Florida to honor 20 seniors on Senior Day this weekend

[Escambia94]

The Florida Gators will honor 20 seniors this weekend during the game against the clown school:

• OL Marcel Benalcazar OL 6'7" 352 lbs Miramar, FL, transferred from FSU in 2015
• CB Duke Dawson DB 5'10" 208 Cross City, FL. 2nd team All-SEC 2016
• QB Luke Del Rio QB 6'1" 215 Santa Rosa Beach, FL. SEC Academic Honor Roll, transfer from Oregon St via Alabama
• TE/QB Brian Fallace 6'2" 212 Satellite Beach, FL. SEC Academic Honor Roll, former walk-on
• TE Ryan Ferguson 6'1" 210 Largo, FL . SEC Academic Honor Roll, former walk-on.
• LB Cristian Garcia 6'1" 234 Miami, FL. SEC Academic Honor Roll, former walk-on, transferred from Florida Tech via Santa Fe College.
• DB Eddie Giles 5'8" 164 Jupiter, FL. SEC Academic Honor Roll, former walk-on.
• TE DeAndre Goolsby 6'4" 239 Derby, KS.
• S Marcell Harris 6'0" 208 Orlando, FL. SEC Academic Honor Roll.
• WR Jacob Mesenger 5'8" 174 Sunrise, FL. Former walk-on.
• WR Brandon Powell 5'8" 189 Deerfield Beach, FL. SEC Academic Honor Roll.
• LB R.J. Raymond 6'2" 253 Atlantic Beach, FL. Former walk-on.
• OG Antonio Riles 6'4" 328 Lawrenceville, GA. SEC Academic Honor Roll.
• DE Jordan Sherit 6'4" 254 Tampa, FL. SEC Academic Honor Roll.
• DB Garrett Stephens 5'9" 190 Louisville, KY. SEC Academic Honor Roll.
• RB Mark Thompson 6'2" 239 La Mott, PA. Junior College Transfer.
• DB Cameron Town 5'11" 192 Clearwater, FL. Former walk-on.
• P Johnny Townsend 6'1" 202 Orlando, FL. First Team All-American, All-SEC, SEC Academic Honor Roll, Ray Guy Finalist.
• S Nick Washington 6'0" 198 Jacksonville, FL. SEC Academic Honor Roll.
• QB Malik Zaire 6'0" 221 Kettering, OH. Graduate Transfer from Notre Dame. Music City Bowl MVP 2014.

 

[Leakfan12]

Let's send them off with a win.

 

[Escambia94]

Some observations that highlight some of the problems that pervade this team:

• 8 of these seniors come from the #9 recruiting class of 2014. 5 players come from the #2 recruiting class of 2013 (Riles, Harris, Townsend, Washington, Sherit).
• Only 9 of 24 players (37.5%) from the 2014 recruiting class remain on the roster. 6 transferred, 3 were kicked off the team, 3 medically retired from football, and 3 were drafted into the NFL.
• 7 of 20 (35%) of this class is comprised of walk-ons

A typical class has 20 players, with only a couple walk-ons. The 2013 and 2014 classes had so many losses due to transfer, injury, or dismissal that they had to replenish a third of its class with walk-ons! Granted, these walk-ons tend to boost the University of Florida Academic Progress Rating (APR), which is important for the University when it comes to bowl eligibility and other considerations such as graduate transfer waivers.

 

[DRU2012]

Some observations that highlight some of the problems that pervade this team:

• 8 of these seniors come from the #9 recruiting class of 2014. 5 players come from the #2 recruiting class of 2013 (Riles, Harris, Townsend, Washington, Sherit).
• Only 9 of 24 players (37.5%) from the 2014 recruiting class remain on the roster. 6 transferred, 3 were kicked off the team, 3 medically retired from football, and 3 were drafted into the NFL.
• 7 of 20 (35%) of this class is comprised of walk-ons

A typical class has 20 players, with only a couple walk-ons. The 2013 and 2014 classes had so many losses due to transfer, injury, or dismissal that they had to replenish a third of its class with walk-ons! Granted, these walk-ons tend to boost the University of Florida Academic Progress Rating (APR), which is important for the University when it comes to bowl eligibility and other considerations such as graduate transfer waivers.

Thanks for fleshing all that out, E-...Really brings home the realities of both how we got here and what needs to (and CAN) be done to change our course.
I'm not sure about the injuries ("they happen to every team", it is always said--but we have seemingly and repeatedly been struck inordinately hard and often last few years...either we are due for a "healthier spell", OR we need to look for and pursue changes in training regimen), but all those other problems, the suspensions and transfers and so on show another facet of failure in recruiting AND coaching overall: ANOTHER reason "WE BETTER GET IT RIGHT" next time...

 

[DRU2012]

...Having said all that above, the immediate thing, as we all agree, is to send those Seniors off, positively and honorably, with a win. Through it all, they have been and are proud Gators. They deserve our highest respect and support, above all else.

 

[DRU2012]

BTW, am watching real entertaining USF/UCF game here Fri late aft/evening:
Far as offense is concerned, EITHER one's looks acceptable from where WE are standing, right? And also "btw", it is Charlie's 9-1 team that is leading Frost's, 34-28 in the 4th quarter--but the outcome is certainly still in doubt. You gotta wonder with some hope what EITHER of these staffs might do with access to Gator-quality level of talent.
(I STILL lean towards Strong on our sidelines, acknowledging your caveats, E-; but we could certainly do worse than Frost, with a sharp DC)

 

[Leakfan12]

Game over and Frost and his guys won on a kickoff return.

 

[Escambia94]

UCF's 2016 recruiting class was ranked #61 in the nation, and has nothing but 3-star and 2-star athletes from all around the eastern USA. USF's 2016 recruiting class was ranked #66 in the nation, and has one 4-star and a bunch of 3-star athletes primarily from Florida with three from Alabama, Mississippi, or Oklahoma. These teams are evenly matched and probably evenly coached, but in a couple years I see Charlie Strong passing up Scott Frost on the recruiting trail and dominating the AAC.

If I were Scott Frost, I would count myself fortunate that Strong is only in his first year at USF. If Frost is stubborn enough to stay at UCF another year, he is going to face the harsh reality of losing to Charlie Strong in the AAC more often than not.

UF might gamble on Frost as an unknown quantity, but I do not see why we would essentially repeat the mistake we made with Jim McElwain, other than Frost being 20 years younger. Frost in my opinion is a cross between McElwain and Muschamp.