Recruiting 2023 Recruiting Thread: 4* OT Caden Jones completes the class

G8trwood

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I thought we would be lucky to come in top 20, because as of late we haven’t been anywhere close to a top 20 team. All those believing a 10 win season also believe in Big Foot. Ky didn’t break me, but Vandy, well……
The class held together much better than I thought it would. A nice solid balance. Sure we need more, but we needed everything. Hoping for some transfer experience coming in. We certainly could use more top players, but our mojo is still weak.
Looking to see some systematic changes this off-season as we continue to grade CBN. This season was not good, twas a terrible really bad year. ESD a bit better. Stealing Jortal season, (as that was priceless), will tell us more. I never put any stock in spring rumors as they are worthless. A dominant D line of late just means our O sucks even worse. AR droping dimes, meant he had a hole in his pocket.

And for all those pining for Mullenz, may the donkey you rode in on, ride you on the way out ;)
Hopefully CBN will find some fire and coordinators under the tree rather than in the dumpster.
Go Gators
Merry Christmas
 

oxrageous

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Then Vegas.
Early on in the game thread, I defended the play.
Then reality hit.
It’s coaching.
You're really making a judgement like this based on that game, with a skeleton crew and a QB that had never taken a snap for the Gators before?

People think I have no concerns about his coaching - they are dead wrong about that. I'm just withholding judgement for the moment.
 

NOLAGATOR

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He has 20 Early
He picked up 4 in the portal?
He said they are not done
He's getting IMG kids - that was unheard of
He's getting Florida Kids
He is also addressing NEED: Speed at WR, DL, LB

But as y'all have said, I like everything and y'all like nothing.

The thing that concerns me is the product on the field. Will he learn to adapt? This is HIS team now.
 

cover2

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You know, I was against the hire at first.
Then warmed up to Napier and the new staff, the analysts, the focus on recruiting , then the huge win against Utah.
Damn, I was all in!

Kentucky sucked but hey, AR just had a bad game.
As the season unfolded, I realized, we just aren’t well coached.
The wheels came off in Nashville and I was just flat out disgusted in Tallahassee.

I’m fine with a tear down and rebuild.
I understand this will take time , IF you have the right guy.

What I saw this season was regression.
Our best played game was the first one, and Our worse game of the season was in Nashville.
That’s backwards.

Then Vegas.
Early on in the game thread, I defended the play.
Then reality hit.
It’s coaching.

I really did think Napier was going to make a splash with this class.
A splash like Oregon did yesterday?

I’m just very disappointed in our program right now and, don’t see any flashes of coaching or recruiting brilliance, to get us over this hill.
I get what you’re saying and I also know Billy and staff have some improving to do where game prep and in-game matters are concerned, but I believe we’ll all be surprised at how much better a coach he becomes when the Jimmy’s and Joe’s get better.
 

NOLAGATOR

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You're really making a judgement like this based on that game, with a skeleton crew and a QB that had never taken a snap for the Gators before?

People think I have no concerns about his coaching - they are dead wrong about that. I'm just withholding judgement for the moment.
Excited Lets Go GIF
 

Homer J

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You're really making a judgement like this based on that game, with a skeleton crew and a QB that had never taken a snap for the Gators before?

People think I have no concerns about his coaching - they are dead wrong about that. I'm just withholding judgement for the moment.
Who were we missing on D? Miller.
 

Ironhead

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You're really making a judgement like this based on that game, with a skeleton crew and a QB that had never taken a snap for the Gators before?

People think I have no concerns about his coaching - they are dead wrong about that. I'm just withholding judgement for the moment.
No
My judgement is the entire season.
Vegas was a small part.
I defended the play early because of exactly what you posted.

Also, Given what transpired before that game, ( the purge) I’m thinking Napier is having a very hard time trusting his players to execute as coached.

He may have gotten a huge sigh of relief, after yesterday.
Meaning, these are players he can trust.

I sure as hell hope so.
 

soflagator

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You know, I was against the hire at first.
Then warmed up to Napier and the new staff, the analysts, the focus on recruiting , then the huge win against Utah.
Damn, I was all in!

Kentucky sucked but hey, AR just had a bad game.
As the season unfolded, I realized, we just aren’t well coached.
The wheels came off in Nashville and I was just flat out disgusted in Tallahassee.

I’m fine with a tear down and rebuild.
I understand this will take time , IF you have the right guy.

What I saw this season was regression.
Our best played game was the first one, and Our worse game of the season was in Nashville.
That’s backwards.

Then Vegas.
Early on in the game thread, I defended the play.
Then reality hit.
It’s coaching.

I really did think Napier was going to make a splash with this class.
A splash like Oregon did yesterday?

I’m just very disappointed in our program right now and, don’t see any flashes of coaching or recruiting brilliance, to get us over this hill.

On the bowl game, I think it’s difficult to do so for some of us, but you really have to completely disregard these games under the current circumstances. They were always meaningless, but we enjoyed winning them. The moment we introduced 30 more with names like Gasparillo, it was over. I hate it, because I’m a traditionalist who was there as a kid in NO as we beat WV and get like the we were kings of the world because of our Sugar Bow win. It’s just not reality anymore. I think the best way to sum it up is several outlets having Spencer Rattler on their preseason Heisman watch going into ‘21, all because he assisted in blowing out a shell of our ‘20 team in the Cotton. He was benched by mid season ‘21.

I wouldn’t even be as down on Miller, if it weren’t much of the same I saw from him last spring. I think there’s likely enough data to call that one. Bowl game, though, tell you nothing about where a program is at or where they’re headed. Never really did, but certainly not anymore.
 

NOLAGATOR

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Who were we missing on D? Miller.
Really? We dressed out 55 guys.

PLEASE, let's get over VEGAS. There is no excuse for USF, UK and Vandy. Okay, we get that.

YEAR 1 with half the team hitting the portal and a useless bowl.
 

TN G8tr

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There are liars among us. There are those who stated they were glad Mullen and his lazy approach to everything not game day was gone. They exclaimed that they knew we were broken to the point that a complete overhaul was past due and would be welcome. They agreed it would not be immediate, that it would take time to be done the right way. They knew there were going to be losses, but that was the price to be paid in order for the climb back from the depths to begin.

Then we lost to UK and they turned into the mob again and forgot all about it taking time to get factors in place to be better competitive. They blasted Napier and made ridiculous claims about how talented the roster he inherited was, that he was in over his head, “Sunbelt Billy” didn’t deserve to be HBC at our prestigious program. They couldn’t tell you who they really wanted with any consensus, only that they didn’t want what we had.

Now, after Napier and the staff held together a solid class that addressed many positional needs, it still wasn’t good enough. Even though there’s still recruiting left to be done and players to be sought through the portal, many have already cashed their chips. A transfer QB named Mertz, who hasn’t been anointed with a starting position, was the last straw.

There’s a lot of chest thumping and “I told you so’s” being hurled as many seek to separate themselves from the rebuild. “We deserve better because we’ve had better!” Maybe, but a decade plus of rot and coattail riding isn’t going to magically turn around overnight. There’s a reason we’ve got Billy Napier and it’s not all due to Scott Stricklin’s supposed incompetence and impulsivity. There are a handful of top tier coaches that are not here, primarily because we’re in the toughest conference in college football and we’re competing regionally with the two top programs in college football for the best players and against three other strong programs in the state. You’ve got to work hard as hell just to keep your head above water, much less win consistently. You can’t always buy what you want or even what you think you need.

There’s more to it than what you, me, and everyone else thinks we ought to have or deserve. A bad season isn’t mediocrity; a bad decade is. I’m telling you that this signing class (thus far) is a step forward. Billy’s not without fault and there’s not a guarantee, but he’s heading in that direction and comparatively speaking, that’s what’s needed right now.

Nailed it, Cover.

red white and blue wow GIF by Bomb Pop
 

oxrageous

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There are liars among us. There are those who stated they were glad Mullen and his lazy approach to everything not game day was gone. They exclaimed that they knew we were broken to the point that a complete overhaul was past due and would be welcome. They agreed it would not be immediate, that it would take time to be done the right way. They knew there were going to be losses, but that was the price to be paid in order for the climb back from the depths to begin.

Then we lost to UK and they turned into the mob again and forgot all about it taking time to get factors in place to be better competitive. They blasted Napier and made ridiculous claims about how talented the roster he inherited was, that he was in over his head, “Sunbelt Billy” didn’t deserve to be HBC at our prestigious program. They couldn’t tell you who they really wanted with any consensus, only that they didn’t want what we had.

Now, after Napier and the staff held together a solid class that addressed many positional needs, it still wasn’t good enough. Even though there’s still recruiting left to be done and players to be sought through the portal, many have already cashed their chips. A transfer QB named Mertz, who hasn’t been anointed with a starting position, was the last straw.

There’s a lot of chest thumping and “I told you so’s” being hurled as many seek to separate themselves from the rebuild. “We deserve better because we’ve had better!” Maybe, but a decade plus of rot and coattail riding isn’t going to magically turn around overnight. There’s a reason we’ve got Billy Napier and it’s not all due to Scott Stricklin’s supposed incompetence and impulsivity. There are a handful of top tier coaches that are not here, primarily because we’re in the toughest conference in college football and we’re competing regionally with the two top programs in college football for the best players and against three other strong programs in the state. You’ve got to work hard as hell just to keep your head above water, much less win consistently. You can’t always buy what you want or even what you think you need.

There’s more to it than what you, me, and everyone else thinks we ought to have or deserve. A bad season isn’t mediocrity; a bad decade is. I’m telling you that this signing class (thus far) is a step forward. Billy’s not without fault and there’s not a guarantee, but he’s heading in that direction and comparatively speaking, that’s what’s needed right now.
Gotta love cover. If I had made this post word-for-word, it would have some likes but it would also have 3 Facepalms, 4 Loony's, 2 Dislikes, 1 Stoned, 2 Drunk, 1 WTF?, and 1 Ban.

He's so respected even those who completely disagree with his post (and there are a number of them) just keep it to themselves. Not a single downvote.

The guy has nearly 5,600 posts and only 74 downvotes. I have 2,785. :lol:
 

NOLAGATOR

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There are liars among us. There are those who stated they were glad Mullen and his lazy approach to everything not game day was gone. They exclaimed that they knew we were broken to the point that a complete overhaul was past due and would be welcome. They agreed it would not be immediate, that it would take time to be done the right way. They knew there were going to be losses, but that was the price to be paid in order for the climb back from the depths to begin.

Then we lost to UK and they turned into the mob again and forgot all about it taking time to get factors in place to be better competitive. They blasted Napier and made ridiculous claims about how talented the roster he inherited was, that he was in over his head, “Sunbelt Billy” didn’t deserve to be HBC at our prestigious program. They couldn’t tell you who they really wanted with any consensus, only that they didn’t want what we had.

Now, after Napier and the staff held together a solid class that addressed many positional needs, it still wasn’t good enough. Even though there’s still recruiting left to be done and players to be sought through the portal, many have already cashed their chips. A transfer QB named Mertz, who hasn’t been anointed with a starting position, was the last straw.

There’s a lot of chest thumping and “I told you so’s” being hurled as many seek to separate themselves from the rebuild. “We deserve better because we’ve had better!” Maybe, but a decade plus of rot and coattail riding isn’t going to magically turn around overnight. There’s a reason we’ve got Billy Napier and it’s not all due to Scott Stricklin’s supposed incompetence and impulsivity. There are a handful of top tier coaches that are not here, primarily because we’re in the toughest conference in college football and we’re competing regionally with the two top programs in college football for the best players and against three other strong programs in the state. You’ve got to work hard as hell just to keep your head above water, much less win consistently. You can’t always buy what you want or even what you think you need.

There’s more to it than what you, me, and everyone else thinks we ought to have or deserve. A bad season isn’t mediocrity; a bad decade is. I’m telling you that this signing class (thus far) is a step forward. Billy’s not without fault and there’s not a guarantee, but he’s heading in that direction and comparatively speaking, that’s what’s needed right now.
I am so glad you're back. Common sense ain't common especially these days.
 

Bullag8r

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There are liars among us. There are those who stated they were glad Mullen and his lazy approach to everything not game day was gone. They exclaimed that they knew we were broken to the point that a complete overhaul was past due and would be welcome. They agreed it would not be immediate, that it would take time to be done the right way. They knew there were going to be losses, but that was the price to be paid in order for the climb back from the depths to begin.

Then we lost to UK and they turned into the mob again and forgot all about it taking time to get factors in place to be better competitive. They blasted Napier and made ridiculous claims about how talented the roster he inherited was, that he was in over his head, “Sunbelt Billy” didn’t deserve to be HBC at our prestigious program. They couldn’t tell you who they really wanted with any consensus, only that they didn’t want what we had.

Now, after Napier and the staff held together a solid class that addressed many positional needs, it still wasn’t good enough. Even though there’s still recruiting left to be done and players to be sought through the portal, many have already cashed their chips. A transfer QB named Mertz, who hasn’t been anointed with a starting position, was the last straw.

There’s a lot of chest thumping and “I told you so’s” being hurled as many seek to separate themselves from the rebuild. “We deserve better because we’ve had better!” Maybe, but a decade plus of rot and coattail riding isn’t going to magically turn around overnight. There’s a reason we’ve got Billy Napier and it’s not all due to Scott Stricklin’s supposed incompetence and impulsivity. There are a handful of top tier coaches that are not here, primarily because we’re in the toughest conference in college football and we’re competing regionally with the two top programs in college football for the best players and against three other strong programs in the state. You’ve got to work hard as hell just to keep your head above water, much less win consistently. You can’t always buy what you want or even what you think you need.

There’s more to it than what you, me, and everyone else thinks we ought to have or deserve. A bad season isn’t mediocrity; a bad decade is. I’m telling you that this signing class (thus far) is a step forward. Billy’s not without fault and there’s not a guarantee, but he’s heading in that direction and comparatively speaking, that’s what’s needed right now.

That's a Pulitzer of a post right there cover
 

Back Alley Gator

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Gotta love cover. If I had made this post word-for-word, it would have some likes but it would also have 3 Facepalms, 4 Loony's, 2 Dislikes, 1 Stoned, 2 Drunk, 1 WTF?, and 1 Banned.

He's so respected even those who completely disagree with his post (and there are a number of them) just keep it to themselves. Not a single downvote.

The guy has nearly 5,600 posts and only 74 downvotes. I have 2,785. :lol:
I know you're not complaining about downvotes.... ;)
 

Ironhead

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On the bowl game, I think it’s difficult to do so for some of us, but you really have to completely disregard these games under the current circumstances. They were always meaningless, but we enjoyed winning them. The moment we introduced 30 more with names like Gasparillo, it was over. I hate it, because I’m a traditionalist who was there as a kid in NO as we beat WV and get like the we were kings of the world because of our Sugar Bow win. It’s just not reality anymore. I think the best way to sum it up is several outlets having Spencer Rattler on their preseason Heisman watch going into ‘21, all because he assisted in blowing out a shell of our ‘20 team in the Cotton. He was benched by mid season ‘21.

I wouldn’t even be as down on Miller, if it weren’t much of the same I saw from him last spring. I think there’s likely enough data to call that one. Bowl game, though, tell you nothing about where a program is at or where they’re headed. Never really did, but certainly not anymore.
On bowl games.
I have to agree but damn, For me, It’s a pride thing.
I hate to watch us play like crap especially, when I’m around family during the holidays.

It’s been a tradition in my family , for decades, to watch the bowls and pull for S Alabama or Liberty or whomever, and always for the SEC, with the exception of Ga.

You’re spot on though, with so many bowls these days and especially, the opt outs, it just doesn’t mean a damned thing anymore.

It still gripes my azz though.
I loved us taking out WV in the Sugar!
They were undefeated.
Agree on Miller.
At this point, our hopes are pinned to Mertz, or a quick developing Freshman.
 

gardnerwebbgator

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Gotta love cover. If I had made this post word-for-word, it would have some likes but it would also have 3 Facepalms, 4 Loony's, 2 Dislikes, 1 Stoned, 2 Drunk, 1 WTF?, and 1 Ban.

He's so respected even those who completely disagree with his post (and there are a number of them) just keep it to themselves. Not a single downvote.

The guy has nearly 5,600 posts and only 74 downvotes. I have 2,785. :lol:
Make it 2,786!

Grinch Smile GIF
 

jdh5484

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I think we can all agree that information from "insider" sites , "crystal balls" and "smoke" regarding recruits is about as reliable as a Nigerian Princes e-mail proposal.
 

Alagator

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Gotta love cover. If I had made this post word-for-word, it would have some likes but it would also have 3 Facepalms, 4 Loony's, 2 Dislikes, 1 Stoned, 2 Drunk, 1 WTF?, and 1 Ban.

He's so respected even those who completely disagree with his post (and there are a number of them) just keep it to themselves. Not a single downvote.

The guy has nearly 5,600 posts and only 74 downvotes. I have 2,785. :lol:
Check that downvote number again.
 

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