- Jun 11, 2014
- 16,754
- 20,381
Founding Member
So I may be considered a sunshine pumper by some, but I really try to just stay optimistic and give things a chance. When I'm wrong, I try my best to admit it. I was big on supporting Muschamp and giving him every opportunity....I was wrong. I was confident in this years recruiting class, and it's a good class. But let's be honest, we had a let down. So after giving things some thought, I wanted to start a thread on how we got here. My intent is not to create a bashing thread, but for some folks to actually add insight. I'm thinking of guys like Cover2. Actually have a constructive discussion about why we are where we are.
Meyer Years
Meyer did a great job early on, but there were signs with the 2007 recruiting class. While there was immense talent, there were also a lot of misses. Brantley, Newton, Davis, Brown, Thompson, Edwards, and Finch were all big names that just didn't pan out. The only 3* that was worthwhile was Chas Henry, and K/P don't really count. It was a feast or famine class.
The 2008 class was even worse. The only real star was Janoris Jenkins and he didn't last long. Your 5*s were Patchan, Carl Moore, Will Hill and Omar Hunter. The only contributor of the bunch was Hunter, but he was an underachiever. The other 3 never lived up to their 5* billing, or even really came close.
2009 brought some solid guys and had some contributors, primarily because the prior two classes lacked. Bostic and Jenkins were great LBs for us. Gilly was underutilized and the same could be said for Reed. I'll even give Debose some credit just for the hell of it. He was great on returns. Halapio, Harrison, and Nixon were in the class, but they really weren't good, just better than what we had. Harrison was pretty decent for us though.
Now the fun part. Fake heart attacks and all that good stuff. Also Saban was coming off a Natty. The 2010 class was another feast or famine class. Defense had studs in Floyd, Elam, and Easely. Cody Riggs, Orr and Taylor were solid contributors. Powell was an underachiever. On offense we had Green on the OL and Patton. Not a bad class at all, but about 1/3 of the class either never showed up or transferred early.
To sum up, starting in 2007 we stopped having solid classes. The filler never really panned out and contributed, or you had filler like Halapio as a contributor, which doesn't make for solid play. Many of the stars didn't even pan out for one reason or another. QB was left devastated. Newton would have been great, but we know how that ended. Brantley was out of place. Burton was never going to play QB. Reed was too dumb to play QB, and Murphy was a project. DT's didn't pan out. OL recruiting and development were failing.
Meyer also let the players run the place, which led to poor discipline and a poor locker room. This was also about the time that we stopped making upgrades.
Muschamp Years
So yes he sucked. 3 OC's and stupid decision after stupid decision.
The 2011 class had Roberson, Purifoy, and Christy. No one else has contributed except Joyer. Poor class.
The 2012 class had many more contributors and some studs. OL was a disaster. Humphries who never played near his potential and Dunker who got kicked off campus. This class included Fowler, Bullard, Cox Jr., Morrison, Poole, Maye, and Jones. Jacobs was also in this class and was a decent contributor. Two topflight TE's never panned out and we got Hardin. A lot of guys left also. Perhaps one of the biggest tragedies was picking Morningwood over Paxton Lynch.
The 2013 class has not shown too much. Taylor developed well despite a poor OL, but Lane **** his pants twice and is now gone. Brantley, Davis and VH3 have played well for us. Anzalone is good when healthy. McMillian and Rolin are busts at this point. Joey Ivie and Neal are/were solid contributors. Robinson is another bust. The OL class could have been good, but both Johnson and Jackson had career ending injuries. Townsend has been a nice add. Overall, a decent class with some players who still have a chance to contribute.
The 2014 class is too new to really tell how they'll pan out. The OL class however, does not look good.
These years will be defined by the 2013 season where we lost to Ga Southern and Vandy. Poor roster management is another classic Muschamp staple.
Mac Years
Mac's first class was great considering the circumstances. His second looks like a solid class with holes at DT, OT, and LB (although we did get numbers).
The positives are that it looks like he can coach and develop guys. Recruiting could good if he gets the program turned around. He has forced Foley to make some improvements such as IPF, dorms, etc. The addition of QC staff.
The negatives are not having elite recruiters. Mac had to quickly assemble a staff, which didn't really go that well. He had to replace the DL coach and we got Rumph, which is a plus. Shannon has done nice things with the LBs, but not killing it on the trail. Callahan was garbage and now gone. Hopefully Law will be wrong and we'll get a good hire. I think we could probably upgrade two other coaches pretty easy in the offseason if Mac wanted to.
Mac has also had to deal with the Will Grier **** parade. Mac was still able to win the East, but it was a down year. I think most of us can see that Mac had little room for error this past year with our depth.
Summary
To me I see recruiting as the biggest issue. Scouting and management seemed to have been lacking for a while. OL recruiting has been poor until recently. LB continues to be an issue. Our only decent QB just f'd us over and is now gone.
The decline began with Meyer. Lots of star power and lots of no shows and transfers. By the end, OL depth suffered, but so did overall numbers. No real QB talent left either. Muschamp appeared to have some better recruiting in regards of evaluations, but his management was horrible. We also lacked the star power for the most part. Offensive recruiting was pretty poor as well.
Facilities had not been addressed in years, until Mac forced Foley.
Will Grier is a huge issue for this years class. We had a ton of momentum until he f'd us. His transfer even furthered the slide. Harris just wasn't equipped to carry us to the end. Without a known QB, it's hard for recruits to buy in. Couple that with our staff's recruiting, and we were doomed.
So lots of factors that I see. I do think Mac can coach up what he's got and possibly win the East again. I see 2017 as a better recruiting class. We already have a top QB who is a recruiter, and Callahan at minimum is gone.
More importantly, where do you see the trajectory of the program? And where do you see where things went wrong?
Meyer Years
Meyer did a great job early on, but there were signs with the 2007 recruiting class. While there was immense talent, there were also a lot of misses. Brantley, Newton, Davis, Brown, Thompson, Edwards, and Finch were all big names that just didn't pan out. The only 3* that was worthwhile was Chas Henry, and K/P don't really count. It was a feast or famine class.
The 2008 class was even worse. The only real star was Janoris Jenkins and he didn't last long. Your 5*s were Patchan, Carl Moore, Will Hill and Omar Hunter. The only contributor of the bunch was Hunter, but he was an underachiever. The other 3 never lived up to their 5* billing, or even really came close.
2009 brought some solid guys and had some contributors, primarily because the prior two classes lacked. Bostic and Jenkins were great LBs for us. Gilly was underutilized and the same could be said for Reed. I'll even give Debose some credit just for the hell of it. He was great on returns. Halapio, Harrison, and Nixon were in the class, but they really weren't good, just better than what we had. Harrison was pretty decent for us though.
Now the fun part. Fake heart attacks and all that good stuff. Also Saban was coming off a Natty. The 2010 class was another feast or famine class. Defense had studs in Floyd, Elam, and Easely. Cody Riggs, Orr and Taylor were solid contributors. Powell was an underachiever. On offense we had Green on the OL and Patton. Not a bad class at all, but about 1/3 of the class either never showed up or transferred early.
To sum up, starting in 2007 we stopped having solid classes. The filler never really panned out and contributed, or you had filler like Halapio as a contributor, which doesn't make for solid play. Many of the stars didn't even pan out for one reason or another. QB was left devastated. Newton would have been great, but we know how that ended. Brantley was out of place. Burton was never going to play QB. Reed was too dumb to play QB, and Murphy was a project. DT's didn't pan out. OL recruiting and development were failing.
Meyer also let the players run the place, which led to poor discipline and a poor locker room. This was also about the time that we stopped making upgrades.
Muschamp Years
So yes he sucked. 3 OC's and stupid decision after stupid decision.
The 2011 class had Roberson, Purifoy, and Christy. No one else has contributed except Joyer. Poor class.
The 2012 class had many more contributors and some studs. OL was a disaster. Humphries who never played near his potential and Dunker who got kicked off campus. This class included Fowler, Bullard, Cox Jr., Morrison, Poole, Maye, and Jones. Jacobs was also in this class and was a decent contributor. Two topflight TE's never panned out and we got Hardin. A lot of guys left also. Perhaps one of the biggest tragedies was picking Morningwood over Paxton Lynch.
The 2013 class has not shown too much. Taylor developed well despite a poor OL, but Lane **** his pants twice and is now gone. Brantley, Davis and VH3 have played well for us. Anzalone is good when healthy. McMillian and Rolin are busts at this point. Joey Ivie and Neal are/were solid contributors. Robinson is another bust. The OL class could have been good, but both Johnson and Jackson had career ending injuries. Townsend has been a nice add. Overall, a decent class with some players who still have a chance to contribute.
The 2014 class is too new to really tell how they'll pan out. The OL class however, does not look good.
These years will be defined by the 2013 season where we lost to Ga Southern and Vandy. Poor roster management is another classic Muschamp staple.
Mac Years
Mac's first class was great considering the circumstances. His second looks like a solid class with holes at DT, OT, and LB (although we did get numbers).
The positives are that it looks like he can coach and develop guys. Recruiting could good if he gets the program turned around. He has forced Foley to make some improvements such as IPF, dorms, etc. The addition of QC staff.
The negatives are not having elite recruiters. Mac had to quickly assemble a staff, which didn't really go that well. He had to replace the DL coach and we got Rumph, which is a plus. Shannon has done nice things with the LBs, but not killing it on the trail. Callahan was garbage and now gone. Hopefully Law will be wrong and we'll get a good hire. I think we could probably upgrade two other coaches pretty easy in the offseason if Mac wanted to.
Mac has also had to deal with the Will Grier **** parade. Mac was still able to win the East, but it was a down year. I think most of us can see that Mac had little room for error this past year with our depth.
Summary
To me I see recruiting as the biggest issue. Scouting and management seemed to have been lacking for a while. OL recruiting has been poor until recently. LB continues to be an issue. Our only decent QB just f'd us over and is now gone.
The decline began with Meyer. Lots of star power and lots of no shows and transfers. By the end, OL depth suffered, but so did overall numbers. No real QB talent left either. Muschamp appeared to have some better recruiting in regards of evaluations, but his management was horrible. We also lacked the star power for the most part. Offensive recruiting was pretty poor as well.
Facilities had not been addressed in years, until Mac forced Foley.
Will Grier is a huge issue for this years class. We had a ton of momentum until he f'd us. His transfer even furthered the slide. Harris just wasn't equipped to carry us to the end. Without a known QB, it's hard for recruits to buy in. Couple that with our staff's recruiting, and we were doomed.
So lots of factors that I see. I do think Mac can coach up what he's got and possibly win the East again. I see 2017 as a better recruiting class. We already have a top QB who is a recruiter, and Callahan at minimum is gone.
More importantly, where do you see the trajectory of the program? And where do you see where things went wrong?
