Seriously, WTF is up with the Florida schools

[OldDevilDawg]

Early signing day is as good as done, with most of the big targets off the board.

FSU has the 14th ranked class
Florida has the 16th ranked class
Miami has the 37th ranked class

Arguably the most talent rich state in the country, and not a single team from the state can come close to cracking the top 10?

Combined they've signed 1 5 star and 24 3 stars

As talent rich as Georgia is as a state, I believe UGA signed players from 10 different states yesterday. That's how you hit the big time in recruiting. I'm confident very few schools can claim that level of national recruiting.

 

[returnofjakedog]

UCLA and USC have also had very sub-par recruiting periods, so it isn't just Florida teams.

 

[Yo Tee]

One FSU recruit flipped to UNC yesterday as well.

 

[Diego Roll Tide]

Sounds like Foley and UF were trying to run an actual university that served all the students.....not just the football team.

Yes, giving fewer scholarships serves more students.

Typical for your “logic”.

 

[OldDevilDawg]

Sounds like Foley and UF were trying to run an actual university that served all the students.....not just the football team.

I am ODD and I approve this message.

Enjoy being on bottom, swamp lizards.

 

[Diego Roll Tide]

I am ODD and I approve this message.

Enjoy being on bottom, swamp lizards.

I get it, but there is no good reason for UF to have anything less than a top 10 class.

 

[OldDevilDawg]

I get it, but there is no good reason for UF to have anything less than a top 10 class.

Bullshit. Because I want them to be miserably bad is a perfectly good reason.

 

[Deep Creek]

fsu and miami fell behind in the facilities arms race too. That and assistant coach payroll was a big reason why Jimbo Fisher left fsu.

The "scuttlebutt" around here was Jimbo stated publicly that "FSU didn't have enough money to do what he felt was needed to compete on a national level in today's CFB environment" so he was going to find a place that did "have enough money". How accurate was that?

My "old guard" aggie neighbor and I have a running discussion about all things aggie.

 

[Deep Creek]

Sounds like Foley and UF were trying to run an actual university that served all the students.....not just the football team.

How narrow minded of them.

 

[JuiceTheGator]

UCLA and USC have also had very sub-par recruiting periods, so it isn't just Florida teams.

Sounds like Foley and UF were trying to run an actual university that served all the students.....not just the football team.

Those schools also put a great emphasis on bullshit women's sports, counting olympic participants, etc....like our former AD always did.

Maybe it was the season before last I saw some statistic like "of the 13 Fall sports in which UF participates, we're ranked in the top 10 Nationally in all but 2." One of those two was football - the sport that makes money for the rest.
In the Spring, we were in the top 10 ranked for ALL sports. So, we can't really bitch about our former AD, but his indifference to a top CFB program was frustrating.

All currently active Florida sports ranked in the Top 10

 

[outofyourmind]

Sorry for the long answer but we've discussed this a lot on the Gator boards so here are the details:

UF is coming out of a down cycle and Mullen is a lousy recruiter. Mac was too late in addressing the recruiting shortcomings of his staff but he did actually make upgrades each year and by his last season, he had assembled some seriously good recruiters. UF was set for a good class, but then the wheels came off his 3rd season and he was fired. Mullen stupidly did not keep any of those assistants who could have really helped him.

In addition, the former AD Jeremy Foley treated football as a cash cow to pay for his beloved olympic and women's sports which nobody cares about. He foolishly acted as though the football program were an institution which was just entitled to win big and therefore did not need any reinvestment even while all of our SEC competitors were building big support staffs, increasing their stipends, building IPFs and standalone football facilities, etc. He publicly said that we "choose not to participate in the arms race". This of course did not stop the arms race. It simply meant that we fell behind.

He also self imposed a rule against oversigning.....meaning we cannot offer scholarships over and above the 85 cap and count on attrition to open up the needed spaces by August when freshmen enroll like several of our competitors. Since there always is some attrition every year, this has the effect of us always being a few scholarships under the 85 limit while our competitors are at the 85 limit....effectively giving the 2-4 extra chances to come up with good players every year.

Also, he implemented a policy of 4 year scholarships...meaning we would not cull even while our competitors were signing the max every year and culling nonperformers mercilessly. Again, this gave them several more chances to come up with good players each year.

And then there is admissions at UF which is allowed to get away with sabotaging the football program by imposing academic standards none of our competitors in the SEC or the state seem burdened with. For example, it is extremely difficult for us to take a Juco since most of them do not have as many math credits as we require. Somehow, its OK when anybody else in the SEC takes them though. Prime example this year is Juco CB Elijah Blades. We wanted him out of high school and he was committed to us but didn't have the grades. So he went the Juco route. Again he wanted to come but this time admissions blocked him saying he didn't have the math credits. So he just signed with aTm.

Our new AD gets it and is making investments in the program. We have built a full sized support staff and an IPF and have plans to build a standalone football facility in the next 2 or 3 years but it is taking some time to fix all the things Foley royally fucked up.

fsu and miami fell behind in the facilities arms race too. That and assistant coach payroll was a big reason why Jimbo Fisher left fsu.

This is all kinds of fucked up.
It's like self imposed sanctions and shit.

 

[Gatorchip]

Regarding Georgia: "Why is it that during recruiting season they sign all the great players, but when it comes time to play the game, we have all the great players? I don't understand that. What happens to them?" - Steve Spurrier

 

[Diego Roll Tide]

Regarding Georgia: "Why is it that during recruiting season they sign all the great players, but when it comes time to play the game, we have all the great players? I don't understand that. What happens to them?" - Steve Spurrier

That attitude served you well the last 2 seasons, and likely will be about the same for the foreseeable future. Kirby isn’t Richt, and Mullen isn’t Spurrier.

 

[OldDevilDawg]

Regarding Georgia: "Why is it that during recruiting season they sign all the great players, but when it comes time to play the game, we have all the great players? I don't understand that. What happens to them?" - Steve Spurrier

'Member when the ole ballsack mattered?

 

[GatorTheo]

I am ODD and I approve this message.

Enjoy being on bottom, swamp lizards.

 

[Gatorchip]

Kirby isn’t Richt, and Mullen isn’t Spurrier.

Interesting. So you think they played each other at lot at those respective schools.

Back in the good old days, Alabama fans actually knew football. Now they are mostly ignorant bandwagon fans.

 

[OldDevilDawg]

Nice history. Did I happen to mention HISTORY? How does my ass look?

 

[Gatorchip]

'Member when the ole ballsack mattered?

Nice history. Did I happen to mention HISTORY? How does my ass look?

I bet you have no problem talking about the series though right?

 

[_rolltideroll_]

If they would pay their recruits more, there would be no problem. As it is, thanks for all the 5 stars Florida! Now Bugs, you know what to do next, right?

 

[GatorTheo]

This is all kinds of fucked up.
It's like self imposed sanctions and shit.

It depends on what you think the AD's job should be. Does he serve the entire university athletic community or just football fans? Non-football student/athletes deserve nice things too.

Yes.....I know football brings in the big bucks.