USAToday has Florida picked No. 22

RTR91

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It was a play on words.....

Don't you feel that Coach Mac is utilizing some of what he absorbed during his time working under Coach Saban?
So far his Florida teams look exactly like Saban's teams under Nuss and Mac - win because of the defense. So you're correct in saying he's using what he learned in Tuscaloosa.

Florida has ranked 12th and 14th in the SEC in total offense and 11th and 12th in scoring offense with Mac as coach. The defense, OTOH, has been ranked 4th and 2nd in total defense and 4th and 3rd in scoring defense during that time.

Mac's record hasn't been bad, but he's 7/15 in games against teams with .500+ records and 2/7 against teams with 10+ wins. If you take out the Florida game (so helping the averages for you here), Florida's 19 wins have come against teams averaging 53.6% winning percentage. It drops down to 47% if you add in the Florida loss.

Recruiting hasn't been great. His three classes have been ranked 10th, 6th, and 5th in the SEC.

Will be intriguing to see what he does now with Geoff Collins gone and Randy Shannon at DC.
 

81usaf92

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I wonder just what it would take to convince you that MAC is a good HC?.
Never said he wasnt, only questioning whether or not if he was really that much of an upgrade from Muschamp or if Mushchamp wouldve been in Atlanta with the current state of the SECE.

Fwiw he is decent

Have you looked at Colorado State the few years before MAC and then at Colorado State after MAC?
Yeah and Chizik was 5-19 at a program that was averaging near 7 wins from 2000-2006. Then is hired by Auburn and goes 8-5, 14-0, 8-5 in his first 3 years. So whats your point?

Georgia was the hands down favorite to win the EAST in MAC's first year and Tennessee was hands down favorite to win the EAST last year ...... .
Who cares who was the favorite to win the east. They havent got it right since 2010.

but MAC won it both times. That seems impressive to me.
When both USCe and UK have the ability to win the east on week 10 it shows how horrible the east is. Butch Jones had more to do with who won the east the past 2 years than Mac. But since you and nearly 80% on this board want to throw around that point, then how about this one, 'GUS MALZHAN won the WEST, and the SEC in his 1st season with a defensive back as his qb." But I dont hear anyone calling him a good to great coach when he faced a far more difficult schedule, and didnt back into a SECCG.

And how about this one, Will Grier won the UT and Ole Miss games in 2015. So an illegal qb won the two games that got him into Atlanta.


Im not trying to say he sucks, but I just think that many Bama fans are giving him way too much credit. If he was our coach, then his recruiting numbers alone would drive us all nuts.

Look at Mac vs Mush and Zooker in recruiting. Im not counting transition years so 2011, 2015, and 2001 are not listed

Mac
2017- 9th
2016- 14th

Mush
2014- 8th
2013-4th
2012- 3rd

Zook
2004- 7th
2003- 2nd


I would say Marc Richt getting 11th at Miami is more impressive than any class that Mac has got based upon the limitations Miami has compared to the other two major Florida schools. If you cant recruit at Florida then you cant recruit.


Im in the boat that if recruiting doesnt change in the next 2 years, then Mac is in deep trouble unless he gets one of those once in a lifetime players. But all those seem to go to Jimbo, so I wouldnt bank on it. But I really think he is an 8-4 type coach on average, and that wont sit well with UF.
 

UntouchableCrew

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I think Florida is a fantastic job and a really good HC wins National Titles there (Spurrier, Meyer.) McElwain hasn't recruited well and has largely snuck by a terrible SEC East by the skin of his teeth because UGA and Tenn have underachieved so badly. I wouldn't say his seat is warm but I don't see a ton of evidence he's a great HC and is the long term answer there either. We'll see how 2017 plays out.
 

Bazza

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----snip----
I'm in the boat that if recruiting doesn't change in the next 2 years, then Mac is in deep trouble unless he gets one of those once in a lifetime players. ----snip----
If you look at the rankings per year that you posted above....while Zook and Champ's recruiting class rankings trended downward each succeeding year....Coach Mac's rankings trended upward.

Given this trend....I don't understand how you can say Coach Mac's recruiting is not as good as their's was.

We are trending in the right direction.

And we are seeing more and more interest in our program from recruits who may have previously been turned off by the previous lack of focus on offense.

We couldn't be happier now that we have an offensive-minded head coach.

We just need to get our QB situation straightened out.

You know, I didn't come on here to preach about how great Coach Mac is....but merely to respond to the assertions by a few that his seat is warm...or will be warm if such and such doesn't happen. And that we were fortunate to win the East the last two years. Every team has both good and bad luck....and we certainly have had our share of bad luck...as well as some good too. Maybe it all evens out - I don't know.

I couldn't be more thrilled that we have coaches on our staff who learned from Coach Saban. It has already paid dividends and IMHO will continue to do so as we move forward.

I do accept the fact that Georgia looks to have the best opportunity to win the East this year. Returning some major play makers as well as a great QB with a year under his belt as starter. Seems like Coach Smart is going to have a lot of pressure on him this coming season to win the East.

We'll see what happens --- but thanks for the always interesting discussion! ;)
 

RTR91

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And we are seeing more and more interest in our program from recruits who may have previously been turned off by the previous lack of focus on offense.

We couldn't be happier now that we have an offensive-minded head coach.

We just need to get our QB situation straightened out.
Did you see the rankings I provided? He's had one of the worse offenses in the conference the last two years. It's very conservative and predictable. He and Nuss are the same as they were here.

If it's as dandy as you act, why did Mac go looking to bring in new offensive assistants this year?

And since you want to believe UF is getting better offensively:

Total offense averages:
2011 - 328.7
2012 - 334.4
2013 - 316.7
2014 - 367.6
2015 - 334.0
2016 - 344.0

Scoring offense averages:
2011 - 25.46
2012 - 26.46
2013 - 18.8
2014 - 30.3
2015 - 23.2
2016 - 23.9
 
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Bazza

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Did you see the rankings I provided? He's had one of the worse offenses in the conference the last two years. It's very conservative and predictable. He and Nuss are the same as they were here. ----snip----
Don't you feel losing your starting QB 2 years in a row might have a negative impact on your offense?

An argument could be made that Coach Mac could (or should) have removed the red shirt from one of his two freshmen QB's....Franks or Trask.

I wonder how Coach Spurrier would have handled things.

Yes....very happy with how we are progressing. Hope we get our QB position solidified.
 

81usaf92

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If you look at the rankings per year that you posted above....while Zook and Champ's recruiting class rankings trended downward each succeeding year....Coach Mac's rankings trended upward.

Given this trend....I don't understand how you can say Coach Mac's recruiting is not as good as their's was.

We are trending in the right direction.

And we are seeing more and more interest in our program from recruits who may have previously been turned off by the previous lack of focus on offense.

We couldn't be happier now that we have an offensive-minded head coach.

We just need to get our QB situation straightened out.

You know, I didn't come on here to preach about how great Coach Mac is....but merely to respond to the assertions by a few that his seat is warm...or will be warm if such and such doesn't happen. And that we were fortunate to win the East the last two years. Every team has both good and bad luck....and we certainly have had our share of bad luck...as well as some good too. Maybe it all evens out - I don't know.

I couldn't be more thrilled that we have coaches on our staff who learned from Coach Saban. It has already paid dividends and IMHO will continue to do so as we move forward.

I do accept the fact that Georgia looks to have the best opportunity to win the East this year. Returning some major play makers as well as a great QB with a year under his belt as starter. Seems like Coach Smart is going to have a lot of pressure on him this coming season to win the East.

We'll see what happens --- but thanks for the always interesting discussion! ;)
UF should be around #6 in recruiting at worst. I'm willing to bet from 06-10 they were below #6 every year. My point with Zook and Mush is that you and Redwood seem to think he is clearly better than both, but I have taken the approach that he hasn't dealt with the level of competition that they did and has far inferior recruiting classes than both.

Yes UF needs a qb, but seriously how hard is it to get a qb in the state of Florida? Maybe that is the missing piece.. maybe not time will tell

My opinion is mostly aimed at Bama fans who for whatever want to beat their chest about how good Florida's coach is. I just don't get the logic of saying, " the west is way stronger than the east." But also saying, " Gus was lucky to actually win the west and the conference, but Mac is a great coach because he was the participant from the east." If you can explain how Mac is better than Gus or how what he did in 14 and 15 is greater than what Gus did in 13 then you would be closer to the argument that I'm making. Because I bet if you polled Tidefans.com on "If Gus is a good coach" they would nearly unanimously say no.

I'm trying to show being a SECCG participant doesn't= being a great coach. I don't think Mac's seat is warm but a meh year and meh recruiting class could make is warm. So we will have to see.
 

81usaf92

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Don't you feel losing your starting QB 2 years in a row might have a negative impact on your offense?

.
We did the last 3 years, and went to the playoffs 3 straight years. The difference is our recruiting through the year is near the top.

But that argument could have been used in Mush's case too. Losing Brantley in the 2011 Bama game probably costed him a SECE crown.
 
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selmaborntidefan

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Don't you feel losing your starting QB 2 years in a row might have a negative impact on your offense?
AJ McCarron (2013)
Blake Sims (2014)
Jake Coker (2015)

And we also lost three back-ups from the start of the year last year.

Oh, and we lost Luke Del Rio to Florida btw....
 

Bazza

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AJ McCarron (2013)
Blake Sims (2014)
Jake Coker (2015)
Don't you think having a new QB for the season is different than losing your starter at mid-point?


And we also lost three back-ups from the start of the year last year.

Oh, and we lost Luke Del Rio to Florida btw....
And I'm really happy that your starting QB was able to play the entire year for you. That worked out well!

Unfortunately for us....Luke was injured in our third game (Sept. 17th) last year and was never the same once he returned. he just went through another surgery a couple weeks ago.
 

Bazza

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Am I 100% happy with EVERYTHING in our football program right now?

No.

But as I said....I like the direction we are heading!

And BTW....trust me there are plenty of 'other' Gators who are dissatisfied with certain aspects of our program ---- and even those who feel Coach Mac and/or Coach Nuss is not the answer.

I choose to remain optimistic and am thankful for what we have accomplished, under the circumstances.

Excited about our upcoming season!
 

RTR91

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Don't you think having a new QB for the season is different than losing your starter at mid-point?


And I'm really happy that your starting QB was able to play the entire year for you. That worked out well!


Unfortunately for us....Luke was injured in our third game (Sept. 17th) last year and was never the same once he returned. he just went through another surgery a couple weeks ago.
While I knew what you meant, your post didn't specify when the QB was lost for the season.

I guess I'd rather get to Atlanta with a backup QB and crummy offensive stats... :)
This is laughable.

You first use losing the starter as the reason for poor stats. Then, you come up with this sorry line when reminded Muschamp faced the same situation and still had better stats?
 

selmaborntidefan

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Don't you think having a new QB for the season is different than losing your starter at mid-point?




And I'm really happy that your starting QB was able to play the entire year for you. That worked out well!

Unfortunately for us....Luke was injured in our third game (Sept. 17th) last year and was never the same once he returned. he just went through another surgery a couple weeks ago.
Well, didn't Florida lose Tim Tebow for a game during the 2009 season - a game against LSU no less?

What was the difference? Well, they had enough talent otherwise to compensate.

Again, I think the jury is out on McElwain's coaching ability. I think he's miles better than Gene Chizik but miles behind Coach Saban (and to be fair, a guy can be miles behind Saban and still be a pretty good coach). And I'm not in any way rooting against him, I hope he succeeds but just not enough to beat us head to head.

However......Gary Pinkel won back-to-back East titles and got blown out in consecutive SEC title games, too.

We will see as it unfolds.

I think what the consensus is RIGHT NOW (and true, some folks' minds won't change no matter what but some of us are open-minded) is that McElwain has benefited from the East being an absolute dumpster fire. Consider this: the coach with seniority in the SEC East is now beginning his FIFTH season there while in the West EVERY coach except Orgeron has been at his school AT LEAST that long.

Let me put it this way at least for the moment: if Ed Orgeron (who nobody considers very good at all as the Ole Miss evidence shows) had coached Florida the last three years with the "just because we're Florida" talent they can recruit, Orgeron himself would have won consecutive East titles.

Again - I'm open minded and this MAY change, but it's also why a lot of us think Kirby Smart isn't all that far from a division title right now.

The QB comment IS somewhat accurate to be fair, but UF has had other problems, too.
 

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