I know some of you don't care for Pat Dooley (I happen to like him), but the first piece of his article today was a good reality check. I for one understated the impact of the suspensions, but when you look at this team, it's extremely young in most places and has lost its two best (and most experienced) playmakers on offense and one of its 2-3 best players on defense before the season even got started. On top of that, we've lost 10 scholarship players due to suspension and injuries, so depth is really hurt. I underestimated the impact.
My point is not to dismiss the coaching issues and some other points, but the fact is that this is a young team that will take time to develop. I'm terribly impatient (particularly watching games live), but I'm going to try to look at this team a little differently the rest of the year.
Dooley's article:
Once the euphoria of the magical moment in The Swamp began to die down and the serious complaining started to build back up Sunday, there was one thing that I think we all have to realize. All of the stumping in the summer about what a good team this should be is out the window. Those suspensions took a big slice out of this team and the truth is that Florida feels more like a team that is rebuilding rather than a team set to contend for the Top 10. Jim McElwain’s 2017 class is showing that it was as good as the rankings and the 2016 class just produced one of the greatest plays in Gator history. Florida may have some big things down the road. Look, I don’t think anybody has any aspirations any longer for this being an SEC champion or in a major bowl. The two-game sample size is enough for us to get that the Gators have a quarterback who has played a total of 84 plays in his college life with the bullets flying and that his best weapons are all underclassmen. The secondary eats off the kids meal menu. This isn’t the team McElwain was selling at SEC Media Days and it’s not the team anyone thought it would be on the morning of July 19 right before Marcell Harris blew out his Achilles and all the bad stuff started happening. But you can see how this team might get better as the season progresses and that the future is promising. Try to enjoy the growing process. If you can.
My point is not to dismiss the coaching issues and some other points, but the fact is that this is a young team that will take time to develop. I'm terribly impatient (particularly watching games live), but I'm going to try to look at this team a little differently the rest of the year.
Dooley's article:
Once the euphoria of the magical moment in The Swamp began to die down and the serious complaining started to build back up Sunday, there was one thing that I think we all have to realize. All of the stumping in the summer about what a good team this should be is out the window. Those suspensions took a big slice out of this team and the truth is that Florida feels more like a team that is rebuilding rather than a team set to contend for the Top 10. Jim McElwain’s 2017 class is showing that it was as good as the rankings and the 2016 class just produced one of the greatest plays in Gator history. Florida may have some big things down the road. Look, I don’t think anybody has any aspirations any longer for this being an SEC champion or in a major bowl. The two-game sample size is enough for us to get that the Gators have a quarterback who has played a total of 84 plays in his college life with the bullets flying and that his best weapons are all underclassmen. The secondary eats off the kids meal menu. This isn’t the team McElwain was selling at SEC Media Days and it’s not the team anyone thought it would be on the morning of July 19 right before Marcell Harris blew out his Achilles and all the bad stuff started happening. But you can see how this team might get better as the season progresses and that the future is promising. Try to enjoy the growing process. If you can.
