Spivey Senses hits the airwaves: Florida Gators Podcast

Andrew Spivey has a new podcast show that he will be doing weekly were he gives his thoughts on the latest topics around the Florida Gators athletic department.

This week Andrew takes a look at how the Florida Gators football team is doing in practice plus gives his thoughts on the quarterback and offensive line battles that are ongoing.

Make sure to listen in to hear who Andrew thinks will win the quarterback job and also how he feels about the practices that new Head Coach Jim McElwain is running right now.

* * * TRANSCRIPT:

Hello, Gator Country, Andrew Spivey. I’m back, guys. Today I’m by myself. I’m going to try things a little bit differently this year. Nick and I are going to still do our podcasts, one or two a week, and I’m going to do a little podcast/show by myself, maybe 10, 15, 20 minutes, whatever it takes to get the thoughts out of what I have in my mind for the week. It could recruiting, could be football, could be baseball during World Series time, go Braves. Just got back from Atlanta. Could be whatever is on my mind, or whatever you guys have on your mind. Whatever it is, we’re going to talk about it.

I’m going to just kind of go on today a little bit. There’s a couple things that’s been on my mind that just has really bothered me the last couple days, and that is some people, not naming names, talking and getting Jim McElwain’s words twisted on practice and people’s opinion on practice. You see everyone coming out with their depth charts. You see the quarterback, this quarterback’s better than this quarterback, or this that or the other off of practice. You see this offensive lineman is playing this position, and it’s crazy in my opinion. Those first couple days, I’m recording this today, Monday, around lunchtime, and that’s before the fifth practice.

We’ve had four practices in, and already it’s Will Grier looks that much better than Treon Harris. Yes, Will Grier looks better than Treon Harris. It’s first four days. Treon Harris is definitely not the quarterback Will Grier is, and that’s what we all know. Treon Harris is more of a gamer than Will Grier right now, so my question is how do we really know what Treon Harris is going to do in 10 practices compared to Will Grier? If Jim McElwain was to name Will Grier the starter now, what’s the point of that? That just doesn’t make sense to me why that has to be done today. Why do we as fans, and why do we as media members, have to have a starter today? Why not let the quarterback battle go out and let the best man win? I think that’s best for the team. That’s best for the fans. That’s best for us in the media to see the best quarterback win. Whether that is Will Grier or Treon Harris at the end of the time, let’s just see what that is.

Again, I predict Will Grier will win the job. I think Will Grier’s the better quarterback of the two. I think Will Grier’s the better fit for Jim McElwain’s offense, and I think that he ultimately wins it, but to say after three, four practices that he’s just that much better is crazy to me. You go through drills. You see, well Treon Harris threw the ball on the ground, so he’s losing the job. That’s crazy to me. That’s just crazy. A, we don’t know what’s going on at practice. We don’t know what the drill is, because we’re just watching it from afar. Let’s remove ourselves from having to name a quarterback before the season starts, and even if McElwain wants to go on that first game and let the two quarterbacks battle it out against New Mexico, let’s see what that is. You don’t really need a quarterback until Kentucky. You don’t need a starting quarterback until Kentucky. You need to have a starting quarterback named for Kentucky that way you go on the road and see that. So, I think Treon Harris is a very good player. I think Will Grier ends up winning the job though.

The second thing that’s kind of been bothering me a little bit is the way the offensive line is being portrayed right now, because on Day 1 Mason Halter lined up at left tackle, and David Sharpe lined up at right tackle. Then Martez Ivey lined up at right tackle. If you go back and you look at Jim McElwain’s message at Media Days and really throughout his time as a coach, he wants to have eight offensive linemen that are going to rotate in. That means eight guys that can move in. That means not having Martez Ivey being the so-called backup left tackle, or David Sharpe being the so-called backup right tackle. That means that if I start David Sharpe, Ivey, Mason Halter, Trip Thurman, Tyler Jordan, and the next best guy is Antonio Riles, or the next best guy is Nick Buchanan that means that Nick Buchanan can come in and play any five positions that are on the roster. He doesn’t so much say, David Sharpe’s going to be your starting left tackle, Fred Johnson’s the number 2, David Sharpe gets hurt, so Fred Johnson has to go in. That’s incorrect, because that’s not the way Jim McElwain runs his offense, and not the way he wants to do things. They’re going to continue to have six to eight guys that are going to rotate in and be the factors on the offensive line. There’s not going to be a so-called movement of rotating guys in.

I think that’s the main thing we have to realize is that wherever they line up in practice doesn’t exactly mean that’s where they’re starting. Just because Halter started at left tackle, or just because Sharpe started at right tackle, doesn’t mean that that’s going to be the way it goes starting. They’re going to rotate all. You may see Tyler Jordan tomorrow at left guard, or you may see Tyler Jordan tomorrow at right guard. That’s just the way it’s going to be. You’re going to see them rotate in to where when it does become game time they’ve had that practice experience to where it is. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I truly believe that you’re going to see Sharpe and Ivey as your two tackles. I think you’re going to see Sharpe at left tackle, and you’re going to see Ivey at right tackle, and you’re going to see Thurman, and you’re going to see Mason Halter at the guard positions with Tyler Jordan at the center position. I think that’s going to be your five, and then when you move out I think you’re going to move into Nick Buchanan, probably Antonio Riles, and I guess right now I would say maybe Dorsey. I’m not exactly sure who that eighth guy would be. I think that’s where we have to look as we go in.

I do feel very confident in saying Nick Buchanan, Antonio Riles will be two guys that come off that bench to rotate in. Again, I think you would want to stay away from Riles playing the tackle position, so hopefully Buchanan’s a guy that can play all three. I say that as in left tackle, right tackle, and the two guard positons, so all four. To say that this is the way they’re lining up is the way they’re going to play in my opinion is just crazy. I think that that is one thing that McElwain continues to say and everyone is just overblowing what they’re seeing in practice. I think that this a lot of the reasons that football coaches around America are shutting down practices is because we’re not getting the full view of what we’re seeing. We’re not listening to press conferences and watching practices and putting two things together. They’re not separate things.

It’s a program. What he says is what practice is, and we need to put that together. That’s something that’s not happening right now, and you can kind of see that McElwain’s starting to grow tired of the questions, because every day it’s, who’s the starting quarterback? Why did Mason Halter line up at right guard today? Why did he line up at left tackle today? It’s simply a practice. Practice is what you’re going to do to build your team as it goes. Again, we’re in practice number four. We’ve seen three open practices, four in general have happened, but only three have been open to the media, and we’re ready to name who the starters are going to be.

That’s my thoughts on that. Let’s just let the offensive line play out. There’s going to be eight guys that are going to in a rotation. You’re going to have five to start, and who those five are are going to be the best five, and they’re going to be in. Then the next three are going to be in, and they’re going to be able to rotate at all five positions. This is not the Will Muschamp era. This is Jim McElwain, and the man knows what he’s doing.

My kind of next thought, now I go to the Adam Lane situation here a little bit. We had Adam Lane projected as the third running back on the depth chart with Gator Country Nick and I did, and we always kind of kept it in as what Adam Lane’s issue was, and that has always been, I don’t want to say lazy, because lazy is a strong word to use, but I’ve always heard that he was missing practices. He was missing workouts. He wasn’t doing what he needed to be an SEC football player at Florida. That’s something that continued on, and even with McElwain. As McElwain continued to go on it was a situation where he was starting to become, I guess you could say disturbed with Adam Lane a little bit. Then when he had that arrest that was kind of the last straw in the bucket with it.

I know everyone wants to say, he was the MVP of the Birmingham Bowl, sure he was. That was against a very bad ECU defense, and that was in a bowl game where what did you win? The Birmingham Bowl. Wow. That’s nothing. That’s terrible. Florida lost money by going to the Birmingham Bowl. So no offense to Adam Lane, he wasn’t Florida material. You see all these projections come out of what’s going to happen? What’s the effect of it? The fact of the matter is there is no effect of it. The two guys were going to be Scarlett and Kelvin Taylor. That was who it’s going to be. Let’s not make a mountain out of a mole hill out of nothing. It’s just not what it is.

Again, do I think the third string guy now is going to be a question mark? Sure. I think Jordan Cronkrite easily should have been a redshirt guy. He needed to gain some weight, and Mark Herndon’s coming back from a knee injury that we’re not sure what’s going to happen. Again, those guys are very serviceable in play. You can see Brandon Powell come in and take some snaps from the back field a little bit. You could see a Valdez Showers come in and do that in special situations, but the fact of the matter is you’re going to have two guys. You’re going to have a two headed monster in Scarlett and Kelvin Taylor, and those guys are going to rotate in. You’re going to see Herndon. You’re going to probably see Cronkrite as well in there. Let’s not make too much out of this Adam Lane news. Jim McElwain is going to weed out the weak of the Will Muschamp era, the guys that do not need to be a part of this team. He’s going to try to have a big class.

I’ve said it before, 27, 28 in the class. That’s not going to happen unless he weeds some of these guys out. The first guy was Adam Lane, and there will probably be more to come, guys that just don’t fit McElwain’s work ethic, doesn’t fit his team, and doesn’t fit his locker room. If you’re not going to fit those he’s going to kick you to the curb. Remember, those are Will Muschamp guys. He wants guys that are going to play for him. Guys like Vernon Hargreaves, Poole, those guys. They’ve bought into his philosophy, his understanding of what he wants the program to be like. If you’re not going to be a part of what he’s building, then simply he’s going to tell you to find somewhere else to play, and wherever that is that’s what’s going to happen.

This is a rebuilding process that McElwain’s doing, and I hate to use the rebuilding process, that word, because you’re never truly rebuilding, because you’re always planning to win games. McElwain does have to build his system up. As you see with the offensive linemen he brought in last year, those guys are all built for what he asks. Let’s try to always keep in mind that that’s what it is. He’s building for what’s going to happen in the next two to three years when he does plan to get Atlanta. Not that he doesn’t plan to get there now. So if you’re not buying in you’re simply going to be out. Unfortunately, that was kind of where Adam Lane was in that situation.

I guess kind of where my final thought is out of this, because I’m going to try to keep this podcast shorter, this little show shorter. My final thought is back to recruiting a little bit. I want to end on recruiting. I want to end on how the summer went. I think this was a very successful summer for Florida. Did they get some big names? Sure. Did they get every big name they wanted? Did they get all big names that they wanted? No. They did not. When you start to look at the guys they brought in, they brought in some five stars. Just recently, Lyndell Wilson a five star linebacker from Montgomery. They brought in Jawaan Taylor who committed from Montgomery. They brought in the Benjamin Victors, the Calvin Ridleys, the Nate Craig-Myers. They just brought in talent after talent after talent and were able to get them on campus.

When you look at Friday Night Lights, just to run through some of the big name guys, Benjamin Victor, Ridley, Chauncey Gardner, Demetrius Robinson, Freddie Swain, Isaiah Johnson, Nate Craig-Myers, Sam Bruce, Shavar Manuel. Five star, four star after four star, after three star all came in. That was one of the most successful Friday Night Lights I’ve ever been a part of. The summer in general was just loaded with talent. From the end of May to the first of August really was just prospects, tons of prospects. Not 2016, not only 2017, but some 2018 guys coming in. That has a lot to do with Drew Hughes, the Director of Player Personnel. He’s the guy that’s responsible for getting these guys on campus. He’s doing a hell of a job getting these guys on campus. He has a great relationship with those guys. He’s a young guy. He understands how to talk to these guys. He really does his homework on trying to figure out what it is these kids want to hear, what these kids like. He tells them that, and he gets them on campus. Then when he gets them on campus he and the staff do a great job. I don’t even want to call them the backup coaching staff, I guess is what you’d call them. The Mark Blackwells, all of the guys that are behind the scenes that are doing things right now. Those guys really help Florida and their coaching staff get these guys when they come in.

Friday Night Lights every prospect had coaches or support staff or anybody, Gas. They had those guys around them that they were always feeling at home. That’s such a bonus for this coaching staff, and such a plus from the last coaching staff. Yes, we didn’t see all of the rewards come from that. You didn’t see the Nate Craig-Myers. You didn’t see Benjamin Victor or those guys commit, but Florida set themselves up to get those guys back on campus again, get those guys in the fall, and momentum’s going. Look at Shamar Manuel, he’s a guy that nobody thought Florida was in consideration for, that Florida was going to get, including myself. Then he kept making surprise visit after surprise visit. Guess what? Florida and LSU are the two schools that he likes the most. Florida’s right in the mix of things. That was out of nowhere. Nate Craig-Myers, Auburn and Florida State’s been the two teams talked about. Now Florida’s moving ahead, getting some momentum on Nate Craig-Myers, and they’re moving on that one. Clemson commit Zerrick Cooper came in. Nobody thought he was going to show up. He shows up, spends two days, and Florida’s moving in the right direction with him.

Let’s not always pay attention to what is on the recruiting board as of today. There’s sitting at 20 commits. Some of those guys are going to leave. It is what it is, but Florida’s going to end up with a good class. They did what they needed to do. Again, McElwain wanted to get out in front, get a lot of commits in. Just because he knows they’re not going to have a great season, he wants to get guys in there, build a foundation so he can focus on this season. He knows it’s going to be a grinding season, and not have to focus as much on recruiting. Then as the season goes on and into the season and into the run to signing day, he’s able to pick on the guys like the Nate Craig-Myers, the Victors, the Bruces, the Zerrick Coopers, the big name guys. He’s able to focus on those as official visits come around as we get into signing day. McElwain and staff, props to you guys for getting these kids on campus. You did a great job this summer. It was nice. I’m finally excited about recruiting again. The 2017 class is just setting up to be a monster class for the Gators. I really think Florida will have a Top 3 class when it comes to 2017.

I’m going to wrap this up. I don’t want to bore you guys for too much longer. Running at about 15 minutes here, and I just want to kind of keep it at that. I hope you guys enjoyed the little 15 minutes here with me hearing my thoughts. I ramble a lot. I know I do. Just kind of want to give my thoughts of the week. You guys let me know on Twitter or let me know on the message board what you think about this little 15 minute show, if you think it’s successful let me know, and I’ll continue doing it. If you think I failed miserably, let me know. I’m all for it. I can find something else to do with my 15 minutes of time. For this time, I’m Andrew Spivey signing off. Stay tuned to Gator Country.