I just am so tired of saying the same things, week after week, season after season. Gonna try and keep it simple:
Lose to this Commodores team and I believe the public "fairness/a lot has happened beyond Coach's control/ let's not rush to judgement"-line will finally, truly begin to widely disolve among the unquestioning "faithful".
And, btw: I don't BUY the "beyond his control" party-line. Too much to go into here now (I promised to keep it simple), fact remains that these are his guys, this all happened on his watch, and we now have some idea of how SERIOUS the failures and their consequences were, are and will be, at least in the case of the two stars involved. Federal charges, thousands of dollars in fraudulent credit card use--Hell, we axed Cam far earlier for far less.
'Nuff on all that--lets take a quick look at the game. Um, we STILL got more than enough talent (including on offense!) to beat this foe today. Like a lot of you, I suspected throwing Franks out there as starter with a thin, weak, and inexperienced O-line in front of him was both physically and psychological dangerous to him, long term. Now, regardless of HOW one analyzes all that, from what we saw last week I think you put Del Rio out there to start--and, for the time being, unless he's hurt or just is royally SUCKING in practice Malik should be the back-up. Franks may well still be the future at QB (especially since that dominant, Class-of-'18 prep 5-star "in the Gator BAG!" prospect has taken "Gator Commit" off his Twitter page), but Franks needs some time and distance--not to mention PROTECTION from that porous O-line's failures. Del Rio isn't going to be a "rise up and carry the team on his back" player, but he IS an experienced "Game Manager", and with our defense wins are gonna be "CLOSE wins": They'll be gut clenchers, frustrating, and hideous to watch--but they will depend on steadiness and fewer mistakes.
The FUTURE will depend on a complete change in personnel and philosophy, on AND off the field. That will take time and change on the sideline, to start, imho. That much seems obvious to me...But in the meantime, we're here now, we are proud Gators who love our team and our school.
I've already long since faced this: No matter what, regardless of the various "big picture" politics and/or longterm ins and outs of running the PROGRAM and who's "RUNNING" it, in the end I back the TEAM.
I want to see the young men who are here and doing things the right way succeed in all their dreams--for their sakes as well as all of ours. So never mind all the rest: GO GATORS!!!
I feel so strongly because so much of our "problems" come down to selfishness of a relative few, players AND coaches. And woe be to ANYONE who screws with our best chances to see honest and trusting young men out there giving it all, on our behalf and their own hopes and dreams. Some of both absolutely must be gone--and that has to include not just the "bad penny" at WR (soon to be "the Fed Pen"), but the somewhat manipulative ("I'm proud of these guys..."--as if HE'S somehow at the core of how they pulled out two otherwise poorly prepared, poorly called close wins) Head Coach too. It's THEIR hearts, not yours, that made the difference, Coach!
Lose to this Commodores team and I believe the public "fairness/a lot has happened beyond Coach's control/ let's not rush to judgement"-line will finally, truly begin to widely disolve among the unquestioning "faithful".
And, btw: I don't BUY the "beyond his control" party-line. Too much to go into here now (I promised to keep it simple), fact remains that these are his guys, this all happened on his watch, and we now have some idea of how SERIOUS the failures and their consequences were, are and will be, at least in the case of the two stars involved. Federal charges, thousands of dollars in fraudulent credit card use--Hell, we axed Cam far earlier for far less.
'Nuff on all that--lets take a quick look at the game. Um, we STILL got more than enough talent (including on offense!) to beat this foe today. Like a lot of you, I suspected throwing Franks out there as starter with a thin, weak, and inexperienced O-line in front of him was both physically and psychological dangerous to him, long term. Now, regardless of HOW one analyzes all that, from what we saw last week I think you put Del Rio out there to start--and, for the time being, unless he's hurt or just is royally SUCKING in practice Malik should be the back-up. Franks may well still be the future at QB (especially since that dominant, Class-of-'18 prep 5-star "in the Gator BAG!" prospect has taken "Gator Commit" off his Twitter page), but Franks needs some time and distance--not to mention PROTECTION from that porous O-line's failures. Del Rio isn't going to be a "rise up and carry the team on his back" player, but he IS an experienced "Game Manager", and with our defense wins are gonna be "CLOSE wins": They'll be gut clenchers, frustrating, and hideous to watch--but they will depend on steadiness and fewer mistakes.
The FUTURE will depend on a complete change in personnel and philosophy, on AND off the field. That will take time and change on the sideline, to start, imho. That much seems obvious to me...But in the meantime, we're here now, we are proud Gators who love our team and our school.
I've already long since faced this: No matter what, regardless of the various "big picture" politics and/or longterm ins and outs of running the PROGRAM and who's "RUNNING" it, in the end I back the TEAM.
I want to see the young men who are here and doing things the right way succeed in all their dreams--for their sakes as well as all of ours. So never mind all the rest: GO GATORS!!!
I feel so strongly because so much of our "problems" come down to selfishness of a relative few, players AND coaches. And woe be to ANYONE who screws with our best chances to see honest and trusting young men out there giving it all, on our behalf and their own hopes and dreams. Some of both absolutely must be gone--and that has to include not just the "bad penny" at WR (soon to be "the Fed Pen"), but the somewhat manipulative ("I'm proud of these guys..."--as if HE'S somehow at the core of how they pulled out two otherwise poorly prepared, poorly called close wins) Head Coach too. It's THEIR hearts, not yours, that made the difference, Coach!
