fraggle
Senile Senior
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2011
- Messages
- 2,990
Florida top recruits in the past went to the U, FSU or Florida...things have changed drastically. Consider UCF went undefeated and how many of those players there would've been distributed through the top three, plus FAU, South Florida and FIU had decent Bowl games. Also consider FSU had a top 5 ranking yet had to play an extra game to even get to a bowl.
In the past these players would've been Canes, Noles or Gators. The era of having backups that are as good or better then starters is over..I'd bet Jimbo saw how difficult his recruiting future would be at FSU and took the big bucks while he could.
In the 80's the injuries we had this year would've been glossed over by adequate backups but these kids want to play as Freshmen and will go where they can start right away. Another clue is the players we recruited and signed who bailed out to schools where they could play. The Florida talent was incredible when distributed between three major football factories but is so diluted now that domination has become incredibly difficult.
Another factor is all these less then great players coming out early, we get a somewhat decent player and boom, they are gone. Thank God we have Mark Richt and the class we have coming in, yet with the early entry losses these new kids will have to learn quickly and many will be needed as starters making injuries crucial.
Florida can't find a QB, FSU had one go down and they sucked, we started Rozier with a roster full of POTENTIAL studs...why was that? UCF, So FL, FAU and FIU probably all had better QB's then the big three.
Fortunately all colleges face the dilution of talent since there are so many 1A Universities...129 to be exact and all have some great players but few have a lot of them. My point is that we cannot expect domination IF we have injuries as we did this year. We had two RB's, no depth at TE ending the season with a freshman at TE, a less then stellar QB and won 10 games. Florida has been down for several years now, FSU just lost a top coach and got one that at South Florida had a 24-25 won loss record. The Gator got Dan Mullen who was 69-46 overall but 33-39 in SEC play.
Our competition for talent now will be all the major universities plus the newer Florida Universities that actually have better coaches then FSU or Florida. Things ain't like the past for any Florida teams, including us.
In the past these players would've been Canes, Noles or Gators. The era of having backups that are as good or better then starters is over..I'd bet Jimbo saw how difficult his recruiting future would be at FSU and took the big bucks while he could.
In the 80's the injuries we had this year would've been glossed over by adequate backups but these kids want to play as Freshmen and will go where they can start right away. Another clue is the players we recruited and signed who bailed out to schools where they could play. The Florida talent was incredible when distributed between three major football factories but is so diluted now that domination has become incredibly difficult.
Another factor is all these less then great players coming out early, we get a somewhat decent player and boom, they are gone. Thank God we have Mark Richt and the class we have coming in, yet with the early entry losses these new kids will have to learn quickly and many will be needed as starters making injuries crucial.
Florida can't find a QB, FSU had one go down and they sucked, we started Rozier with a roster full of POTENTIAL studs...why was that? UCF, So FL, FAU and FIU probably all had better QB's then the big three.
Fortunately all colleges face the dilution of talent since there are so many 1A Universities...129 to be exact and all have some great players but few have a lot of them. My point is that we cannot expect domination IF we have injuries as we did this year. We had two RB's, no depth at TE ending the season with a freshman at TE, a less then stellar QB and won 10 games. Florida has been down for several years now, FSU just lost a top coach and got one that at South Florida had a 24-25 won loss record. The Gator got Dan Mullen who was 69-46 overall but 33-39 in SEC play.
Our competition for talent now will be all the major universities plus the newer Florida Universities that actually have better coaches then FSU or Florida. Things ain't like the past for any Florida teams, including us.
