I apologize, y’all. I haven’t been around much the last two weeks and I am sorry. I have been dealing with a compressed peroneal nerve in my ankle and have been basically out of commission the last week and a half.
But I am back, not healed yet, but back just in time for National Signing Day. And boy, is it a great time to be involved with the Florida Gators. The Gators are gaining incredible momentum on the recruiting trail, building a brand new indoor practice facility, and Florida basketball is on a winning streak!
It is a good day to be alive and a good day to be a Florida Gator!
Thoughts on the Super Bowl Play
By now everyone has opined on the 1-yard pass from Russell Wilson at the goal line of Super Bowl XLIX.
While the obvious play would be run the ball in, and hindsight is always 20/20, I don’t think it was the bad of a play call as illustrated below.
In this diagram, you see Seahawks wide receiver Ricardo Lockette slanting right into the end zone, while Patriots defensive back Malcolm Butler makes a beautiful read on the play and jams right into Lockette, causing the ball to become intercepted. Lockette didn’t run a clean, crisp route and looked lazy running it, which is what allowed Butler to make the quick hop on the ball.
Of the 109 passes thrown from the one-yard line this season, it was the only one that had been intercepted – and that is unfortunate. But would he have scored, it would have been a great play call –sadly for the Seahawks he didn’t.
McElwain Taking Back South Florida
As of date of publication, the Gators had four recruits from South Florida of their 15 commits – Jordan Scarlett, Richerd Desir-Jones, Frederick Johnson, and Rayshad Jackson. Now compare that to Will Muschamp, who only had 11 commit during his four years. Jim McElwain has shown that schools like St. Thomas Aquinas are necessary pipelines, and breaking into Miami-Dade County can yield major results – including grabbing, in my opinion, the best running back in the state of Florida.
South Florida consistently produces some of the top talent in the country year in and year out, and the fact that Will Muschamp and Co. never put a full court press on South Florida was always strange. It is good to see McElwain and his staff go in to South Florida and penetrate areas, like Norland, that Florida hasn’t recruited well – ever.
Spring Sports Update
Besides Basketball, the Gators are currently doing quite well in the other spring sports on the docket and the outlook looks unbelieveable.
• The women’s gymnastics team is 3-1 is ranked number two in the country.
• Women’s indoor track is ranked one in the pre-season polls.
• The baseball team is a pre-season top-10 team in most national publications.
• The softball team is the pre-season number one team.
• The women’s lacrosse team is ranked fourth in pre-season polls.
• Men’s indoor track is ranked second in polls.
Must Read Articles of the Week
- Jules Suzdaltsev | White Plastic Chairs Are Taking Over the World
- Stephen Squibb | The Last Days of Football
- Mark Leibovich | Tom Brady Cannot Stop
- Stefan Fatsis | The Definition of a Dictionary
Song of the Week
As you know, I have been jamming a lot of Chris Janson recently. He has got a great personality, kills it on the harmonica, and writes some mean lyrics. Here is another great song of his.
as time goes on, Coach Mac will expose Muschump for the charlatan that he was as a HBC. good riddance, Boom!
Daniel, hope ye ole nerve compression gets better soon. I almost pulled a hammy when I heard Scarlett committed. It was an injury of joy…The coaches are on a roll for sure. The energy around the program is already peaking and positive. That alone is good. My hope is that Coach Mac publically calls out the Gator faithful to fill that stadium for the spring game, and the university needs to accommodate his wishes. There’s a new era beginning and we need to harvest every drop of it so when the kids come out of the tunnel in the fall that eruption will carry us through the season! It’s great to be a Florida Gator. GO GATORS!