Before we kick off the 2016 season, I’d like to get a little closure on some of the offseason dynamics of the Gator program and why it’s all so important to us. Why this Gator football is such a force in our hearts and minds and what it’s all about.
The Master Plan
Astute observers will note that everything that coach Jim McElwain has done since taking over the top post in Gator Nation has been part of a master plan. Arguably the biggest part of the master plan this offseason was the master facilities plan. While the facilities upgrades will pay dividends both obvious and subtle to the program through the players on campus, it will perhaps more importantly have a demonstrable impact on the players who are not on campus. Not yet committed to play college ball. The recruits.
Coach Mac was able to put together top-10-calibre recruiting class in 2015 after barely a month on the recruiting trail largely because he was able to sell his vision to the imagination of the recruits. His principle obstacle to securing a great class in his first full recruiting cycle in 2016 was that he wasn’t just selling a vision anymore. He had a 14-game on-field resume to sell. Had that resume been frozen in time after 6 games, that recruiting class would have competed for the nation’s most highly regarded. However, we all know how the season ended – especially on offense – after the incredible vanishing quarterback. Even if Florida had won the SEC and finished in the national top-10, rival coaching staffs always have angles with which they can negative recruit once a coach has a season or more of film out there. Nothing beats the recruiting power of selling a dream. Which brings us back around to the MFP.
That ‘MFP’ acronym used to mean Maximum Fluoride Protection. Now it is the Master Facilities Plan that makes sure everyone sees your pearly whites…even if you have cavities. Doesn’t matter. Because the “Plan” part means it’s all in the vision.
And Mac has been very wisely seizing on the opportunity to create a buzz around this vision. Recruiting is always about the buzz, and a MFP is a hornet’s nest of buzz around a program. The MFP buzz has communicated a sense of urgency that something big is happening, and the recruits want to be part of it. And what’s more, they had better jump on board before they miss the opportunity. At this stage, recruiting goes beyond just the building program. It was clear last year that this program was already on its way on a fast track back to elite status. The only question is how long that will take, and this time factor will weigh heavily into the recruits’ decision making, because none of them think they will be in college for more than three years. They want those three years to count; they don’t want to just be part of building a dynasty – they want to be part of the dynasty. So the was Florida finished the season last year – and the fact that none of the quarterbacks on the Gators’ 2016 depth chart were on the active roster last year – understandably gives one reason to question how long it will take Florida to be back on top of the mountain.
When the season starts, the program will have ample opportunity to create a new timeline in recruits’ minds, but recruiting can’t just wait around between February and September. Enter the MFP. The added element of the new and upgraded facilities increased the offseason sense emergency many fold. Because an MFP adds a bright layer of glitz and glamour to a program on the rise. And the fact that recruits couldn’t/can’t see the finished products is actually in our favor. Because the imagination will see anything it’s told to see, only better: each recruit will see his own personalized best version of the vision put before them. And what they think might be the best facilities in the SEC next year is something that will influence their school choice. Or if nothing else, it will put a much bigger shine on the Florida apple.
Where Is The Love?
That was a popular song by The Black Eyed Peas in 2003/2004. Back then, we knew where the love was for Gator football: in the nation’s capital, wondering why we were getting Zooked every Saturday. But the phrase is back en vogue this year for the Florida program, and I have to wonder why. Getting Mac’ed is a lot different than getting Zooked.
You would think after doing what no coach in SEC history has ever done – win the East in his first year with a school – that Mac & Co would get a little more respect than they are getting. But if you’ve found someone predicting Florida to even repeat as East champ this year – let alone anything more – then you’ve reached the end of the internet. Yes, despite winning the East even with no QB, the Gators are getting zero love from the prognosticators. The mantra coming from the most positive predictions is that we might be a better team but with a worse record. But how can so many pundits so willfully ignore so much data?
For starters, this ignores that we have upgraded, improved and added depth to every single position on the team that was a weakness last year, like quarterback, receiver and kicker, and held serve or only possibly dropped a half-notch in the positions like the defensive backs that were team strengths last year. And it ignores that our schedule is easier than last year’s; maybe even much easier. And it ignores that the only two teams in the East that won’t be guaranteed to be worse or significantly worse than UF are (1) a Tennessee program in complete turmoil from off-field scandals and which has never been good under the current staff (and you have to go back four different staffs – and deep into staff #4 – before you can find the last time when they were any good at all), and (2) a Georgia program with a completely new coaching regime, no quarterback and a 2-year streak of blowout losses to UF when they had no quarterback.
The doubt of course revolves around the offense. Specifically the quarterback, the receivers and of course the offensive line. The fact is ignored that the quarterback position is now manned by a player who was further ahead last year than eventual starter and OTC test animal Will Grier, but ineligible to play. It is ignored that there are at least two more QBs on the depth chart who can run the offense at a level that is night-and-day better than the post-Grier offense, and possibly s well as the Grier offense. Remember that as good as Will Grier was, he was never as good as we thought. It had been so long since the last time Florida had a competent quarterback, almost anything would turn our heads. But in six games, Grier had once great game, one great fourth quarter and one good first quarter. And he might never have had the chance for any of those three if Treon Harris not been suspended, because Grier almost certainly would have been benched before the fourth quarter of that Tennessee game last year. Grier often didn’t set his feet or do things mechanically correct, and he often held the ball too long. He was able to make up for that most of the time by relying on his incredible arm strength. And it worked out for most of the game against Ole Miss and for certain plays against Missouri and Tennessee. The rest of the year it didn’t work out that well. Luke De Rio (LDR) does not have any of those issues. That’s a huge differentiator. And it is something that really sets LDR apart from every quarterback we have had since Tebow, and from the vast majority of the quarterbacks starting at power five programs in the country.
I have heard so many pundits say that it doesn’t matter that we have three, maybe four very capable quarterbacks and 4, maybe five big play running backs this year because none of them can block for themselves. But the offensive line was not the reason the Gator offense crumbled in the second half last year. Yes, they played poorly, even terribly at times. But they didn’t play any better in the first half of the year and we were undefeated and scored a lot of points. Because Will Grier would throw the football, and when he had Will Grier to compete against, so did Treon Harris. But after Will was gone, Treon simply refused to throw the ball. The reasons were multiple, but the result was singular. Our quarterback this year will throw the dang ball. And he will throw it on time. This we know. When there is an offensive line bust, he will know what to do and do it. And we don’t even have to talk about the receivers. We are loaded there.
The proof will of course be in the pudding, but I have a good idea that the love being cast upon the breeze in Athens and Knoxville will blow south and settle in Gainesville as the season progresses.
That Dawg Better Hunt Soon!
Building on the misplaced love mentioned above, let me share a little Jawja perspective from deep in enemy territory. Everyone in Dawg Nation is excited about Kirby Smart. They are just so excited that ark Richt is gone that anyone with a pulse would do, however they didn’t hire anyone with a pulse. They hired Kirby. They hired the guy who has been the coach on top of every Dawg’s valentine list for a decade. He’s the guy who has been coaching under Saban longer than any of his underlings coveted for their head coaching promise. And make no mistake: they expect great results…and they expect them immediately. There will be a very thin line between a honeymoon grace period and the guillotine in Athens. It will only take a few weeks of bad game day coaching or bonehead personnel choices to turn the Dawgs on their new leash holder. Richt 2.0, or….deep breath….Muschamp 2.0 will be the new bumper sticker in Athens if he doesn’t bring home an SEC and national title in the next 3 years.
Because if he doesn’t win big – and fast – he will have nothing else endearing him to the locals. He has already built enough frost around the press room that UGA beat reporters have been wearing parkas to practices in August. If you thought that Muschamp got all the unpleasant, combative, angry paranoia genes from Nick Saban, think again. Kirby should have given his introductory presser with a Joker mask, and said, “Wait’ll they getta load of ME!” He hasn’t even played a game or had any bad plays or games and he is already biting off the heads of media members on a daily basis. The only way you can be an insufferable jerk like Saban is if you win big like Saban. And keep winning. Ask Muschamp. Ask Dooley. And if he doesn’t win big right out of the gate, ask Kirby.
What It’s All About
So before we kick off another season, I wanted to reflect. Because this is a pivotal season on many fronts. There is a lot on the line. The future of the Gator program is on the line. The distance back to the dynasty is going to come into full focus this year. It’s what we are all here for. It’s what it is all about.
Right?
Is it? Is winning and being champions what it’s all about? Or are those just our lofty goals? Most people will say that it is, but I differ in my opinion. I absolutely want to win; want to be the best; want to make jaws drop, loft the trophies and have the best parties. Always. But that’s not what makes this happen for me. It’s not what makes Gator football special. It’s not what makes me tune in every Saturday and put these words to pixels. To me, there is a much higher meaning at work here, and it is what makes everything else happen. And this is it:
Gator football is magic. Pure magic.
Because it takes you over and transports you to your college days, your high school days, your childhood days cheering in the stadium. It takes you to your tender years watching on TV as a kid with your little friends, everyone dreaming about how they’ll be the next Gator hero when they get to UF. It transports you to places where sensory memories erupt like fireworks on the Fourth of July: tailgating barbeque BOOM, fresh Gatortails and stale beer BOOM, wet morning grass underfoot as you walk to the newspaper stand to read all the pre-game features BOOM, that euphoric olfactory stadium cacophony of sweat, Coppertone, new game day shirt, RV exhaust, smuggled gin, local herb and ozone from Coke-ICE COLD COKE! BOOM. Every Gator game day you can see it, above The Swamp: It’s flying over our heads in a million pieces! Magic. It teleports you to places where every emotion in your songbook can get blasted in full stereo (and this one goes to 11!) and often you go from one emotional extreme to another in a nanosecond…and then back again moments later.
If college football is the sweet candy factory of the sports world – and it is – then Gator football is The Chocolate Room. If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it. Anything you want to feel, do it. Want to change the game? There’s nothing to it! It transforms everything into a world that is uniquely Gainesville, uniquely Florida, uniquely Gator football. And nothing else in the known universe is like it.