Is Florida going to become like Nebraska and UT?

[Leakfan12]

Big time programs falling on hard times. Nebraska was nearly unbeatable in the mid 199o's winning 3 out of 4 years championships (including the one against our team) and nearly beat every Florida team for a title (and would have won four out of five titles if their kicker didn't miss that field goal in the 1994 Orange Bowl). After Tom Osbourne retired from coaching, things haven't been the same for NU since. UT started when Phil Fulmer had two losing seasons in his last four seasons then Lane Kiffin messed up in his only season and two coaches weren't able to fix things. Now should we be worried with two losing seasons in five years.

 

[Escambia94]

Yes. Florida has it harder than Texas or Nebraska, because all the other 120 FBS schools recruit in our backyard. You do not see Alabama, Auburn, FSU, LSU, or Clemson recruiting for talent in the state of Nebraska, and those schools rarely grab more than one recruit from the state of Texas. Just look at the rosters of championship teams and look at the high schools those kids come from. Those are the high schools that used to send their best athletes to Gainesville, not Tuscaloosa, Tallahassee, or Clemson.

Case in point: the Fighting Gators of Escambia High School. My old high school is the home of Emmitt Smith, and it used to send a few top ranked athletes each year to UF, and a couple to FSU. Jacob Copeland was the first Escambia recruit I have seen commit to Florida in a long time. He just withdrew his commitment. That example applies to many other schools in the Sunshine State. I see the best high school kids in Florida going anywhere but UF, and to some degree, FSU. Nebraska has 8 kids from the Sunshine State, and they are not from FHSAA division 1A schools--they are from the powerhouse 5A and 6A schools with district and state championships. UF is grabbing 3-star kids from high schools next to prisons, ghettos, underachieving neighborhoods.

I am not saying that Gator football is in meltdown mode, but I am saying that it takes a certain kind of coach to identify these issues and offer solutions. Chip Kelly was not one of those people. Scott Frost might not be that guy either.

 

[DRU2012]

Big time programs falling on hard times. Nebraska was nearly unbeatable in the mid 199o's winning 3 out of 4 years championships (including the one against our team) and nearly beat every Florida team for a title (and won four out of five titles) if their kicker didn't miss that field goal in the 1994 Orange Bowl. After Tom Osbourne retired from coaching, things haven't been the same for NU since. UT started when Phil Fulmer had two losing seasons in his last four seasons then Lane Kiffin messed up in his only season and two coaches weren't able to fix things. Now should we be worried with two losing seasons in four years.

I'm gonna be the one to give you the SHORT answer, for a change...
In answer to the questions posed, Lf, and all embodied in the thread's title:
"Yes."
In fact I believe we are now already THERE. And headed further down that road.

 

[DRU2012]

Yes. Florida has it harder than Texas or Nebraska, because all the other 120 FBS schools recruit in our backyard. You do not see Alabama, Auburn, FSU, LSU, or Clemson recruiting for talent in the state of Nebraska, and those schools rarely grab more than one recruit from the state of Texas. Just look at the rosters of championship teams and look at the high schools those kids come from. Those are the high schools that used to send their best athletes to Gainesville, not Tuscaloosa, Tallahassee, or Clemson.

Case in point: the Fighting Gators of Escambia High School. My old high school is the home of Emmitt Smith, and it used to send a few top ranked athletes each year to UF, and a couple to FSU. Jacob Copeland was the first Escambia recruit I have seen commit to Florida in a long time. He just withdrew his commitment. That example applies to many other schools in the Sunshine State. I see the best high school kids in Florida going anywhere but UF, and to some degree, FSU. Nebraska has 8 kids from the Sunshine State, and they are not from FHSAA division 1A schools--they are from the powerhouse 5A and 6A schools with district and state championships. UF is grabbing 3-star kids from high schools next to prisons, ghettos, underachieving neighborhoods.

I am not saying that Gator football is in meltdown mode, but I am saying that it takes a certain kind of coach to identify these issues and offer solutions. Chip Kelly was not one of those people. Scott Frost might not be that guy either.

I "LIKE" your comments above mainly because I am GLAD someone is offering a more overall (relatively) positive view than my own. Part of a wider application of that vision of "quantum reality" I mention in my own darkest analyses lately "shared" over on the "Crappy Game..." thread.
But it'll take a whole lot more people, each of them/us envisioning and SHARING their views, hopeful OR pessimistic, to effect any sort of meaningful change from the direction we are currently headed, anytime soon, in MY view.
I didn't think our people were thinking the right way about our next Coach either. But I also figure that they are not about to CHANGE the state-of-mind that put these tunnel-visioned-choices at the top of their list in the first place.
Only concerted outside-pressure of some kind is likely to change, perhaps open UP their thinking and the process by which a more thoughtful and imaginative PRACTICAL decision might be made.

 

[Leakfan12]

Yes. Florida has it harder than Texas or Nebraska, because all the other 120 FBS schools recruit in our backyard. You do not see Alabama, Auburn, FSU, LSU, or Clemson recruiting for talent in the state of Nebraska, and those schools rarely grab more than one recruit from the state of Texas. Just look at the rosters of championship teams and look at the high schools those kids come from. Those are the high schools that used to send their best athletes to Gainesville, not Tuscaloosa, Tallahassee, or Clemson.

Case in point: the Fighting Gators of Escambia High School. My old high school is the home of Emmitt Smith, and it used to send a few top ranked athletes each year to UF, and a couple to FSU. Jacob Copeland was the first Escambia recruit I have seen commit to Florida in a long time. He just withdrew his commitment. That example applies to many other schools in the Sunshine State. I see the best high school kids in Florida going anywhere but UF, and to some degree, FSU. Nebraska has 8 kids from the Sunshine State, and they are not from FHSAA division 1A schools--they are from the powerhouse 5A and 6A schools with district and state championships. UF is grabbing 3-star kids from high schools next to prisons, ghettos, underachieving neighborhoods.

I am not saying that Gator football is in meltdown mode, but I am saying that it takes a certain kind of coach to identify these issues and offer solutions. Chip Kelly was not one of those people. Scott Frost might not be that guy either.

Actually I meant Tennessee not Texas though Texas is heading there if not there already. Honestly I don't care which high school these student athletes comes from (OK sometimes I do plus there's a student athlete from my alma mater hint he redshirted this season) just as along as they preform.

 

[Escambia94]

Actually I meant Tennessee not Texas though Texas is heading there if not there already. Honestly I don't care which high school these student athletes comes from (OK sometimes I do plus there's a student athlete from my alma mater hint he redshirted this season) just as along as they preform.

I could not care less about Tennessee. They hit rock bottom years ago under Dooley.

The only reason the high school matters is that is where the talent primarily comes from--the schools I listed. The list could be expanded to "any high school in the state of Florida". The point being, recruiters from UF are losing battles to get talent in our own backyard.

 

[Leakfan12]

Hopefully Mullen can take them out of this. Also Tennessee's job search is a joke now.

 

[Escambia94]

The Gators may have hit rock bottom, but there is hope with Dan Mullen. I will call it cautious optimism. Maybe it will take two years, but at least there are signs of a reversal in fortune.