I go back in order to think forward. 1980. We were coming off the 0-10-1 season. Pell brought in one of the great recruiting hauls of his career — which included the highly rated quarterback trio of Wayne Peace, Roger Sibald and Dale Dorminey — and we went 8-4 with a bowl win. It was brick by brick then and it’ll be similar going forward. Pell also had a sharp young OC named Mike Shanahan.
Just recruit and recruit some more. It’ll happen in due time.
And you could feel the sea change despite 0-10-1.
There were 4 QBs in that class- you omitted Mark Massey - and as I recall they were top 4 QBs in the state. We got Peace because Bama wanted him to play FB.
Heck of a bump class. It included:
Randy Clark, Back (6-0, 185), Venice
Dwayne Dixon, Back (6-2, 197), Alachua (Santa Fe)
Dale Dorminey, Quarterback (6-1, 188), Hialeah
Gary Ellis, Line (6-6, 245), Frostproof
Lorenzo Hampton, Back (6-0, 185), Lake Wales
Roy Harris, Line (6-4, 245), Winter Garden (West Orange)
John Hunt, Line (6-4, 240), Orlando (Edgewater)
Charlie Kerr, Back (6-5, 215), Tampa (Plant)
Tony Lilly, Back (6-0, 190), Woodbridge, Va. (Woodbridge)
Wilber Marshall, Back (6-2, 227), Titusville (Astronaut)
Mark Massey, Quarterback (6-1, 180), Pensacola
Fred McCallister, Back (6-1, 220), Melbourne (Palm Bay)
Vito McKeever, Back (5-11, 175), Dunnellon
Wayne Peace, Quarterback (6-2, 205), Lakeland
Buddy Schultheis, Line (6-2, 250), Naples
Roger Sibbald, Quarterback (6-0, 190), Dunnellon