The Numbers Game

[swampcabbage]

I have a friend with whom we spend the night in Gainesville when games are played at night. He is a CPA and plays around with numbers, sometimes for no good reason; and sometimes out of idle curiosity.

Over breakfast yesterday, he said that in an idle moment he went throught the entire Florida roster and made a calculation as to the people who he considered would be gone after the end of the season [seniors who had exhausted their eligibility and juniors who would declare for the draft], and those who would be back next year. He said that there are 36 players on the roster who are either starters, primary back ups or have logged some playing time who will be back. He also indicated the spread was pretty much accross the entire depth chart.

Here's what I took away from that conversation. First, Urban is an amazing recruiter, not just for the talent he brings in, but for the way he stages the people to whom he offers scholarships so that he continuously has a balance of players at all positions. In other words, he doesn't have people stacked up at line backer while the defensive end position only has 3 or 4 guys, tops. It's mind boggling to me how he is able to do that when dealing with 18 year olds who are pretty volatile when it comes down to their final decison, Nukeese Richardson probably being the latest poster boy for fickle recruits.

The other thing is, with that kind of depth, how does he induce a 4 or 5 star kid to come to Florida when he pobably knows he won't be starting? Even among that many stars there aren't that many Percy Harvins. I just thought this was an area that not many fans think about, certainly I hadn't given it much consideration as long as the 5 star kids kept coming.

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

[tommyvee]

We missed out on a bunch of WRs this past year. That's why we are looking to sign 5 next year.

Even with our talent level, players can play early if they are ready.

Urban talks a lot about special teams for a reason. Not only because he coaches it, but because he wants to reward the young guys that get a chance to showcase their skills here. You can see why the special team players get to eat first during team dinners.

[swampcabbage]

The friend to whom I referred above also said he knows the mother of one of the kids who plays on special teams. I forgot the kid's name; but my friend said he made not one but two blocks on a kick return Saturday night and the kid's mom told my friend that Urban came over to him on the sideline, put his arm around him and congratuated him and told him that play would not be forgotten. That kid would probably run through fire for Urban now.

[gtr2x]

Positive reinforcement is always better, imo. It's nice to get positive feedback at any point in life, assuming it is sincere. More of us should do a better job of that. That's my mgt 101 advice for the day.