With spring camp wrapped up, Gator Country is giving subscribers a chance to submit questions in our regular Florida Football Mailbag. Here’s part one.
ajoseph: Do you think we are a top 25 team (with the presumed upgraded coaching) based on what you saw during Spring?
NM: With major question marks at quarterback and along the offensive line, two critical positions, it’s tough to evaluate where the Gators stand after spring camp. Another key question is just how good Florida’s defensive line can be. The room is filled with tremendous upside, as Jayden Woods, Brendan Bett, LJ McCray, Emmanuel Oyebadejo, Joseph Mbatchou, Kamran James and Jeramiah McCloud are among the group, but none have put it together for a full season. If that group can find consistency, Florida’s defense could be tough to beat.
I don’t think there are 25 better rosters overall than Florida’s, but the question marks at two premier positions make me hesitant to put the Gators in the top 25 for now. That could change by fall camp, especially with Buster Faulkner at the helm of the offense.
Mfafard: Do you think Florida should have been more aggressive in the portal? Especially for a QB and Oline?
NM: This is a tough question to answer without knowing Florida’s exact budget. It would have been ideal to land an experienced quarterback and two veteran tackles, but that’s about as costly as it gets, and Florida likely didn’t have the resources after also needing to shore up wide receiver, defensive line and safety.
Instead, Florida opted for more cost-effective additions at key positions by targeting players they were already familiar with. That included quarterback Aaron Philo from Georgia Tech, who spent two seasons under offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, as well as offensive linemen TJ Shanahan Jr. and Eagan Boyer, both of whom worked under offensive line coach Phil Trautwein last season.
If Florida had added a star quarterback, it likely would have left them empty-handed at pretty much every other spot. I think Florida made the right decision in year one, and ultimately you hope the program’s budget can grow in the years to come. We also can’t forget that Florida put a lot of time, energy and resources into retaining its younger talent, which I believe is the biggest factor in success in today’s game.
TheGator: What is your opinion of this staff compared to the prior staff, based upon Spring Practices and the Spring Game.
NM: The energy is just different. One thing I like about Jon Sumrall is his attention to detail in the practice setting. He spends time with every position group, rotating every five to ten minutes and coaching throughout the entire practice. He’s also heavily involved in special teams drills.
Sumrall put together a pretty impressive staff in his first year. We all know about Buster Faulkner. He’ll bring some unique play-calling to Gainesville, and his feel for the game is second to none. He truly understands how to tailor his play calling to his personnel, a major difference from the previous staff.
Phil Trautwein was a critical addition as offensive line coach, and we’ve already seen the benefits with Florida landing five-star offensive lineman Maxwell Hiller.
An underrated piece was retaining defensive line coach Gerald Chatman. Many of Florida’s talented defensive linemen stuck around because of Chatman, and this group could turn out to be something special.
Sumrall clearly understands where Florida needed to improve, and his coaching additions reflect that.
blackbird68: What is your prediction at this time as to the games we win, lose, or are a toss up?
NM: It’s obviously way too early to give an actual prediction, but as of today I’m somewhere in the 7–8 win range for the regular season.
I think Florida drops games to Georgia, Texas, and Oklahoma. They should beat FAU and Campbell, and I like them to win against Kentucky, FSU, and maybe Vanderbilt, although they have a five-star freshman quarterback and Florida plays them late in the season.
Then there are a number of games that could realistically go either way. To be honest, I haven’t done a deep dive on the opposing teams yet. Ole Miss, Missouri, Auburn, and South Carolina fall into that group, and you could honestly move teams from both the win and loss categories depending on how things develop. Florida has their work cut out for them, but so do a lot of the teams they’ll face.
longtimegator: Is there enough talent on the Oline so our Oline coach can get the line competitive in the SEC?
NM: There’s enough talent for Florida to be competitive, especially given the skill players, play caller, and offensive line coach in place, but it will require a strong offseason, as Sumrall bluntly stated during the spring game press conference.
I don’t think they can be a dominant group in Year 1. That level of success will require a full rebuild in recruiting and in the strength and conditioning program, both of which are already being addressed in Gainesville.