Shot.
Chaser.
Mizzou-Florida turning into a rivalry is one of the weirder SEC developments of the past few years.
Category Archives: Gators, Gators…
TFW the dream is over
You know, when you write a fan blog, you make the most of the good times.Ā And if you’re writing at a Gator blog during the rise of the Mullen regime, it’s easy to assume the good times will last.Ā You just roll with it.Ā That gap closed for good in 2020, for example.Ā Mullen’s brilliance as a game caller is chess; Kirby’s recruiting is checkers.Ā Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
So you can only imaging what a giant bucket of ice water this season has been.Ā Or, maybe you can’t.Ā So I’ll give you a couple of quick illustrations from Alligator Army.
First, here’s a groaningly detailed statistical look at whether Dan Mullen’s crossed a coaching point of no return yet.Ā It’s a work only a Stingtalk denizen could admire.Ā And the conclusion sounds like the blogging version of an AD’s kiss of death:
Maybe Mullen makes some great hires in the offseason, recruiting picks up, and this is just a mere blip on the radar. History tells us, though, that while Florida may turn around, it will likely never do so enough to live up to the Gator Standard.
I can remember a time when Dan Mullen was the living embodiment of the Gator Standard.Ā Of course, that was only a couple of months ago, so it was easy to remember.
Even better, though, is the depression that seeps through the Q&A at the Missouri SB Nation blog, where another Alligator Army blogger is asked to give his pick for today’s game.
… But Floridaās defense is so bad right now, I donāt know how they can win a game. In the last two games, which to remind you were against South Carolina and Samford, Florida has given up 989 yards and 92 points. I donāt care how bad Missouriās offense is or isnāt, the Tigers will score and will likely score a lot. Iāll take the home team to pull the upset and win a wacky shootout in the realm of 42-35.
These people are shattered.Ā The only thing that could deepen their despair is the thought that Mullen is coming back for another season.Ā Let’s keep our fingers crossed for that.
Filed under Gators, Gators...
Today, in be careful what you wish for, Gators
Oh, man… the recruiting narrative continues ($$).
Some people think heās a great recruiter, and I really donāt. I donāt think he gives a shit about it, to be 100 percent honest. Thatās why it wouldnāt surprise me if he left this year.
It’s amazing the way people keep dumping on Dan Mullen.
Except that comment wasn’t about Mullen.Ā It was about the coach seemingly half the Florida fan base has already anointed as their savior, Lane Kiffin.Ā And it was said by somebody who should have a clue, a Mississippi high school coach.
Wait… there’s more!
… I donāt think Lane Kiffin cares to recruit Mississippi. Thatās just me. To be honest ā¦ I donāt think Lane cares enough about recruiting to want to have to fight the battle for the kid. Heād rather show up, be Ole Miss and win it.
The general consensus in the piece from the coaches they spoke with was that Mullen did a better job recruiting in state than Junior’s doing.Ā Ironic, ain’t it?
Filed under Don't Mess With Lane Kiffin, Gators, Gators..., Recruiting
Your butthurt Daily Gator is the best Daily Gator.
Ripped from the page of Andy Staples’ weekly mailbag ($$):
Did Dan Mullen make his most crucial mistake when he chose to cast himself as the direct opposite of Kirby Smart? It seems like they are polar opposites and Kirby has a team where the players are (mad) they allowed 17 points in a āflu game.ā Meanwhile, well, itās either the flu, or a player getting hurt dancing before a big game, or having your chief rival flip your three best recruits after you serve up prime recruiting material on a silver platter. Does Dan coach the first game next year? ā Dave in Tampa, Fla.
Even better than the question’s whine is Staples’ epic takedown, which starts with the rebuttal that it wasn’t Mullen himself that made that comparison with Smart — it was delusional Florida fans after last year’s win:
The people who wanted to believe Mullenās Xās-and-Oās prowess could compete with Smartās Jimmies and Joes prowess over the long run are coming to the crushing realization that Mullenās win against Georgia in 2020 probably was an outlier and not a sign of dominance to come.
It just gets better from there.
But the truth is Smart and Mullen are much closer in terms of in-game coaching ability than the commonly held portrayal suggests. And the truth also is that Smart is a much more successful recruiter than Mullen. In four recruiting cycles, Mullen signed 14 players ranked in the top 100 in the nation by theĀ 247Sports.comĀ composite. In the same four recruiting cycles, Smart signed 40.
Ask any coach who actually competes for national titles and theyāll explain that theyād much rather keep stockpiling top-100 recruits than be blessed with see-the-Matrix play-calling ability.
There’s a lot more where that came from.Ā If you want to inject it into your veins, go read (if you have a subscription, that is).
Filed under Gators, Gators...
A complete mystery
Florida’s season is in the toilet and nobody can figure out why.Ā Not Dan Mullen, anyway.
“Every year… it might sound like coach talk, but every year is such a unique year with a unique team and unique circumstances that occur,” Mullen said. “We played a very different schedule this year with a very different team under very different circumstances. Itās not like, you know, this (one thing) happened. This year hasnāt gone the way that we wanted it to go unfortunately and thereās multiple… you can point at a lot of different things of why that happened and different reasons with where weāre at.”
Nor Zachary Carter.
“I would say this is a team that has been battling all year,” senior defensive end Zachary Carter said. “Obviously, weāve taken some losses. Thatās going to happen, but we lost more than we wanted to this year and I just felt like things havenāt been going our way and thereās nothing we can do about that.
“So we just continue to keep fighting. I know some people think weāve like given up and all, but weāre not just coming out here to practice every day and giving up. Guys really want to win. We really want to win. Weāve had some unfortunate things happen this year. Thereās nothing we can do about that. We can only control what we can control. When you look back on our season, a few of our losses — a loss is a loss — we werenāt getting embarrassed all year. We just had close games that didnāt go our way. We know what we can do so we have to stay motivated.”
Nor Jadarrius Perkins.
“I wouldnāt necessarily say it took a turn,” cornerback Jadarrius Perkins said of the way this season has gone. “Things are not going the way we expected. But we just got to continue to fight. Adversity happens. Like coach Mullen said, weāre going to fight and continue to play and try to play to the Gator Standard. Thatās what weāre all about.”
Perhaps you can enlighten them in the comments.
Filed under Gators, Gators...
Your Daily Gator isn’t living up to the Gator standard.
Florida fans, how y’all holding up?
Emory, you knew the job was dangerous when you took it.
Filed under Gators, Gators...
TFW you’ve never heard of the First Rule of Holes
You know, most coaches would have enough Gawd-given sense not to pretend a close win over a vastly inferior opponent was something other than what it was.Ā The “we’ve got to play better than that” coachspeak writes itself, you’d think.
But you’re not Dan Mullen.
Can you imagine Kirby Smart saying something similar after the 2016 Nicholls game?
Filed under Blowing Smoke, Gators, Gators...
Savage
Man, I’m not sure a Georgia fan could have delivered the sarcasm better after the Humphrey commit than Josh Pate does here:
Filed under Gators, Gators..., Georgia Football, Recruiting
Your Daily Gator is hot.
Brian Edwards runs a tout service and is also a loyal Florida fan.Ā His column on Todd Grantham’s departure is… well, if you’re a Georgia fan, a sheer pleasure to read.
That pathetic effort from UFās run defense came less than a month after LSU gashed the Gators for 321 rushing yards. On that afternoon in Redstick, the Tigers won a 49-42 decision despite the efforts of Florida backup quarterback Anthony Richardson, who led four consecutive touchdown drives in the second half.
LSU averaged 7.1 YPC against the Gators. To give you an idea of the utter ineptitude of Granthamās scheme against the Tigers, consider that they had averaged 1.9, 3.5, 3.5, 2.3, 1.3 and 4.2 YPC in their six previous games. Furthermore, they have averaged 2.2 and 2.7 YPC in their two games since then.
LSU has produced more than 100 rushing yards in only three of its eight games played against opponents not named Florida. The second-highest output on the ground was 147 rushing yards at Kentucky.
How Grantham was even allowed on the airplane home from Baton Rouge was baffling. The fact that he wasnāt pink slipped by Monday at noon Eastern on Oct. 18 was a defiant act from Mullen that wreaked havoc on the sanity of Gator Nation.
This isnāt the only time Mullen has tested the patience of the orange and blue faithful.
The rehashing from there is delicious, topped by the finale.
Less than 48 hours removed from UFās putrid effort at South Carolina, youād be hard pressed to find many Gators who remain in Mullenās corner. I exchanged texts with a prominent Florida player who was a starter for three seasons under Spurrier in the ā90s. In response to me saying that itās time to cut the cord on Mullenās tenure, he replied, ā100 percent agree. That was embarrassing. Iām so pissed I canāt even think straight.ā
Imagine how he’s gonna feel when Mullen returns for the 2022 season.
Filed under Gators, Gators...
Get The Picture 
You must be logged in to post a comment.