- Sep 6, 2014
- 474
- 652
We have been TROLLED once again plain and simple.
But don't forget, he did actually go to the Gator's bowl game. That's a lot of time and effort to put into the act, if he had been just a troll.
Most likely case is that he was genuinely wavering. There was real smoke on this.
When Saban found out, Alabama did a full court press and unloaded a major guilt trip on him. Saban knows how to hit all the emotional buttons. And then they send the GA to basically kidnap him ... er, protect their interests.
Due to the lack of any signed paperwork with us, we could not mount an equivalent amount of effort. And clearly we did not properly prepare him for the amount of psychological pressure that Alabama would bring.
But ... he was just wavering. He never crossed the line in his mind to wanting to be a Gator more than he wanted to be at Bama. That's evident from the (reported) fact that he never signed the FA paperwork with Florida. It would not have been binding on him, but it would have been a step closer in his mind to abandoning his commitment to Alabama. He never could quite cross that divide.
We didn't lose him, because we never had him.
This hurts, he would have been huge for us. And of course, we'll likely be facing him on the field in the future.
And we're left wondering if better skills at recruiting could have nudged him our way.