85 Days to Gator Football: Adrian White

[Escambia94]

Adrian White transferred to Galen Hall's Florida Gators as a walk-on after playing his freshman year at Southern Illinois State. He played safety and corner back from 1984 to 1986 and was a key member of the 9-1-1 teams in 1984 and 1985. In his senior season, he was named first team All SEC and second team All American.

Bonus: Adrian lettered in track and field his last two years as a sprinter.

 

[DRU2012]

(sigh) Remember when we seemed to ALWAYS have a few flashy AND dependable receivers each season, and new ones on the way? That's where we need to be again, obviously...At the moment, the most we can say is that we MAY have the "makings of a start" of a new such "pipeline". (Sorry, but that's how I find this countdown affecting me this time around--spurring comparisons, where we are with where we've been in the past, and what we think we've got with what we think we'll be in the months and years ahead...)

 

[Escambia94]

I realized how good we had it in recent times while doing this countdown. If you notice, I am still rearranging my earlier rankings now that I finally have Internet at home. I realized that my rankings were not properly taking into account the old players that did well, but have stats that are hard to find. There was too much focus on all these great players from the modern era, which would have been okay if the title of the thread were not "100 Greatest Gators" and not "100 Greatest Gators in the Modern Era that are easily found on Wikipedia and ESPN".

 

[Escambia94]

Today's final edit: Bubba Caldwell was moved from 84 to 94. Adrian White had more statistics and awards to support a higher ranking.

 

[DRU2012]

I just really appreciate your effort, and its results, all around, E-...as I said, though, it's having that same effect on me, putting our history, the legacy of great players and teams, into proper perspective, I guess.

Meanwhile, with another QB, this time Br) 4-star prospect Cord Sandburg, committing elsewhere (to the Bulldogs of MSU, in this case), I'm sure we're gonna hear more and more whining about having "lost" or "missed on" too many talented quarterbacks we should have had first crack at, but I don't see it that way...First of all, with two highly-touted sophomore quarterbacks already playing here, another coming in with the 2012 class (Mornigweg), and our Coach and OC, though WANTING to recruit another from the 2013 class, having high standards in terms of talent, leadership and character, the "fit" in both directions, team-to-player and player-to-team, has to be just right. I suspect there has only been one so far that they were seriously considering as the process played out, but he jumped early and took himself out of it, so they've moved on...Now, from what I hear, this kid Staver who was in Camp this past weekend blew everyone's mind: They already really liked what they'd heard, seen and felt as far as talent and personality, but all of that was more than merely reinforced by his visit--a great kid, a great athlete, with all the tools physically, and more importantly psychologically, to be a great leader on the field AND in the locker room--he isn't as well-known OR highly-rated as he might have been had he not played at a relatively obscure level, Class A or something like that (Brentwood Prep, Tenn.), I'm told, but when he got out there with all the other 4- and 5-star guys from the better-known, "big time" Class 4A and 5A schools, he took control and shined--made THEM shine, too, which along with a winning personality had him clicking with the other young prospects, one more thing the coaches didn't miss...
Anyway, there are a lot of good ones out there, no one knows how it'll all end up turning out at this point, and I think we can relax a bit and trust these coaches to get us more than our share of "the right guys" in coming classes, including at QB.

 

[Escambia94]

I do not consider missing a recruit as a valid metric for success. UGA has consistently racked up top five recruiting classes, but has not translated that talent to success on the field. Boise State rarely recruits top five, yet consistently over achieves. Nobody in Boise is crying like a baby that a five star QB from Mississippi chose Ole Miss over their school. It happens. We have way too much media exposure to these kids still in high school. Big schools now make offers to freshman players who are barely growing into their adult bodies. In short, I do not look at high school recruits based on stars. I look at the overall picture. Will he be happy far from home? Did he grow up wanting to be a Gator? Does he have friends here to keep him out of trouble? Does he come from a Gator family? Does he show signs of being a punk?

 

[DRU2012]

Totally agree with everything you said here, E-...wish more Gators so focused on recruiting would grasp the larger picture, take just these sorts of details (among many) into account and relax. I follow our interest, pursuit and progress in recruiting future classes also, but after some of the problems we've had over the years, the last couple of seasons especially, I'm glad we've got a Head Coach and staff who seem more focused on the details of life and character you refer to. Those previous problems, and what we've had to UNdo as much as REdo in rebuilding this team, against the background of the very kinds of difficulties and disappointments you note have had to be endured by other teams, should serve as warning and reminder to every Gator fan: "Never mind the "experts' ratings" and hyped-up highlight-reel prima-donnas; We've got a brilliant, driven and charismatic Head Coach who knows what he wants and what he's looking for, and a smart and active staff who are on the same page and working hard to get it done, all in the service of putting together a TEAM of superbly talented young men who "want to be Gators" and who, as far as these coaches can tell, are ready, willing and able to do things "the Florida Way"--which is considerably different than the lack-of-control, run-away favoritism and cliquishness that marked Meyer's regime more and more at the end. Give 'em a chance to do it their way, folks.

 

[Escambia94]

Let's not take away from what Urban Meyer did. He expanded the recruiting base, and gained ground on high school kids in Connecticut and North Carolina. Zook did target outside of Florida, but only at QB and RB. I'm not saying Zook did not recruit others outside of Florida, but he focused his efforts on FL kids while snagging key players out of state. Pell and Hall also did this. Where Meyer had trouble was in character assessment, and getting too close to his players as time went on. When he first got to Gainesville he took everything away from all the players and have preferential treatment to the best performers, which I am okay with. He is getting lombasted not for preferential treatment of good performers, but for letting good performers get away with discipline and drug problems. He created the problem by a) not screening for character before rating b) not taking everything away from everyone in spring training/ fall training to give a clean slate each year to let the hungrier, cleaner players rise to the top c) surrendering control to non-coaches (maybe Bull Gators, maybe UAA officials, who knows).

Muschamp is recruiting primarily Florida kids, so I hope he has a strategy for out of state talent (not leftovers), he seems to look at character (still early to judge), and I get the impression he will not cave in to external pressure. What I want him to do in addition to purging the bad seed from Meyer is to start off each year with a clean slate, which he says he does. All good signs.