I picked up my copy of the Athlon Sports college football preview magazine last week. Many years ago I used to buy a couple a year, but I’m down to just Athlon now.
I was a big fan of Phil Steele a decade ago, and he still usually ends up at or near the top on predictions. However, I just don’t have time to wade through his JAM PACKED magazine that repeats a good amount from one year to the next anyway. When I was writing for a blog that covered all 14 SEC teams, detail was important. Now, I just need an overview of most other teams because I can go far beyond what even Steele puts in his edition for the one team I write about.
One of the best parts about Athlon is that it does anonymous quotes from coaches about each FBS team. Thanks to hearing him talk on a podcast about it, I know Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey is the one who collects all the quotes. He also said that they all come from coaches in the same division as the team in question, which I don’t think is clarified in the magazine itself.
The first quote is about the offense. The coach praises Mullen for building a great offense, as he should. He mentions that UF “got away from the run a little bit”, which is what a coach who believes in balance for balance’s sake would say. There was no reason to run Dameon Pierce into more brick walls instead of having Kyle Trask sling it around as much, so he’s telling on himself and his outdated thinking.
The coach predicts a return to the run with Emory Jones, which is what literally anyone else who’s been paying attention would say. He finishes by talking about the “insane” speed that the Gators have at receiver. Which… okay, I guess? Kadarius Toney put up a better 40 time at pro day than some were thinking and Trevon Grimes had great in-line speed, so I suppose that’s what he was talking about. I’m not sure any of the top receivers for this year are burners in that way, though I’d love to be wrong.
The next quote, which may have come from the same coach or maybe from a different one (they’re anonymous, after all), was about the defense. This one says that the UF defense “seemed to be all over the place” and wasn’t as “exotic” on third down as in previous years.
I’d love to know who this was, or at least what school they worked for. Given the third down disaster that the 2019 game was, I’d bet it wasn’t from a Georgia coach. And anyway, Todd Grantham was already dialing back the aggression in ’19 and then continued that trend into 2020.
The coach speculates the lack of exoticism on third down was because “the personnel couldn’t handle it all”. I have wondered about this ever since I noticed the less-aggressive tack in 2019.
Florida hasn’t had a good option at Star since Chauncey Gardner-Johnson left. Marco Wilson did fine there as a pure nickel corner in ’19, but he was too small to do everything they want the Star to do. Wilson only went there because Trey Dean didn’t work out, and then in ’20 they had several players rotating through with none standing out much until maybe Brad Stewart in the final game or two.
Florida also lacked an ace pass rusher in 2020, and that might’ve been even an even bigger issue. Jachai Polite was that in 2018, and both Jonathan Greenard and (when healthy and available) Jabari Zuniga were that in 2019. In 2020 the Gators still tied for the SEC lead in total sacks, but it was a group effort with no one consistently able to come up with the big hurry or sack at crucial moments.
Another coach’s quote says that “the secondary is always good” — which, what team was this guy watching last year? — but that “where they lacked was the front”. The latter is spot on.
The defensive line was only decent inside when Kyree Campbell was on the field. Tedarrell Slaton never became the monster he seemed to have the potential to be, Marlon Dunlap was a replacement-level player, and Gervon Dexter, while richly talented, was a true freshman playing his third year of organized football with little offseason developmental work done due to the pandemic. A lack of good play in the middle put the linebackers in bad spots and did nothing to help a struggling secondary.
“You should not be able to run agains a Florida defensive front that easily,” the coach said. Yep, that about sums it up.
The last quote is a single sentence that predicts a regression without better run defense and points-allowed defense. No duh, my man. The offense probably won’t be as good without a Heisman finalist QB, the highest-drafted tight end ever, and maybe the most elusive Gator receiver ever, and the defense allowed the most points per game in decades. The D will have to improve if the team isn’t going to take on a bunch of losses.
So, that’s what a handful of SEC East division coaches are thinking about Florida, minus a great quote about Mullen and Grantham that I won’t spoil here. It’s mostly what you and I are thinking too, so we’ve all got about the same insights as what many of the opponents have this year.