Podcast: Previewing January 11th official visits and talking recruiting

GatorCountry brings you a new podcast as we talk about the Florida Gators recruiting efforts as the dead period comes to an end.

Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre break down the official visitors that are expected in town for this weekend as Florida is expected to host six prospects.

Andrew and Nick also talk about the latest news surrounding several big name transfers and whether or not Florida should go after them.

TRANSCRIPT:

Andrew:                 What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, we’re back. Almost time to welcome official visitors back in Gainesville, so some more cake pictures and all that good stuff.

Nick:                         Cake pictures. Now it’s like regular cake. You used to see those cookie cakes. That was my jam.

Andrew:                 What was it, last year, the year before last? Everybody was on the cookie cakes. Yeah. Lot of things happening here, Nick. Florida will welcome seven guys to campus this week. Be their biggest weekend of visitors. I know some people have talked about why bring all the guys in on the first weekend, and that’s something Mullen wants to do is kind of set the bar high and get the guys feeling Florida. He believes in his ability to lock them down on the first weekend. We’ll see that comes about. Seven official visitors this weekend, as the dead period will officially come to a close at midnight on Thursday night. We’re taping this on Thursday.

Nick:                         What is your opinion? My opinion is not, it’s not black and white. Mine is it’s probably on an individual basis, depending on when you want a kid. You’re watching to see when is he going to, for instance, Miami. When is he going to take his official with Georgia? Versus let’s just get everyone in on the first week. What’s your opinion?

Andrew:                 I agree with you here. Let’s go through a couple guys that are coming on. Kaiir Elam. I think it’s good to bring him the first weekend. It’s Florida or Georgia. We already think Florida is a little bit ahead of Georgia right now. You know the family history at Florida. Why not go ahead, knock that visit out? Knock it out of the ballpark there and set the bar so high that when he goes to Georgia he goes, “Oh, they don’t know my family like Florida does,” or “They can’t show a photo of my family.” That kind of stuff. So, in Elam’s situation, I like it.

In a situation like Charles Moore, I like it. Charles Moore hasn’t visited Florida yet, so bring him on campus. Get him thinking Florida. Get him knowing what they know about Florida. Get him to know that January 11th-13th. Let him go back home, take his other visits, but he’s still thinking about Florida. Then you can talk to him about the things you saw at Florida while he’s there.

We talk about the big Utah defensive tackle that took the visit last weekend, and Florida and LSU were battling down the wire, but his last weekend was really the first time he got to know about Florida. Had he taken that visit in say early December, he was thinking about Florida more and more. In a case of Elam and Moore, I like it.

A case like RJ Henderson or a case like Mark-Antony Richards, two guys that are going to take visits to other contenders, and they’re very close, the teams are, I say maybe you want that to be that last weekend before the dead period in February, or maybe middle of the road. Those are ones I say, maybe it’s not good to have the first visit with those guys.

Nick:                         So, we’re on the same page. Case by case basis. Do you think that’s what this staff is doing, or do you think they just want to get everyone, get it all over with and take a vacation?

Andrew:                 I mean, I don’t know if they want to take a vacation. That’s a bold move if we find out they’re sitting in Hawaii next week. That’s a bold move. No. I think you can make the argument that it’s better to say have all seven guys on campus together and enjoying it together. You get to the go to the big basketball game on Saturday against Tennessee together. The next two weekends there is no basketball games, so there’s really nothing going on. I think you can make the argument that you want to have more guys on than have a couple each weekend. On the flip side, I think you can make the argument that if you have two or three guys each weekend, you get to spend that much more time with each guy.

I guess I can see both sides of it. I think every staff varies. We saw Mac. Mac was a guy who liked a few guys each weekend, so they could spend more time with each guy. Saban’s kind of in that mold as well of wanting guys each time. Then you see a guy like Urban, who Mullen learned from. He liked the big weekends to where it seemed like it was a domino effect.

Nick:                         Yeah. Obviously, Dan was there for that, but Urban did a great job of that. It was almost like just keep your name in the headlines. He set things up so it was one after the other, and it kind of always kept momentum going, always kept your name out there, and that plays a factor.

Andrew:                 I think that you can see where it’s good to have that, and it’s good to see there’s so many guys, so maybe a guy like Elam can influence Mark-Antony Richards. The two of them get really close while they’re on campus, that kind of stuff. Maybe the next week they talk about things. How did your Penn State visit go? Ask Elam how is Georgia visit went. They both can say, well, it wasn’t Florida. Maybe that influences them.

Nick:                         Right. We’ve talked about that before, about having a good mix of bringing committed guys on with uncommitted guys to have them do some of that recruiting for you.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         I think you’re going to get a good mix of that this weekend. You don’t want to bring all your committed guys one weekend, and then bring seven wide receiver recruits the next weekend. Then they’re all looking around like, what the hell are we all doing here?

Andrew:                 Yeah. In this case, there’s only the one guy in RJ Henderson that’s going to be coming on campus that is going to be committed, because everybody else is pretty much signed. It’s a thing where I think you …

Nick:                         You also have all the kids that are in the recruiting class that just early enrolled, all the early enrollees as well, which I consider them, obviously they’re more than committed, they’re signed, but I consider them this same recruiting class. I like having them on campus. They’re getting adjusted now, so what better way to have somebody who’s looking to go to that school. What’s your first week like? The stuff that they told you when you were being recruited, the stuff they’re telling me right now, is that true? Because right now you don’t have any cards to play when you’re on campus.

Andrew:                 That’s what I was going to say too. I think that you have to remember that as well. I think in the case of a guy like RJ Henderson, the new commit, it’s a double-edged sword for me here, because you want to get him on campus early to see is this legit. Are you legit committed to us, or was this I want to make a decision on national TV? Then at the same point, he’s going to go, and we’ll see if he ends up doing this or not, but right now it seems like he’s going to still go on that Florida State visit on the 25th. It’s a case of don’t you want the last word with your commit? I think it’s kind of a double-edged sword with him a little bit, in that you want to get him on campus as soon as possible to make sure that this is where he really wants to be, make sure of that. But at the same time, you usually want the last word with your commits.

Nick:                         I think the thought process there is what you said first. It’s let’s just get him on and see if it’s real. Committed and never been there.

Andrew:                 Right. Exactly. Then the thing is, and we always talk about this, there is the chance that Florida will knock the visit out of the park, and he doesn’t take that FSU visit. That’s what you hope for. That’s where you can tell a lot about he told us that he really liked the visit, and that he’s really committed, but he’s still taking that visit. Guess what? We need to still recruit some other receivers. That kind of stuff. I get that as well.

Then you have to remember this. This is what the early signing period has kind of started, more so than it was the in past, but now most schools are focusing more on the 2020 class. You look at a school like Alabama, who’s already signed pretty much their entire class. Guess what? They’re starting on the 2020 class. So, a school like Florida, who has pretty much as well signed it, but still has some spots open, they’ve got to start worrying about the 2020 class, not to get behind. You start to then bring some 2020 guys on.

Florida will have their first Junior Day at the end of the month, or at the beginning of February. You have to start remembering that as well. I think that’s a little bit of how this whole process of maybe you want to bring more of your uncommitted guys for the 2019 class on early, so you can do that. You don’t want to get ahead and say, I don’t want to get behind in the 2020 class, so I’m going to forget the 2019 class. You have to manage it. Again, that’s a little bit due to this early signing period, to where Nick Saban’s not taking the month of January off. He’s going to go ahead and start working on the 2020 class.

Nick:                         Well, we’ll get into the National Championship game, but I’m guessing Nick Saban is attacking recruiting after taking a beating like that.

Andrew:                 Do you think he’s taking some keys to some automobiles as well?

Nick:                         Oh my God, the Camaro keys have been revoked.

Andrew:                 Lord, they got all the keys in the basket. Mom said, “Turn the keys in, boys. Turn the keys in.” They all had to turn them in.

Nick:                         Guys are on scooters now.

Andrew:                 Yeah. Guys are on scooters. They’re walking, getting in better shape. Let’s go ahead, Nick. Let’s break this down here a little bit. This weekend, FSU commit, Quashon Fuller, defensive end, is expected on campus. The thing here is his mom is not going to come after his little fight with Chauncey on Twitter. We can get into all that. Personally, I don’t want to. Nick, if you want to, we’ll discuss it. If you want to. They had the fight back and forth about the shoes and all that stuff. I know some people say Chauncey was right to do it. Some people say he’s wrong to do it. I’ll just say this. It wasn’t good for recruiting. So, mom’s not going to come anymore. Nick, we’ve all known mom is the key to Quashon Fuller’s recruitment. Mom not coming really hurts Florida in Quashon Fuller’s recruitment.

Nick:                         Okay. I guess we have to get into it. Why is mom not coming?

Andrew:                 Because she’s upset about the fight. She’s upset at the way some of the players called him out. She said that she was not going to go there. Listen, also here’s the thing. This is the fact of it with Quashon’s mom, and that has been she’s a big supporter of Willie Taggert. She likes Willie Taggert. She doesn’t want to visit Florida. That’s her right, of course. It looks that will be the place for him. It looks Quashon will probably just be taking kind of a nice little fun relaxing trip to Gainesville this weekend.

Nick:                         I mean, do you think it’s real then? Because if mom is not on board …

Andrew:                 I don’t think it’s real.

Nick:                         If mom’s not on board, you’re just going to get a free trip?

Andrew:                 Probably. I mean, because he’s made it very clear mom is the one that makes the decision here. Mom’s going to be the one that is going to determine this. Yeah. Kind of is. I mean, you hate to say it, and maybe there is a chance that he goes back and tells mom, “I really like this. I decided this is where I want to be,” and that changes her mind. But mom hasn’t been on campus since the Mac era. Not a good look.

Nick:                         I think you’re stuck then between a rock and a hard place.

Andrew:                 Well, you can’t tell the kid not to come.

Nick:                         You can’t tell him not to come. It’s a position of need.

Andrew:                 It’s not only that. My argument on the message board has been this, and that is you recruit the kid for over a year. Do you just say, because mom’s not coming, screw it, I’m not bringing you on campus? Then you’ve wasted a year. I don’t think you can do that.

Nick:                         Yeah. I think it’s just a rock and a hard place. Defensive line, especially the interior defensive line, is such a need right now for this class, when you look at the numbers and when you look at what you were and weren’t able to get. So, I don’t think you can tell him no, but to me it seems like if he’s made it known that mom is going to be the decisionmaker here, and mom’s not happy, and mom’s not coming on the visit, then you’re just giving a kid a free trip to Gainesville.

Andrew:                 You’re right. You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. It’s a situation of you know that you’re in trouble pretty much with this situation, but you better knock the visit out of the park and hope and pray that he’ll bring mom back up on an unofficial some other time. That’s a big one.

We already talked about Elam. Big visit. Florida, Georgia are really the two schools right now that have a little bit of a head start, a little bit of a lead there. I think Florida still has a little bit of an edge there. He’s going to take more trips. Georgia, he’s going to take that trip. Probably go out to Colorado to visit Mel Tucker, because he was close to him at Georgia. That will be a free trip, just to visit and pay respect to the coach who recruited him at Georgia. So, Florida, Georgia is kind of that battle there. We talked about that.

Charles Moore is a guy, decommitted from Mississippi State. Another guy who probably moves into be an interior lineman, at 270 already. Played a little bit of interior at the Under Armour game. Auburn and Tennessee look like they’re a little bit ahead right now of Florida, coming into this visit. The key is Moore committed to Mullen at Mississippi State, so he’s familiar with him there, but not familiar with Florida. This is his first ever trip to Florida. Florida has a lot of ground to make up in a short period of time. He’s been to Auburn and Tennessee lately on unofficials, and he’s already took his official to Auburn, so he’s still going to take a visit to Tennessee. You have a long way to make up, but you do have that kind of, I guess, key in your pocket a little bit in that he’s already committed to Mullen once.

Nick:                         That helps.

Andrew:                 Doesn’t hurt. Definitely helps.

Nick:                         Doesn’t hurt. Yeah.

Andrew:                 The next one is RJ Henderson. We talked about him. Smith Vilbert is a guy that is kind of an unknown guy. Defensive end. Was more of a basketball guy, but really turned it on his senior year. Had a really good tape. 6’6”, 245, 250-pound defensive end out of New Jersey. Penn State’s considered the leader here. Some questions of whether Penn State will end up having enough room for him in the class, and that could help Florida. I would say that Smith Vilbert is not a huge need but is a need. You got Summerall in the class, and he’s a guy that’s an edge rusher. You got Mohamoud Diabate, who’s an edge rusher as well. That’s kind of what Smith Vilbert is. Nick, I’ll say this, and I think you’ll agree with me here. You can never have too many pass rushers.

Nick:                         No. That’s every level of football. Shoot, if you give me a Pop Warner team, give me some guys that get after the quarterback. Florida got another one. We’ll mention it real quick, Jonathan Greenard. They got another one. That will be a guy that can come in and play right away as a graduate transfer. He had 15.5 sacks two seasons ago. He played for Todd Grantham at Louisville, so he’s going to step right into this defense with a good knowledge of what’s expected of him, and a guy that has proven, I think it was his redshirt sophomore season, with 15.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks. A guy that can step right in and play that buck spot for Florida.      After that, I’ve got my scholarship chart right here.

Andrew:                 I would think Jeremiah Moon is a guy.

Nick:                         Jeremiah Moon is that guy. Jeremiah Moon would have been the guy, and now I think Jonathan Greenard in, that’s the guy that you’re looking that is going to give you that competition at that buck spot.

Andrew:                 I’m going to tell you now, Zach Carter is going to have a big year next year.

Nick:                         Yeah. Zach Carter’s another guy. It’ll be interesting to see where David Reese ends up. Is he a guy that plays linebacker? Does he play safety? Talking about the redshirt freshman, David Reese, obviously.

Andrew:                 Yeah. It’ll be interesting there. We’ll get more on Greenard in a minute here. With Smith Vilbert, they’re trailing Penn State right now. Again, it’s his first ever visit to Florida. Need a big visit.

Another one, and it’s another offensive lineman, Nick. They got seven already, but can’t have too many. Ira Henry out of Saint Louis, Missouri, Trinity Catholic. Again, his first ever visit to Florida. He’s going to visit Florida State on the 25th. Also going to visit Oklahoma right now. He’s pretty wide open in his recruitment here. Really likes John Hevesy, and is a guy that Hevesy has kind of recruited for a while now, even kind of dating back to Mississippi State. It’ll be interesting to kind of see how that goes this weekend. You know other teams are going to use the seven signed guys already against Florida.

Nick:                         Right. Obviously.

Andrew:                 But can he come in and see a depth chart? I mean, the depth chart is there. If you’re coming in with seven guys, and you’re the eighth guy, you’re a little behind on some of the guys that early enrolled, but at the same time you’re all freshmen. That will be a key there.

Then the last guy, Nick, maybe outside of Elam most important guy on campus, is Mark-Antony Richards, out of Palm Beach down there. He’s been a guy that’s been high on Dan Mullen’s board for a while. I say this, but he’s a Kadarius Toney, Percy Harvin, mold kind of guy, where you can put him at running back. You can put him at receiver. You can put him at safety. Wherever. You can put him at wildcat quarterback. Wherever you may play him, he can play. Auburn’s considered the leader a little bit there. Penn State’s also there. Miami, where his brother played at, is also in the mix there as well. Florida’s kind of gained some momentum there a little bit. Really need to knock this one out.

This is a guy that I think takes the class, this offensive class, from being a really good class to potentially being a great class. I mean, this is my thing. Some people have asked me, is he better than Kadarius? I don’t know. I mean, Kadarius is a really, really good athlete. But after Kadarius, Nick, who plays that role? I don’t know if there is a guy on the roster that plays that role.

Nick:                         Right. I mean, Jacob Copeland is a great athlete, but I don’t know if he’s the same. He’s bigger. Not as elusive. Not that kind of quick twitch.

Andrew:                 I’m not putting Jacob Copeland at running back, like they do Kadarius at times.

Nick:                         Right.

Andrew:                 That kind of stuff. Yeah. I’m just not sold on that. Again, that’s a huge need, and we know in the Dan Mullen offense how important having guys like Kadarius Toney is.

Nick:                         You need that guy. They always seem to have that guy, or at least when they have their best offenses, they have that guy.

Andrew:                 Exactly. That’s the weekend. Again, big weekend for Florida. Those guys are big, big guys that are important to Florida. It’s always good to start the period, the recruitment period, off on a good start. You want to go in there, and you want to set the bar high, and you want to go in and show these guys all about Florida. So, it’ll be key. We’ll see how the rest of the weekends go down. Not a ton of guys left to visit, so might be a little bit slower after this weekend, but still a big weekend for Florida.

They come in with some momentum, like you said, on Jonathan Greenard. I know we talk about Greenard and his relationship with Grantham, but I think we really forget how good of a player he is when healthy. Again, it’s a guy that doesn’t have to come in and learn Grantham’s system. He knows Grantham’s system. He maybe has to catch up on things and take a quick little refresh, but he knows everything about it.

Nick:                         Exactly. That’s the key to getting on the field and contributing right away.

Andrew:                 How big of an impact do you think he can make next year?

Nick:                         I think it would probably depend on Moon.

Andrew:                 Okay.

Nick:                         When you get Polite leaving and Cece leaving, to me that is the alarm bell should go off in Jeremiah Moon’s head. Hey, this is my time. Who else is behind him?

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         Who would you put behind him? Now, you just have to have the right mindset. Jeremiah Moon is a great kid, great family. I think he will have the right mindset. He’s not going to get his feelings about some kid coming in who has experience in the defense, so does Jeremiah Moon. I think you’ve got to have a mindset of I’m not going to let this kid come in and take what’s mine. This season was supposed to be mine. I think Greenard is a pass rush specialist, a guy that will absolutely help Florida, but I’m interested to see how Jeremiah Moon steps in. Because I think he’s got the right makeup to him to take this as a challenge, to take it head on. To me, that will very interesting to watch both of them in the spring.

Andrew:                 Yeah.

Nick:                         That was a roundabout answer to your question. I think Jonathan Greenard can play right away and will make an impact right away.

Andrew:                 I agree with that. I think that the biggest thing for me is I think Greenard is a very good pass rusher, like we say, but I think he’s also very good against the run, and that shows with his tackles for loss and that kind of stuff. He’s a guy that I think is a guy that can play all three downs, without a doubt.

Nick:                         Yeah. That’s something that’s asked of that position, absolutely. We saw Jachai Polite have to do it, and that’s not something he was super adept at early on.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         Something he handled.

Andrew:                 Right. Exactly. We talk about recruitments and commitments and all that, but that was a big one. That was a big one for Florida to get.

Nick:                         It doesn’t count towards, everyone wants to talk about recruiting rankings. That’s not going to go towards your recruiting rankings this year, but that’s a big recruit.

Andrew:                 Yeah. I mean, like you say, it doesn’t go for recruiting rankings, but at the same time, next year when you play on the field, that recruiting rankings don’t win you football games either. Jonathan Greenard may win you some football games. Again, in my opinion, a big, big pickup for Florida and a big pickup at a position of need. I mean, we can talk about Moon. We can talk about Zach Carter. We can talk about all these guys as much as we want to talk about them, but at the end of the day, none of those guys have the experience a guy like Greenard does. None of those guys have shown on a Saturday they can do what Greenard does. Now, Moon and Carter have shown flashes. None of them have shown they can do exactly what he did.

Nick:                         Do you think Zach Carter fits into that spot too?

Andrew:                 A little bit. I think he could also very well end up backing up Jabari, but I think Zach Carter has that ability to come off the edge and go get the quarterback. I know he’s grown a little bit, and he’s gotten bigger, and maybe ended up growing out of that role a little bit to more of a weak side D-end, but I also think he could play there. I mean, Jachai Polite wasn’t a small guy either.

Nick:                         Yeah. I’m interested to see how much, that continuing body transformation for Carter as well. Does he grow into just hand to the ground?

Andrew:                 Maybe. I don’t know. I think that we can look it. We can talk about all the things that happened last year in the off season, but this is the second off season for Zach Carter, and I think you’ll see even bigger changes. Then it will also be interesting to see. Do they want him to grow into that, or do they want him to lean up a little bit to where he’s more of a guy that is like a Jachai Polite, that can just go get the quarterback? I’ll say this. The weight that Zach Carter gained, while he gained a good bit of weight, it was good weight, and he also didn’t lose his ability of rushing the passer.

Nick:                         Yes. That’s huge. I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about guys putting on bad weight during the Nick Savage reign.

Andrew:                 Yeah. Saint Nick. That’s all for me for recruiting, Nick. The coaches can get back on the road next week and really get after it and start visiting some of these guys and all that good stuff. I personally think, Nick, that’s kind of all the grad transfer you’ll see and all the early enrollees you’ll see. There is some talk Lloyd Summerall may make it in. We’ll see if that happens. We’re taping this on Thursday. Tomorrow, Friday, is the day that they add or drop, so it’s over with after that.

I won’t rule out the possibility of a grad transfer in the summertime. I actually think that’s highly possible, especially if the coaches don’t see what they want to see from the offensive line in the spring.

Nick:                         You’re being very professional right there, because that is how we get into our next topic.

Andrew:                 Okay. Let’s go. This is a topic you and I discussed off the air. I think something you and I will agree on, for the most part. We’ll see, but go ahead. Lead us in.

Nick:                         Justin Fields. Not Justin Fields. Sorry. Jalen Hurts reportedly in the transfer portal.

Andrew:                 Everybody’s in the transfer portal now, Nick.

Nick:                         Right.

Andrew:                 It’s like, I didn’t play today, so let me just go enter my name in here, and maybe scare the coaching staff a little bit.

Nick:                         Being in the transfer portal means teams can reach out to him. They can talk to him. It doesn’t mean he’s going to transfer, but what do you think Florida? Do you think Florida will go after Jalen Hurts? Do you think they should go after Jalen Hurts?

Andrew:                 This is where I’m at. Again, you may disagree with me here. If you didn’t go after Justin Fields, and I know they did not. I know they didn’t contact him or have anything to do with Justin Fields. If you didn’t go after a guy like Justin Fields, why would you go after Jalen Hurts? Because, let’s face it, Justin Fields is going to get his waiver, and he’s going to play next year. Georgia is not going to fight that cause. They’re just not. It’s bad for recruiting. It’s bad for everything. They’re not going to fight it. If you didn’t go after a guy like Justin Fields, why are you going after a guy like Jalen Hurts? If you didn’t do that, why would go after Hurts?

For me, Nick, you and I talked about this before. Feleipe Franks won 10 football games. You and I are not the biggest Feleipe fans on the field. You and I think he has his issues on the field, and we wonder how good he can be. Do I think he’s going to be a Heisman Trophy winner? No. Do I think he’s going to be an All-American? Probably not. I think he did enough to win 10 football games this year, because it showed. So, why mess with something by bringing in Jalen Hurts and Justin Fields?

Let’s also face this too. Do you lose your team if you bring those guys in? Because you lose Feleipe Franks, in my opinion. For once, I would agree with it. I mean, if you bring in Hurts, you’re pretty much telling Feleipe, okay, you won 10 games, but you’re still not good enough for us. Jalen Hurts isn’t coming to sit the bench behind Feleipe.

Nick:                         What’s that message you’re sending to the team?

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         You pass on Joe Burrow, before you knew, before Feleipe won any of that. Before Feleipe won 10 games, before he even won the starting quarterback job, you passed on Joe Burrow. You passed on Justin Fields.

Andrew:                 Right.

Nick:                         Feleipe Franks has won 10 games. That’s your guy. That’s your starting quarterback. I put that out there on Twitter and on the message board, and there’s just a contingent of people that, for whatever reason, and it’s like you said. He’s not a Heisman contender. He’s not going to be an All-American. He’s not going to be All-SEC. But he’s a good enough quarterback in this system to win you football games. Why are you going to go away from that for one year, at the risk of losing Franks, losing your locker room? I don’t know what that sends to you. I don’t see Dan Mullen going after, seriously going after, Jalen Hurts, for those reasons.

You’ve got your starting quarterback for next year. Frankly, Feleipe Franks has two more years of eligibility. You’ve got your guy that you groomed. You redshirted Emory Jones for a reason, to groom him to be your next guy. You’ve got Jalon Jones on campus already, presumably he will redshirt in 2019 and continue to get ready. Do you risk losing one of your younger guys for bringing Jalen Hurts on?

To me, it doesn’t make sense, given what you got from Feleipe Franks, what you have on campus in the younger guys, and the fact that you haven’t gone after the grad transfers in Burrow or in Fields. Fields is better. Fields is one, better than Hurts, and could you make a better quarterback in a video game for this offense? I don’t think so.

Andrew:                 Here’s another thing to that. Listen, I think Jalen Hurts is a good player. I do. I think he did a lot of good things, but is Jalen Hurts that much better of a passer than Feleipe? I think we can make the argument that he’s not.

Nick:                         No. I would say no.

Andrew:                 I mean, I think we can make it.

Nick:                         I’m not saying he’s worse. Just probably same level.

Andrew:                 Yeah. I think we can make that argument that he’s not. Listen, there’s a reason, and we can talk about it, and we’re going to talk about it here in just a second. We can talk about everything you want to. Nick Saban is not playing Tua because Jalen is better. Period. We saw what Georgia did that forced Saban’s hand to play Tua. So, in my opinion, no. I’ll say this. This is a hot take. I say he goes to Florida State or Oklahoma.

Nick:                         Yeah. Shoot, man, I made the case for Fields to Oklahoma.

Andrew:                 Why not? Last thing, before we get out of here, Nick. What a beat down.

Nick:                         Oh my.

Andrew:                 Are the butt cheeks of the Alabama Tide better after that ass whooping?

Nick:                         Tide’s just raw right now, after that game.

Andrew:                 That is the worst. I watch a good bit of Alabama games. That is the worst I have ever seen Alabama play under Nick Saban. That is the most unprepared. Nick, I’m going to say this, and Alabama people around me are agreeing with me for a lot of things, Saban looked disinterested.

Nick:                         Good. Let him transfer.

Andrew:                 Let him transfer.

Nick:                         Let him leave.

Andrew:                 I was hoping the Bucks were going to take him.

Nick:                         He will never go back to the NFL. He ruined my hometown Miami Dolphins, and he knows he won’t ruin anybody else.

Andrew:                 Right. Would you agree or disagree that in three to four years Saban is done?

Nick:                         I don’t know. I would say I don’t see him there in like six years. How old is Nick Saban right now?

Andrew:                 He’s in his 60s.

Nick:                         Nick Saban is 67 years old. I don’t see him coaching till 75. Maybe 72, so that’d be right around four, five years.

Andrew:                 For me, I’m saying within three to four years he’s gone. I’ll be honest with you. If or when he wins another National Championship and passes the bear, might be a good time to ride on out in the sunset.

Nick:                         It looks like Josh Gattis is going to be leaving. That is the co-offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach. Going to be leaving to join …

Andrew:                 Mike Locksley.

Nick:                         Mike Locksley at Maryland.

Andrew:                 What are you doing, if you’re Josh Gattis?

Nick:                         I don’t know. I would stay right where I am. I would not be going to Maryland. That’s for sure.

Andrew:                 You probably get the OC job at Alabama, or you’re going to go be the OC at Mike Locksley, where you know within four years you’re going to get fired, because Locksley can’t head coach.

Nick:                         Yup.

Andrew:                 What are you doing?

Nick:                         Not a great decision.

Andrew:                 What are you doing? The last bit of news, Jim Chaney leaves Georgia for Tennessee.

Nick:                         Yeah.

Andrew:                 Supposedly wanted a raise. I mean, the bonuses you got at Georgia were probably much better than the butt whoopings you’re going to take over in Tennessee. Justin Fields isn’t walking through the door. Jake Fromm is not walking through the door. Little Holyfield is not walking through the door. All those studs that are at Georgia aren’t walking through the door in Knoxville.

Nick:                         Yeah.

Andrew:                 Good luck. Nick, tell everybody where they can find us. We’ll get out of here. We’ll see everyone on Monday, as we recap the official visitors and everything else that’s going on. I’m sure there’ll be some new hot name in the transfer portal, and we’ll talk about him too.

Nick:                         You’ve got it. www.GatorCountry.com for all your Florida Gator news. The podcast is there in audio and transcript form. The podcast is anywhere you listen to podcasts. Just search Gator Country. Subscribe. Never miss an episode. Do your social media thing. @GatorCountry on Facebook and Twitter. @TheGatorCountry on Instagram. You can find me @NickdelaTorreGC, and him @AndrewSpiveyGC.

Andrew:                 There you go. Guys, we appreciate it. As always, chomp, chomp, and go Braves.

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.