Probably already mentioned, but to me the biggest takeaway was that recruiting rankings absolutely matter, and it was on full display Saturday, especially on defense. We can talk all day about busts, exceptions to the rule, outlier examples and feel good stories. But the fact is our inability to recruit the top flight talent in the trenches(outisde of this year's freshmen) showed. Rashan Gary lived up to his ranking. Unfortunately so did Taven Bryan and Jabari Zuniga. Both good players, both seem to be solid student athletes. But neither should be starting at the University of Florida if we're expecting to compete for titles. Just reality. By McElwain's own admission, UM was bigger, faster and stronger than us. Sure, some of that is S&C related, and these are kids that can still grow beyond high school. But generally speaking, the higher rated recruits are coveted because they're bigger, faster and stronger than the rest as far back as their Jr and Sr years. That's why you have to land those guys, instead of taking on projects that may develop into something by their 4th year.
We've talked at length about our failures in recruiting ultimately catching up with us, and it did. And while Henderson had a nice pick-6 in his first game, we shouldn't be relying on freshmen across the secondary either, as we saw with the deep pass over Davis. All because guys like Stiner, McWilliams, and Taylor aren't SEC caliber starters. McElwain loaded up on fillers and insisted that he knew what he was doing. The fact that in year 3, guys like Henderson, Wilson and Davis are on the field in the second quarter of game 1, says that he was wrong.
Also, Shannon has no concept of defending a draw play or covering a TE. When everyone in the room--none of whom have coaching background--knows that there's a high likelihood of seeing as draw play (3rd and 13), there's absolutely zero excuse for not being prepared for it. In addition to JM and Nuss looking as if they're in way over their head, Shannon's ceiling is probably more of a LB's coach, not DC. Throw in Nord, and you've got quite a staff.