Muschamp leaves Florida Gators with talent

The end of the Will Muschamp era happened on Saturday evening but Muschamp is leaving the Florida Gators with some talent in certain positions (mainly on defense). That was evident on Saturday when the Gators were the better team in Tallahassee in every way except on the scoreboard.

There a lot of what if’s during the Will Muschamp era and a lot of different moments that you can point to as the demise of Muschamp but at the end of the day it was simply a dark cloud hanging over the program that the Florida Gators had to remove rid themselves of.

That dark cloud was hurting recruiting, was hurting the players on the team — who sometimes played uptight — and it was more than likely affecting the coaching staff as well.

The downfall of the era can point to one position in particular and that was the quarterback position in which the Gators had Jeff Driskel at the position and didn’t recruit well until 2014 and that hurt when Driskel didn’t develop as expected but the good news is Muschamp leaves behind a talented but raw Treon Harris who will be a sophomore and redshirt freshman Will Grier who has all the tools to be a very talented quarterback in this league.

Harris and Grier will also have some solid players around them in Demarcus Robinson, Kelvin Taylor, Brandon Powell and receiver Ahmad Fulwood who should emerge as the second receiver behind Robinson next year.

Now many will say  Robinson and Taylor played this season and that’s true but without a quarterback to manage the game it’s tough for those guys to makes plays.

There are also a few guys who haven’t played but are talented and with a new coaching staff they will have their fair shot at earning playing time.

Among those guys I would single out these guys, freshmen receiver C.J. Worton, receiver Chris Thompson and speedster Alvin Bailey are players who can help the Florida Gators out in the near future.

Those are the playmakers but maybe the biggest question mark on the staff besides the quarterback position is the tight end position that is simply atrocious right now. I mean, you played two converted defensive ends at the position and neither of those guys were good.

So you ask why did they play? Well the answer is simple the Florida Gators failed in recruiting and not all of that was their fault as they couldn’t have predicted Colin Thompson never playing a game or Kent Taylor deciding to transfer away but at the end of the day those are excuses and the Gators failed in 2013 with tight ends.

Moving forward into 2015 the Gators will have to recruit the tight end position well these next few months, as well as develop freshman DeAndre Goolsby because in college football the tight end position is critical to winning football games as we all saw this year.

That leads me to the offensive line where things improved a ton in 2014 but the depth at Florida is really bad right now and that goes back to offensive line coach Tim Davis who was just a bad recruiter and evaluator of talent but there is still some talent there.

Rod Johnson is going to be a really good player next year and the future is very bright for offensive tackle David Sharpe but the Gators need to get another tackle in the Class of 2015 and preferable a JUCO guard to play next year.

Now that I’ve gone through the offensive side of the ball I want to touch briefly on the defensive side of the ball where the Florida Gators are a really solid group with a ton of talent.

Let’s just take a look at the secondary real quick and these guys who are all freshmen this season. J.C. Jackson, Duke Dawson, Quincy Wilson and Jalen Tabor all four of these guys are going to be studs in college football and the best of the bunch may be Jackson who hasn’t even played a down yet.

Let’s also not forget about Marcell Harris who is recovering really well from his knee injury and should be ready to start next season beside Keanu Neal who is a very good player.

Moving to the linebacker position redshirt freshman Matt Rolin is doing better and will be ready to go and Gator fans are eager to see he, Alex Anzalone and Daniel McMillian live up to expectations at the position but reports are very positive on these guys as players.

The defensive line is another shining spot for the team with youngsters Caleb Brantley, Joey Ivie, Alex McCalister and Khairi Clark at the position.

I took you guys through the whole roster to give you an idea that while things may seem bad, in reality the Florida Gators aren’t a bad football team they are just lacking in a few spots and are lacking an identity and that again goes back to the dark cloud hanging over the program.

Mark my words the new head coach at Florida will have these boys in Atlanta in two years and if I were betting man I would bet that Will Grier is the man leading the charge.

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.

5 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks, Andrew.Talent is obvious, which is good. It will be interesting to see how quickly someone can turn this puppy around. Like you mentioned…recruiting! If you watch the Big-time programs. (hey-we used to be one) It’s insane, the QB’s have all day to toss the ball around. And, the receivers go get the ball if it is anywhere near them! Robinson will be one of those dudes next year. Who else though? And, then, as you mention; TE. Talent has rotted on the bench, or as you said, has transferred out over the last few years. If we could fill up this class. Get a couple few key big-time guys…things start to look mighty good.

    Two years…for sure. Even this year, watching close games slip away, we were right there. Expect it sooner with the right combination of desire, players and coaching. Not out of the realm of possibility. With a top 50 offense, we could win the East. I truly believe that, and I’m not drinking either. Go Gators. Hire Saban! Now I never said I wasn’t delusionally optimistic :)

  2. Two Questions:
    1. Is Grier really that good? We haven’t seen him play a down (besides the O&B game) and he apparently got beat out by Treon for the backup role.
    2. Is Jake McGee eligible for a medical redshirt this year? I know he was already a RS Senior but he transferred here to improve his draft stock and then got hurt early in the first game. Doesn’t seem fair for him to go out like that and we could really use him next year.

    And our defense could be nasty good next year (best in the SEC?) depending on who goes to the NFL.

    • 1.) Grier didn’t get beat out by Harris because the plan was for Grier to redshirt from day one.
      2.) Yes he’s eligible but he has to apply for the redshirt and appeal it to the NCAA.

  3. I disagree that Florida was the better team. FSU is still a superior team, and it’s not really close. How many teams can have five turnovers in rivalry game and win? UF doesn’t have great players on offense. Next year there will still be a question mark at quarterback, as in, “Do the Gators have a good quarterback?”We saw what a great running back looks like in Cook, UF doesn’t have a great back. The receivers? Robinson looks pretty good, but is there anyone else? I could go on, but the point is that UF is not close to FSU or the better team. In a rivalry game anything can happen. Winston was as bad as Jeff Driskel, yet FSU still won giving the ball away five times. That’s what great teams do, even on their worst day they can beat someone. UF is 6-5, they are not close to competing for championships. The writer is setting up everyone for a fall. You don’t expect a team that goes 4-8 to become great the next year. The turnaround of Auburn last year is an aberration, not to be expected. UF beat Georgia this year, that’s an improvement from last year, but to say UF is on a par with FSU right now is nuts. There’s a vast difference between a 6-5 team and an undefeated one. The best hope is that UF hires a coach that can turn the ship around. But to think UF is super talented right now is not true and expecting an instant reversal of fortune is not realistic. IF UF was that good, they would not be 6-5 and hiring a new coach. I think a realistic approach is to hope for improvement three years from now, certainly not next year when it is still very much up in the air whether or not UF will have a decent quarterback.