I’ve been waiting for this shoe to drop for some time now.
A three-year guaranteed contract worth a million and a half? For a position coach? No way McGarity could have allowed that to be matched. And Garner would have been crazy to turn it down.
But I’m sure all Malzahn had to do was ask.
Last week, after seeing that Robbie Andreu, who covers Florida football for the local paper, ranked the Gators’ backfield as the fifth-best in the SEC, I wondered where he’d place the receiving corps in comparison with its conference peers.
If you predicted in the upper half of the group, give yourself a cookie. He’s got the receivers at number seven. And that’s in the face of certain deficiencies glaring enough for him to take notice of:
The only consistent playmaker among the receivers last season was tight end Jordan Reed, and he’s gone, leaving the Gators without an obvious go-to guy heading into the 2013 season. It is doubtful that the tight end position will produce that guy. The Gators have plenty of options at the position, but the four returning tight ends have little experience and even less production on their resumes. Clay Burton, Kent Taylor and Tevin Westbrook combined to catch all of four passes last season, while freshman Colin Thompson redshirted after undergoing knee surgery. The playmakers in the passing game likely will have to come from the pool of wide receivers, but other than Dunbar, there’s not much past production here either. Andre Debose continues to be an enigma and is coming off a disappointing junior season in which he caught only three passes for 15 yards. Latroy Pittman showed great promise as a true freshman in the spring of 2012, but has not done much since to distinguish himself. Solomon Patton has been effective on end-arounds and jet sweeps, but he caught only one pass last season before breaking his arm in the Georgia game.
Florida is so thin at the position that it’s forced to use Loucheiz Purifoy on a two-way basis, but Andreu sees that as a plus.
All I can figure is that this is going to be an epically bad year for SEC passing stats.
Filed under Gators, Gators..., Media Punditry/Foibles
Woody Widenhofer may not work in a toll booth anymore, but you can’t say he doesn’t know what it takes to make Vanderbilt football click.
“Any time you get to a bowl, you’ve done a great job,” Widenhofer said. “By going to two bowls in two years, it shows they’ve got it going there now. I just wonder if they’ve changed the (admission) rules since (former chancellor) Gordon Gee left. They must be able to get some kids in now.”
Four Vanderbilt University football players were kicked off the team Saturday and banned from the campus amid a Metro police sex crimes investigation.
“The well-being of our students is of paramount concern to us, and we will not tolerate any actions that threaten student safety and security,” said Beth Fortune, Vanderbilt’s vice chancellor for public affairs, in a statement.
Kinda makes this James Franklin pearl of wisdom sound even worse, doesn’t it?
“I’ve been saying it for a long time, I will not hire an assistant until I see his wife. If she looks the part and she’s a D1 recruit, then you got a chance to get hired. That’s part of the deal. There’s a very strong correlation between having the confidence, going up and talking to a woman, and being quick on your feet and having some personality and confidence and being articulate and confident, than it is walking into a high school and recruiting a kid and selling him.”
Well, at least Franklin’s got a couple of weeks before SEC Media Days to practice his answer when Clay Travis raises his hand to ask a question about sex.
Speaking of the media, how about this aspect of the matter?
Police have declined to elaborate on exactly what they were investigating. None of the players has been named, and no arrests had been made by late Saturday. It’s unclear how damaging the case could be to the university or its football program, particularly as the exact nature of the investigation remains secret.
I’m not sure who’s more shocked by that, Mark Richt or the collective sports department of the AJ-C. I have no doubt that Jimmy Williamson thinks it sets a bad example, though.
I can’t say I’m too surprised about the outcome to Antonio Morrison’s bouncer punching. Huntley Johnson was on the mother.
As part of his agreement with the State Attorney’s Office, Morrison must pay a prosecution fee of $100 and donate $150 to CDS Family and Behavioral Health Services or perform 12 hours of community service.
Morrison also must attend a drug and alcohol abuse program at UF, attend an anger management program and take part in two eight-hour ride-alongs with UF police.
Morrison must fulfill the terms of the agreement in six months. If he does, his record will be clean.
I can’t help but wonder how this incident will play out by comparison, though. It would be awfully cynical to think that a walk-on redshirt punter would be in greater need of rehabilitation through the criminal justice system than a projected starting middle linebacker. But not necessarily wrong. After all, don’t forget that a scooter was involved.
Filed under Crime and Punishment, Gators, Gators...
“If we come out and beat Georgia, not just beat ‘em but beat the mess out of ‘em like we should, I don’t see no problems in getting started in the right direction. I don’t have disrespect for them or for nobody else, I just believe we can be just the kind of team we want to be, the talent is here, we know how to win.” – Sammy Watkins, The Greenville News, 6/30/13
I’m sure this has already been slapped up on the ol’ bulletin board at Butts-Mehre, but I’m having a hard time getting that worked up about Sammy Watkins’ bravado. For one thing, he qualified the whole thing with an “if”. For another, you’re supposed to believe in your team. (Not to mention I suspect Sammy is going to have a pretty good night against Georgia’s secondary.)
But I do question his knowledge of history. When’s the last time over the course of a season Clemson was the team its players wanted it to be?
Filed under Clemson: Auburn With A Lake
Get The Picture 