Often times, there is one story line that emerges from a coach’s firing that, in memory, becomes the single issue that people think about. Ron Zook could recruit but couldn’t coach. Will Muschamp did defense but not offense. Jim McElwain had the fake death threats as the immediate cause of his dismissal, but the issue Scott Stricklin cited in the firing was a bad strength and conditioning program.
With Dan Mullen, of course, it was recruiting. Since that is the one-liner that came from his ouster, there’s a general perception that UF is down on talent this year.
It’s true that there are places where the Gators aren’t up to the standard (ahem). Defensive tackle is the one place that probably sticks out most. They’re down on proven numbers, and no one knows who besides Gervon Dexter is really going to stand out there.
The bigger issue, honestly, was high-end talent. Mullen only signed a single pair of 5-stars per the 247 Sports Composite, Dexter and Jason Marshall. Receiver is a place where there are a lot of nice pieces, but they just don’t have the dominant No. 1 guy to lean on.
But really, UF is not completely down on talent. There’s a lot there that just didn’t have a chance to show it.
You may or may not remember that Florida was 7th nationally in the 247 Sports Team Talent Composite last year, which looks at the recruiting ratings of the entire roster. The Gators were overranked there thanks to transfers, and anyone who bothered to take a closer look could see it.
Among the six 5-stars on the team, three were Justin Shorter, Lorenzo Lingard, and Demarkcus Bowman. Shorter didn’t live up to his 5-star billing, and the latter two were buried on the depth chart. Brenton Cox also to date had not played like a 5-star, though he was solidly in 4-star territory.
But if you keep going down the roster, you could find plenty of high ranked guys who were non-factors.
The top 4-star guy was Derek Wingo, who barely played under the Mullen regime. Two spots down was 2021 signee Scooby Williams, and two spots below him was fellow ’21 signee Tyreak Sapp. Among the mid 4-stars were Corey Collier, Ja’Quavion Fraziars, Ethan Pouncey, Antwaun Powell-Ryland, Marcus Burke, Anthony Richardson, Donovan McMillon, and Lloyd Summerall.
Collier, another class of ’21 guy, redshirted to take some time to put on weight to play in the SEC. Pouncey has had injury problems dating back to high school.
But any of those other guys could’ve played more and didn’t. Part of why they didn’t was the way that the Mullen staff developed players. They generally tried to win in Gainesville like they did at Mississippi State, which included a strong preference for seniority. Their player development was generally slow, building guys up from the basics over years.
Players generally performed well once they were fully baked veterans, but there was a little room for players to contribute early. The staff was not interested in letting promising athletes learn on the job, which meant sometimes veterans with lower ceilings who were fully baked played ahead of higher-ceiling options. Quarterback, of course, was the most visible example of this with Emory Jones and Richardson.
That’s how we get a converted defensive back and multiple converted edge rushers playing inside linebacker instead of a Wingo or Williams, for instance. Plus, some players just didn’t do well with the developmental tactics. Summerall has barely played on defense since signing in 2019, but practice reports from this year have him as a likely major contributor. He has responded much better to the current staff’s developmental program than the last.
So, yes, the roster could use some upgrades. Billy Napier and his army have been working hard on that this offseason, as you have seen.
But the old staff left behind lots of goodies for the new staff to uncover. There is plenty of talent around, it just hasn’t been proven yet.
After all, Mullen didn’t recruit like he did at Mississippi State. I mean, he did, in terms of how he tried to build the roster. He favored tall and big receivers over small and fast ones, for instance. However, he did sign relatively high rated classes the last two years. His 2019 class, once you take out the non-qualifiers and immediate transfers, was like a second consecutive transitional class. That roster hole is a big reason why he got fired.
The hole is only so big, and it’s only big at all relative to what Florida thinks it should be signing. There is no margin for error whatsoever, but the starters match up well with just about anyone on the schedule outside of Georgia. The backups also have more talent than basically anyone but UGA and Texas A&M.
UF is not a stealth playoff contender, but it’s not bereft of talent either. You will see that in Week 1 against Utah. The Utes have had the same head coach for almost two decades now, so they will look like they know what they’re doing much more than the Gators will in a new coach’s first game. The home team will have an obvious athletic advantage, however, and I don’t think it will be all that close.
Florida has a way to go to get to the level of perennial national contender, but let’s be realistic about where they’re starting from. This is not a roster on par with Kansas State or something. Florida has talent, end it has a chance to prove it more now that the strict seniority rules aren’t in effect.