field.

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While they did run block better and the play calling was shite, they could not pick up blitzes or block in space.

Show me one game were our OL consistently blocked well on RB screen plays. They were horrible in space and whiffed on blocks especially Ivey. Our OL could not make OL calls to pick up A gap blitzes. Often both guys would make it through.

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Hm, his highest class ever was achieved in what, three months? That's not even including transfers. There were no ''L's'' in trying to salvage a class, Mullen did what needed to be done to be fourth in the SEC -- highest since 2013.

Can we stop giving coaches shite for doing well?

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Because 4th best in the SEC is not good enough.

I am excited for the future with Mullen