January 20th Florida Gators visitors preview and football news: Podcast

Gator Country brings you a new podcast as we preview the Florida Gators official visitors for the January 20th weekend, plus talk the latest football and coaching news.

Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre break down each visitor this weekend and what the Gators chances are with those prospects.

Andrew and Nick also talk about the latest football news, plus talk about the Florida Gators basketball team.

TRANSCRIPT:

 

Andrew:                 What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, it is never a dull moment. We say it every week, and we’ll continue to say it. Getting ready to do a podcast thinking, “We might not have much to talk about,” and are we going to be able to fit all this into 40 minutes now?

Nick:                         There’s always something.

Andrew:                 Always something.

Nick:                         Quick sidebar, what made you start saying my name like that?

Andrew:                 What? What do you mean?

Nick:                         “Day la Toray”

Andrew:                 I can’t really say it on here, because I may offend someone. Just throwing a little southern twang to it.

Nick:                         Okay. Let’s jump into it.

Andrew:                 Let’s jump right on into it. Luke Del Rio missed the later part, the last six games of the year, with what we thought was questionable shoulder injury. Now he has to have shoulder surgery and miss the spring. My thoughts on this, Nick, real quick, is okay. I mean, he wasn’t going to be a part of the quarterback battle anyway. Yeah, he was going to get some reps, but okay.

Nick:                         I mean, this is just the spring. I don’t know if he’s in your plans moving forward.

Andrew:                 No. He’s definitely not.

Nick:                         So, big news, no news? It certainly means that the two redshirt freshmen are going to be getting all of the reps. You really don’t have anybody else at quarterback, so it’s just going to be Trask and Franks, and we’re going to see a lot of them in the spring. Really, that’s your future going forward, so almost, I never want to say good, because I don’t want to celebrate someone getting hurt, but you need to see what these two redshirt freshmen have.

Andrew:                 Yeah. It was kind of a thing where Nussmeier kind of basically took him out of the plans over at the Outback Bowl, when he said something along the lines of, “Franks and Trask were going to be the guys that get the reps this spring.” In my opinion, he’s just your guy that if something was to go really south he plays, but you’re hoping you’re going to get a quarterback out of Trask and Franks. Maybe the biggest thing from Del Rio, and he should still be able to do this, is that he’s going to be around and be an older veteran voice for those guys to help those guys out. I think that’s where he is best suited for, kind of a coach on the field a little bit.

Nick:                         He’s going to be out at practice, not going through drills, but be out there.

Andrew:                 Yeah, and I think that’s something he can still do and so it fine. I’m like you though, where you never want to celebrate anyone getting hurt, but it would be a lot more newsworthy if it was Franks or Trask, and that’s just reality.

Nick:                         Yeah. Shoot, I was called crazy for calling for one of the freshmen to play in the bowl game, so I was already on board of seeing what these guys have, but he’ll be there. He’ll be around. To me, when you play against Michigan in Gerry World, one of the freshmen are going to play, and this just gives you a better chance to see them throughout spring practice and in the Orange and Blue game.

Andrew:                 Exactly. I’m with you. Like you said, as long as he’s able to get out there and be around a little bit, I think that’s the biggest thing.

One thing I wanted to hit on real quick, now that we’re talking about spring ball a little bit, is something Antonio Callaway tweeted on Thursday, when we’re taping this. He said, “Everything I did my freshman and sophomore year was off of no muscle, no spring, no off season.” If you really think about it, it’s accurate. Freshman year he comes in. He comes in. He comes in in June, and he late arrives in June, because of some transcript thing, so he gets in late. Plays there, and then last season we all know what happens in the off season, so let’s see what he can do with a full off season of workouts, a full spring, and see. It was something that I knew when I started thinking about it, but if you don’t really think about it, you know what I’m saying? You don’t realize that he hasn’t had a full football season/off season.

Nick:                         Because he was away from the team the entire time, but I think even when he was away from the team he was still doing stuff on his own.

Andrew:                 Yeah, but you know what I mean when I say that it’s always great to have Mike Kent, your strength and conditioning coach, working you out, and then being able to work with your teammates. That was something that, when did he get back? June? May? Something like that. That he actually got back. It was after spring ball that he actually got back. I think it’s one of those things where you can never discount off season for anyone, and I think part of why he struggled a little bit, and I say he struggled, I mean, he put up better numbers than he did last year, but he didn’t have as good of a year. I think could have been all the distraction in the off season. I mean, what was it? August, early August, when he was finally reinstated to the team. A lot of question marks for the guy.

Nick:                         Maybe the biggest thing, going back to what we were just talking about, is two new quarterbacks. Trask and Franks are working with the twos all last year, so maybe the biggest thing is getting that chemistry.

Andrew:                 Good point. Really good point. Getting that chemistry there, and it’s something Tyrie Cleveland talked about as well. I believe it was after the SEC Championship game, where he talked about not being able to do things that he wanted to do when he got in trouble, and so that was something he wanted to do. I think that’s important for him as well.

Nick:                         Quick question. This is kind of off the cuff. I think we both thought that Kadarius Toney was going to play wide receiver. Now, with only two quarterbacks, do you think he gets some reps at quarterback in the spring?

Andrew:                 I think all along, and I think you and I talked about this, I think. I know I talked about it on the message board a little bit. Florida promised him a chance. Now, does that chance last one day, three days, five days, the entire spring? We’ll see. I know that he’ll probably get some reps at slot as well, but I do know that Mac and Nuss and Skip and Drew Hughes, those guys, they promised him a shot, and, like everyone else, a shot can mean one day and then he goes, or it could mean a long time. . I’ve been able to watch him a ton. I think he’s a very, very good athlete. I’. Now, he’s a heck of an athlete. I think you see him get some time there, but quickly move to slot receiver.

Nick:                         Okay. That’ll be something, at least interesting to think about, to follow, just given the numbers.

Andrew:                 Here’s the thing, maybe he does get to stay there the whole spring. I mean, and I say this kind of laughing a little bit, but is Jalen Hurts a great passer? I say that, and part of me is laughing about it, but part of me is also being very serious about it. He did take his team to the national title, so crazier things have happened.

Nick:                         That’s a very good team.

Andrew:                 Right, but what I’m saying is you can’t, I shouldn’t discount Kadarius because he’s not Franks or Appleby or Del Rio or Trask or anybody else throwing the ball. I shouldn’t discount him, because look what happened with Hurts. I mean, crazier things have happened.

Nick:                         I’m certainly excited to see both of the redshirt freshmen, and to see how they handle it. Too bad Jake Allen’s not an early enrollee.

Andrew:                 Oh, brother. Anyway, let’s move on. Let’s move on here. Something else that caught news this week, Scott Stricklin. Did he say, did he not say? Who knows? Only boosters were there. Some report said that he said that Florida wasn’t hiring a coach till after Signing Day. He comes out and says that he said that Mac was just focused on recruiting. Part of me thinks that it was somewhere in between. There’s three sides to every story. Again, we’ll never know, because we weren’t there. No reporters were there. Personally, I think he probably said something along the lines of Coach Mac’s focused on recruiting, when he’s done with recruiting he will. Part of me thinks that that’s probably what he said, which could mean the week of Signing Day, could mean the week after Signing Day, somewhere around in there. I think it was probably somewhere in that mix. What do you say?

Nick:                         I kind of lean towards it being taken out of context.

Andrew:                 Right, and that’s what I’m saying. I think it was taken out of context, but I think it was a little more than him just saying, “He’s focused on recruiting.” You know what I’m saying? If he’d just said, “He’s focused on recruiting,” I’m not sure it goes that way. I think there might have been some other language added behind that.

Nick:                         Yeah. I mean, shoot. You better be focused on recruiting right now, right?

Andrew:                 Right. Exactly. Here’s the thing too that I say, and this is that he said it kind of tongue in cheek that Florida’s at full strength on the road, and while, yes, they are, no, they’re not. You know what I’m saying? I think that that’s kind of what maybe is something he shouldn’t have said. I mean, I understand he has to say it. What else is he going to say? It was something that probably backfired on him when he didn’t expect it to backfire.

Nick:                         Yeah. I think in his mind it’s kind of like, they’ll be happy that he’s focusing on recruiting, and then it kind of, however it gets blown up, certainly unexpected. You got to fill the coaching staff out. You have to.

Andrew:                 I don’t know. I really don’t. I hate to get into this. I am in favor that you need a coach now. Trust me, I understand Mac’s concept that he wants to go get these guys, and they want to stay through Signing Day. Cool, but this is a dirty, dirty business, and sometimes you’ve got to go steal them for your own good. I say that knowing that it’s a dirty business, but if you have to go steal somebody’s offensive line coach and ruin their class for you to have a great class, well if you don’t, nobody’s going to say, “Coach Mac, you were the nice guy here, so your offensive line sucks, so it’s okay.”

Nick:                         Yeah. You need an offensive line coach, and then there’s an entire other position, which we don’t even know what it’s going to be yet.

Andrew:                 Right, but you know what I’m saying? I don’t know.

Nick:                         It’s tough. We’ve talked about it before where it all kind of happens after Signing Day, and it’s kind of like that dirty business of coaches are all a tight knit group, and it’s, “Okay, you’re going to leave, at least stay through Signing Day to protect the class.”

Andrew:                 Right. Like I said, it’s tough, because you’re going to hurt someone else’s class for the benefit of your own. My opinion is this is a cutthroat business, so you got to do that. I don’t know. It sucks. Mac thought he had is guy in Mike Loxley, and it didn’t happen. Goes to Plan B, and it sucks. It’s tough, and I don’t know if there is a correct answer.

Nick:                         No. Do you think it happens before or after Signing Day?

Andrew:                 You want us to get tore up on here now.

Nick:                         That’s why I’m asking, not answering.

Andrew:                 After Signing Day. What do you think?

Nick:                         I think after.

Andrew:                 Yeah. I say after. Would it surprise me if it came before? No, but I’m going to stay afterwards. I’m going to stay afterwards. I do know that when we posted this on the board on Tuesday that we said that a hire could come within the next day or two. I do feel as if Florida has their guy, and it’s just a simple thing of that guy either, A, not being allowed to come out, or to come, because of his contract, or, B, it’s a thing where he’s asked Mac, “Can I stay on through, my contract ends on February 1, can I stay on?” Mac was like, “Okay, that’s fine.” So, we’ll see, but I feel very confident when I say that Florida already has who they’re going to hire already in place.

Nick:                         Listen, you’re going to have a coaching staff by the time the spring rolls around. I would say if not before Signing Day, within a week. Within a week of Signing Day. It’ll happen quickly, especially if, like you think, and like you say, that someone’s already in place.

Andrew:                 Right. Yeah. It sucks because of recruiting, but you got to go get the best, so that’s where I’m at on that. Let me ask you this real quick, before we move on. What would you say needs the other position coach? What position?

Nick:                         I think you have kind of like a wildcard in Skipper, and Skipper could flip. He’s coached linebackers before, so I think it really comes down to recruiting. You have to find a dog on the recruiting trail, someone who’s going to go out, someone who’s going to get kids. We’ve said it before. You can have one bad recruiter, if he’s a good coach. I think Florida needs another, I think Florida needs a great recruiter, whether that’s an offensive coach or a defensive coach. You make it work, as long as you can get somebody on campus who can help your recruiting, because you have to start getting kids in. The next class has to be better than this class.

Andrew:                 Yeah. Has to.

Nick:                         It doesn’t even matter if it’s offense or defense, because you have a guy in Skipper who’s coaching running backs now, but could coach linebackers, and you can move him around. You still have Randy Shannon. You’ve got a very good coach, technician wise, in Torrian Gray. So you just got to find someone that can recruit.

Andrew:                 I think if you move Skipper to linebacker you’re kind of wasting him as a coach, because Randy Shannon’s going to be that guy, but that’s a topic for a different day. Nick, big, big, and big recruiting weekend for Florida. Seven commits coming into town, and several top targets. Last weekend was a successful one, despite not getting a commit. It was a successful one. This weekend they need it to be more successful. They need some guys.

They’ve got the star power coming in as far as big name guys and guys that they have a good shot at landing, and they have the seven commits on campus, including Jake Allen and Zach Carter, who both of those guys are up for the Nick Washington Recruiter of the Year award. Haven’t forgot about that. Always good to have those guys on campus.

Nick:                         Kind of a slow year for our Nick Washington Recruiter of the Year award.

Andrew:                 I think Zach Carter’s pulling away.

Nick:                         Really?

Andrew:                 He pull Malik Davis. He’s been recruiting James Robinson. He’s been recruiting several other guys. I think Zach Carter is the guy that’s pulling away.

Nick:                         We’ve got some time to figure that out. It’s been so clear cut in the past.

Andrew:                 Twitterverse, give us your take. Who’s recruiter of the year so far? Maybe Daquon Green. Daquon Green recruited Zach too. Maybe Daquon’s coming up for it. Twitterverse, who you got? Jake, Daquon, Zach, somebody else? Hit us up. Let us know.

Nick:                         Let’s get into these visits.

Andrew:                 Okay. Let’s go.

Nick:                         Let’s talk about the commits real quick. You’re getting Daquon, Jake, Malik, Marco, and TJ Moore. Is it Zeke? Zachariah.

Andrew:                 Zeke. Zeke is what he goes by.

Nick:                         Zeke Byrd, and Zach Carter.

Andrew:                 Let’s break this down. Let’s break those commits down a little bit. You got Jake. You got Zach, and you got Daquon. Those are three guys that are going to be doing a massive ton of recruiting, along with Malik and Marco. Those five guys are going to be doing a massive ton of recruiting. Those guys are guys that are your guys that have been very active, very outspoken on Twitter. Nothing to worry about with those guys. Zeke Byrd is the same way. Nothing to worry about, just a quieter guy. A guy that doesn’t do a lot of talking, doesn’t do a lot of recruiting, that kind of stuff. He just kind of does his thing, stays out the limelight.

With TJ Moore coming in, it’s big for him for this, and that is that he’s thinking about taking an Auburn visit. Florida went up there this week on Tuesday, really shut down anything, and he says if he has a good visit this weekend, then he’s done. He’s not taking any more visits. Auburn’s trying to get him in on the 27th, so he’s done if he has a good visit. That is, in my opinion, the biggest one.

A lot of that does, no offensive line coach. He says he’s not worried about that, because he knows that Mac’s going to get a guy, so he’s not worried about that at all. He says that Mac is going to get the guy that’s right. He knows Mac’s looking at several guys, so the biggest thing is to get him on campus, get him and his family comfortable. He’s only been on campus once, and that was in the summertime, so this is only the second trip. That, in my opinion, is the biggest visit of all committed guys. The rest of them will just be having fun, recruiting, except for Zeke. He’s just a guy that’s a little quieter.

Nick:                         Marco Wilson, certainly not a stranger to the campus. Jake Allen’s been up a ton. When you have this many commits coming, wouldn’t you like to have some big names, some guys that you’re in the hunt for? As you talked about, Jake and those guys being able to help the recruiting process. Do you kind of plan that?

Andrew:                 Yeah. A lot of teams are doing that where they’re bringing most of their guys in. For instance, Alabama this weekend is bringing all of their committed guys in together. It’s a strategic move to get them all in, and helps the class bond too. You got those seven guys coming in. How Daquon, Zach, and Malik, they’re the same area, but they haven’t been able to exactly bond with the rest of those guys, so it’s a chance for those guys to really bond. Start making that family kind of feel to it. I think it’s a good strategic move, and then when we talk about here in a second some of those big targets coming in, I think it’s helpful for that as well that they’re able to recruit those guys. I think it’s a good move.

Nick:                         Okay. Who is the guy that need to be targeting?

Andrew:                 CJ Henderson. That is the top guy coming in. Alabama just had him in. He was the only visitor this weekend for them, and they’ve gained some momentum. Florida’s always had the momentum here, and they’re really just going to try to stick a knife into anything Alabama did this past weekend and really secure him in the class. Most people feel like he was a lean to Florida. Alabama probably took a little bit of lead out of that, so you got to really close that down this weekend. He’s really good friends with Kemore Gamble, really good friends with Shawn Davis, those two guys.

Nick:                         Miami kid.

Andrew:                 Miami kid. Exactly. Close to Marco Wilson a little bit, and really close to Randy Shannon. This is an opportunity this weekend for Florida really to just kind of close the deal on him heading into Signing Day.

Nick:                         He’s an athlete, but Florida’s looking at him as a corner. Am I wrong in that?

Andrew:                 No. Not wrong at that at all. Is a speed guy. He can play some safety, can play some corner. I personally think he starts at corner, potentially goes to safety at the end of the time, but kind of a raw guy. He played running back and DB in high school. Played corner and safety at the Under Armour game, so I think he’s a guy that can play either one. I think, personally, you start at corner. You move him to safety. The one thing that you guarantee next season, he’ll be on special teams if he’s in the Gator uniform.

Nick:                         Florida needs corners.

Andrew:                 Yeah.

Nick:                         Bad.

Andrew:                 Really bad. That’s a thing as well, Nick. You look at a guy like Henderson, if he can come in, just play special teams and give you depth at corner, you’re taking that. Right?

Nick:                         Yeah. Take it.

Andrew:                 You didn’t get to see CJ this year. He didn’t come to camp. He was at Under Armour. I like him, Nick. I like him as an athlete. I think he is a guy that is going to develop into a really good player.

Nick:                         You think maybe not on defense right away, but someone that’s going to play probably all your teams, and someone that can develop.

Andrew:                 Right. Agree. Let’s go to somebody that can come in and play some ball, and come play some ball early for Florida, and that’s a wide receiver, Oliver Martin. Guy from Iowa that hasn’t really been talked about a ton. Had a really good Army All-American game, and Florida kind of got in there late. Not late, because a lot of schools got in there late, but kind of got in there a little later than some schools did. Florida was able to go in on Monday, Drew Hughes was, secure a visit. Here’s the kicker though. His sister is a 2018 prospect, almost made the Olympic swim team as a 15-year-old, so she’s someone that is looking to swim. Florida’s recruiting here there. Florida may be the school that they can both go to school together at, and the dad wants them to go to school together. So, there’s a kicker there, and a good receiver at 6’, just really kind of got that dog in him a little bit.

Nick:                         Not a guy, I think the first time he came on my radar was the All-American game, but I don’t follow recruiting like you.

Andrew:                 We’ll let you have you opinion in spring ball after I pump him up a little bit, or training camp.

Nick:                         Is Florida too late, or it’s kind of everyone’s late to the party here?

Andrew:                 Everybody kind of late to the party, except for Iowa. Like I said, you got that connection with swimming. I think Florida’s got a really good chance here for him. Some people say, “Why are they taking another receiver?” A, you got James Robinson, who’s a little shaky on qualifying. I still think he gets in, but outside of Antonio Callaway you don’t have anyone except for the receivers you brought in last year.

Nick:                         Tyrie.

Andrew:                 What’s that?

Nick:                         Tyrie.

Andrew:                 No, I’m saying outside of Callaway you don’t have anyone except for last year’s recruiting class that came in.

Nick:                         Got you.

Andrew:                 You look at CJ Warton. I think we’ve both written him off. Kalik Jackson, I think we’ve both written him off a little bit. There’s just really not that guy. To be fair too, Rick Wells, we’ll see, Freddie Swain, Josh Hammond, they kind of faded late in the season a little bit, so they’re still looking for that. As someone told me, and it made perfect sense to me, and that is this. That is Mac’s working from behind to repair the receiver position, so keep loading up. Surely sooner or later it’s going to get better.

Nick:                         It’s like we’ve said in past years. Keep signing them until you find one.

Andrew:                 There you go. There you go. I mean, am I right on the receiver position, or you think I’m off base?

Nick:                         No. I think Antonio Callaway is a four year guy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I think he’ll actually stay four years. Going into 2018, who else do you have? I mean, you mentioned the freshmen, Wells, Hammond, Swain, but I think there’s still a lot of questions, and you have to see how they develop. Keep signing them.

Andrew:                 I agree. Let’s go to defensive line, Nick. Defensive tackle needs to get bigger. They need depth, and they’re bringing in two guys this weekend, Tedarrell Slaton, TJ Slaton, and then Elijah Conliffe is his name. Conliffe is a guy from Virginia. Looks like it might be a Florida/Tennessee battle going forward. This is his first visit to Florida. Then Slaton is a guy that is teammates with Marco, James, Kai-Leon Herbert down in American Heritage at Plantation.

So, Florida is needing tackles bad. These are two guys they’re going to bring in this weekend, and they’d be perfectly happy. The good thing with Slaton is he’s a bigger guy, so if he doesn’t work out at D tackle he could play offensive line at guard. I like it. They need to get these guys in. I’m a big fan of Elijah, big fan of him. I’m just glad to see that they’re bringing in some big boys, because, as we talked about before, they need depth at tackle bad.

Nick:                         Yeah, in a bad way. Was this a weak class at the position?

Andrew:                 Not so much. In state, yes, and it just kind of hurt them with Jordan Scott gaining weight like he did, and then Fred Hansard leaving. Those were two guys they liked a lot. I’ll be perfectly honest though, and maybe, I’m going to get called a sunshine pumper, so there’s no sense of me even trying to say not, but a guy like Conliffe, guys like Kyree Campbell, the Gaddy twins that they’re going to bring in, those guys are all better than the guys they had committed. I think it’s going to work out better for Florida at the end of the time.

Nick:                         Okay. Certainly a position of need. Who, I’m looking at the roster now. I’m trying to see.

Andrew:                 You got Khairi and Taven, and Jachai. That’s really your three.

Nick:                         Yeah. I mean …

Andrew:                 Ancrum. You’ve got Luke Ancrum.

Nick:                         I don’t think he’s big enough yet. It’s super thin. Maybe Jachai is a guy that can slide inside?

Andrew:                 That’s what I would say. Jachai, Khairi.

Nick:                         Cece.

Andrew:                 Taven.

Nick:                         Important there.

Andrew:                 Very important. To move on though, Nick. So, we talked about two tackles. They’re going to bring a guy, and this is a guy that is the perfect fit of having a great senior year, Nick. Nick Smith’s his name. He’s from Dr. Phillips. I think I like any player from Dr. Phillips. When you think of HaHa Dixon. What was the running back from there? Dee Hart. All those guys, they’re good players from there, but Smith’s a guy that had a great senior year, had a really good state championship game, and was committed to North Carolina State.

Soon as Randy Shannon got the job as defensive coordinator, boom. He jumps on it, offers Smith. Smith decommits from North Carolina State, and is now going to visit. Really a Florida/LSU battle for Nick. Florida’s hoping to get him on campus this weekend, and then shut down that visit to LSU for the 27th. I think it’s possible that they do. They really want two more linebackers in this class. It’s something that a lot of people have been talking about, even the current players are talking about. They need depth at linebacker with the injuries, that kind of stuff. What happened in the Outback Bowl, you just can’t have that where you’re down to a walk-on, and that’s no slight at Christian Garcia, he played well, but you just can’t be down that way.

Nick:                         Yeah. I almost, before you said that I was going to say, I think linebacker’s okay. I like the young guys you have, but, as we saw this year, injuries can happen.

Andrew:                 You think about it. They got what? Three guys. Three guys there on campus that are scholarship guys. You really need, they got two, one already on campus, and that’s Houston. They got Ventrell Miller. They’re looking at possibly two more to sign four. That would give you seven there, and I like that. I mean, you got Jeremiah Moon as an outside back. I’m not even counting him. I’m talking about inside guys. I think they can get away with signing three, but I think signing four wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Nick:                         They’re shooting for four.

Andrew:                 They are shooting for four, and got guys like Levi Jones on the board, visited last weekend. Jacob Phillips is a guy from Oklahoma they’re still after, and then they got Nick Smith coming in. Big visit for him as well, just to try to shut down things after and not let him go to LSU. I still think Florida would have a decent shot, even if he went on that LSU visit, but, as we always say, get them on campus, anything can happen. So, shut that down. You’re good.

The last guy, Nick, is Juwan Burgess. Committed to USC from Plant. I still think he’s a little shaky as to whether Florida’s really fully in on him or not. He’s a raw athlete, even rawer than Chris Henderson at playing DB. Played running back. Played receiver, and played safety and corner a little bit. He’s more of a safety moving forward, but really raw there. Good athlete. Good speed. Just not sold that Florida’s ready to take him with so many guys left on the board, like Brad Stewart, like CJ Henderson. Just a lot of guys. Brian Edwards is a guy that’s going to visit next weekend. A lot of guys that are still on the board, so not fully sure if they’re fully in on taking Juwan Burgess right now, but you need backup plans in case CJ Henderson was to, say, go to Alabama.

Nick:                         I think that’s tough then. So, you’re looking at a kid who’s already committed, and I think it’s hard to kind of string a kid along who’s already committed. Right?

Andrew:                 Yeah. It is, but from Tampa, got his boys Malik, Zach, Daquon, those guys. It’s a little bit easier there, and it’s way out at USC.

Nick:                         California’s beautiful.

Andrew:                 Yes, it is, but it’s a long way from home for a 17-year-old kid to go.

Nick:                         He’s 19. He’s a little older. Same thing.

Andrew:                 What I meant, I was using 17, but what I was meaning when I said that was a kid that’s never been away from home. I was kind of using that as, I forgot. I don’t even know what the word I’m looking for. I was just throwing that out there as a young kid. That’s what I meant.

Nick:                         Yeah. 17, 19, it’s a kid who lives at home with parents, and you’re talking about flying across the country.

Andrew:                 There you go.

Nick:                         So big week. Not expecting anything as far as a commitment this week. I feel like we need to get that out there, because people were almost angry when nothing happened after last weekend.

Andrew:                 You wanted to put me on the spot here, didn’t you?

Nick:                         No. I honestly thought you were just going to say no immediately.

Andrew:                 I mean, there’s a chance this weekend. There’s a few guys that are coming on that I could see shutting it down, whether they do or not, don’t hurt me. Don’t shoot me if they don’t, but there is a chance. There’s a chance. I’ll say that. There’s a chance this weekend you could see it. We’ll see.

Basketball game is there, and that’s going to be good for them as well. Last weekend was a pretty cool environment. Yeah, I think it’s good. I think it’s a good weekend, especially when you look at the weather around the country. It could be good for guys like Conliffe, that is from Virginia, Martin coming from Iowa. Should be good weather for Florida. Basketball game, they need to roll out the red carpet this weekend.

Nick:                         Vanderbilt coming in, so it should be a good game, right?

Andrew:                 Yeah. We can talk about that here. Let me round up this real quick, and then we can talk about basketball for a second. Biggest thing for me this weekend is this. Set yourself up to finish strong. Get yourself some momentum going. Just have another good weekend. Continue to push forward. Make this class as good as possible. That’s where I’m at.

Now, let’s talk basketball. Lord, what a game on Wednesday night. That was awful. Them officials, it seemed like for a good 30 minutes there was a whistle every possession.

Nick:                         55 fouls.

Andrew:                 55 fouls. That’s unheard of.

Nick:                         It was tough to watch. You’re just not going to win games when your shots aren’t falling, and Florida, I think for the first time since ’92, didn’t make a three. Not for lack of trying.

Andrew:                 That is so crazy to me.

Nick:                         What was it, 0 for 17?

Andrew:                 Yeah, but that is so crazy to me. That long. What was it? 853 games, I think, right off the top of my head. That is so crazy. A three pointer in every game. That was an NCAA, that was the longest right now in NCAA. The longest ever was something like 900 something by UCLA, but that’s crazy. That is a lot of teams in a row that you made one three in a game. That’s crazy.

Nick:                         Listen, South Carolina was 14-3 coming into the game. Good defensive team. Nothing to freak out about.

Andrew:                 I had people, and maybe it’s because people are just now starting to watch it, but I had people in my mentions saying, “This is a terrible offense.” South Carolina’s a really good defense with Frank Martin, who is one of the best defensive minded coaches in the game. He plays a lot like West Virginia does, and that is that they’re always going to play defensive games. It just it is what it is with it. I don’t think that you can really buy too much into that game as far as Florida’s offense. I mean, they’ve been playing well, been scoring a lot of points. I think it’s just South Carolina there.

Florida’s still in good shape going forward, just need to rebound with Vanderbilt. Can’t lose at home against Vanderbilt, and they need Kevaughn Allen to get back rolling a little bit. Canyon Barry’s carrying the team a little bit. Allen’s struggling lately. They need him to get back, and they need Robinson or Hayes, or someone else, just to be able to be good inside. They’re just really relying on the outside game, and I think that’s what’s hurting them.

Nick:                         Yeah. You got to find some more offense, whether it’s Egbunu down inside. I mean, Kasey Hill’s playing his best basketball in four years, but you just got to find some more offense.

Andrew:                 Agreed with that. Florida’s RPI’s way up there. They’re fine going forward. Nothing to stress about there. You just can’t let it linger. Can’t let one loss turn into two or three.

Nick:                         Completely agree there.

Andrew:                 That was kind of your first time to see a full game, early impressions?

Nick:                         For the basketball team?

Andrew:                 Yeah.

Nick:                         I’ve watched a bunch. I love the way they play defense, and I think if you play defense the way that they do, it’s going to keep you in games, and if you’re close then you have a puncher’s chance, a shooter’s chance. So, I love the way they play defense. To me, defense is effort, especially when you talk about like NBA guys. All those guys could be great defenders. It’s effort. It’s, do you want to? I think they’ve bought in to what Mike White is selling. It’s like I said, I don’t know where your offense is. Canyon Barry struggled a little bit, but it’s like we said on the last podcast. I don’t know if you shake up the starting roster. You don’t need a knee jerk reaction to one game.

Andrew:                 Right. Exactly. Well, Nick, we’ll get out of here. We’ll see everyone on Tuesday. Recap this weekend, recap all the visits on that. We’ll recap basketball. Sure enough, I’m sure there’ll be some kind of football news. What it will be, we shall see. As you say, never a dull moment. So, tell the people where they’ll find us, Nick, and I would suggest, if you haven’t signed up, come sign up over here. Lot of good recruiting news. Last weekend you got some good football news as well. Stuff’s positive, and we’re breaking news right and left, getting the scoops, so come check us out. Not a better time.

Nick:                         Find all that at www.GatorCountry.com. On iTunes search Gator Country. Subscribe there. Never miss a podcast. If you are on Android, or if you’d rather read the podcast, on the website, audio and transcript. Facebook, Twitter, @GatorCountry. Instagram, @TheGatorCountry. Follow me @NickdelaTorreGC. Follow him @AndrewSpiveyGC.

Andrew:                 Yes, sir. Nick, we can’t out of here without me giving a big rise up this weekend. Incredible for Florida. Neal and Vernon both made the All-Rookie team. That’s crazy. You talk about DBU all you want, but two guys making it? That’s insane.

Nick:                         No. That’s impressive, and Bryan Poole. Bryan Poole had a great year.

Andrew:                 Yeah. Bryan Poole’s right there on the cusp of it. That’s crazy for me. Rise up this weekend. Hoping for a big win. Close out the dome in the right way.

Nick:                         Close out the dome.

Andrew:                 Close out the dome. Any final thoughts, Nick, before we get out of here?

Nick:                         I’ll root for your guys this week.

Andrew:                 You will?

Nick:                         That’s my final thought. I’ll root for them.

Andrew:                 That’s nice of you. Senior Bowl week next week too. We’ll talk about that as well. So, Nick, we’ll get out of here. As always, chomp, chomp. Go Braves. Mark, Butch, you still suck.

Nick:                         You stay classy, Gator Country.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.