BUDDY’S BLOG: Gator Fans Are Challenged To Put Some Bad Memories Away. Will They Embrace Dan Mullen?
Football season is like an old girlfriend or boyfriend – you can’t wait for them to get here, but on the other hand, after a long spell, here’s your keys, here’s the door, and don’t let it hit you in the kneecaps or solar plexus on the way out. Especially when things aren’t going your way and there is no foreseeable possibility of you ever winning an argument or being right again. Then you opt out.
Time to turn the page. And if you’ll pardon my channeling Dan Jenkins: This last season, 2020, was more perplexing than a double-mother-in-law visit during plague of locusts and 10-day dust storm from Arabia via West Texas. That’s how Billy Clyde Puckett would describe it in a passage from "The Reunion at Herb’s Café", Jenkins’ last book. And Billy Clyde loved him some football, until he didn’t.
So let’s say goodbye to the Florida Gators’ last season with a touch of remorse about what might have been, but with an industrial-size dose of gratitude for improvisation through a medical tsunami. It may have been an 8-4 season, but after the autopsy, it looked and felt more like a 10-2. The circumstances made it seem so. All was not lost; we will always have Georgia, and almost Alabama. We will always have Kyle Trask and Kyle Pitts and them.
At times, Dan Mullen’s team made beautiful music, sometimes enough to distract us from the sad reality of the pestilence that engulfed us. At times, it felt like beautiful music. As Sally Jenkins inferred, invoking her father’s words on the final pages of The Reunion at Herb’s Café:
“The sound was born on a summer night at the old Crystal Springs Pavilion in Fort Worth, Texas, when Bob Wills and his string band were entertaining the cowboys and their ladies from 9 until Fist Fight.” – Baja Oklahoma.
That’s the Afterword.
And now for the Foreword:
Don’t panic Gator fans, because it doesn’t look too bad from up here in the Way Too Early Prediction Booth, as Shake Tiller might say.
Upon further examination of the newly built Gator roster and the forthcoming, imposing schedule – yes, I know, there’s Alabama, Georgia and LSU – all hope is not lost for 2021, barring another tsunami.
Let’s tell each other the truth: This season has got more humps than a semi-truckload of camels (Billy Clyde again). Let me count the ways, or humps, with possible solutions.
1. We have yet to see Emory Jones as a starter. Better, or worse, yet, we’ve never seen him take a snap under the supervision of his new position coach, Garrick McGee—let alone command "The Quarterback Room.” His cameo roles behind Trask were productive and, at times, impressive. Jones has the arm, but if anything needs more of a variety in his pitches and ought to consider taking something off his fastball in favor of a more catchable changeup. There is reason to believe, however, Jones is more than ready to assume his rightful place in Mullen’s string of quarterback successes. Emory Jones’ loyalty has been admirable. And his time has come.
2. This will not be the Air Trask Show. Mullen knows how to develop an offense around the style of his quarterback (see Chris Leak, see Tim Tebow – and all his Mississippi State QBs). He knows how to coach quarterbacks and has been known to have two Heisman winners in his QB Room (See photo above). It’s difficult to say until we see something of it in spring practice beginning March 16, but hard money says about a 50/50 split in run-pass ratio will prevail, with Jones toting the rock at least several of those times. The Run/Pass Option will become staple. And a bevy of solid running backs — Malik Davis, Nay’Quan Wright, Dameon Pierce, Lorenzo Lingard and new transfer Demarkus Bowman -- will be getting their touches. As far as receivers go, Billy Gonzalez will no doubt do his magic again. I am seeing considerable talent and strong potential in Jacob Copeland, Justin Shorter, Trent Whittemore, Xzavier Henderson, plus Tim Brewster’s tight ends, LSU transfer Arik Gilbert and returnees Keon Zipperer and Kemore Gamble.
3. What about the offensive line you ask? Good question. It transitions from a bunch of dancing bears going backwards as competent pass blockers to being retrained to go forward as run blockers. The question is, will they hire Fred Astaire or Derek Hough? John Hevesy is striving for another notch of gradual improvement and would no doubt like to pluck a starter out of the transfer portal, but it’s not likely. What he does have going is the depth of experience afforded by the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA. That proffers six-year veterans like Stewart Reese and Jean Delance (yes, I hear you boo birds) to blend with five-year vet T.J. Moore and four-year vets Richard Gouraige, Griffin McDowell – and a host of promising three-year returnees. The offensive line is not devoid of talent.
4. Defense: My biggest concern is the secondary, which broke down last year. There is talent with Trey Dean and Kaiir Elam. I withhold judgment until we can see the work of new coaches Wesley McGriff and Jules Montinar. Their fate might be dictated somewhat by the pass rush of the front seven. There was some help from The Transfer Portal with the arrival of D-linemen Antonio Shelton and DaQuan Newkirk, plus the return of Zach Carter, Dante Lang and Gervon Dexter and maybe new incoming CB Jason Marshall. Linebacker play has been sporadic, but the depth at the position could be an asset, especially the first nine – Jeremiah Moon, Ventrell Miller, Amari Burney, Brenton Cox, David Reese, Andrew Chatfield, Khris Bogle, Mohamoud Diabate and Diwun Black. We could spend half this story on the defense alone and the controversy of Todd Grantham, but I actually look for that to change with the new assistants joining him this spring.
5. Talent acquisition: Despite an average (No. 10) recruiting class and some of the whining that goes on with recruitniks, Mullen is doing fine cherry picking the transfer portal. In fact, as one message board jockey stated: “Never mind National SIGNING Day. Let’s have National TRANSFER PORTAL Day.” We get the point, and it’s a valid one.
There is one more item to be considered: The future of Mullen. There were several speed bumps this year that had very little to do with his coaching.
Aside from the season-ending tailspin that deprived Gator fans of an opportunity to finish off the season with warm, fuzzy thoughts, there were the matters of the NCAA probation penalty and show-cause for Mullen in which the University of Florida was anything BUT transparent; the unfortunate incidents of post-game comments after the loss at Texas A&M; plus his halftime dustup with Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz and several players exchanging punches after which suspensions took place. Then there was the unfortunate player behavior in the LSU “Shoe Game” which was a room-service victory for Ed Orgeron after Mullen already had it on his tray.
Some of Mullen’s questionable antics might be chalked off to mental stress by a coach who, himself, had been dealing with Covid-19 and was trying desperately to hold things together for a strong closing act. But then, unfortunately came the whispers about Mullen flirting with the NFL which didn’t set well with the most loyal members of the Gator Nation, who can’t tell the difference between flirting and true romance. Maybe Mullen didn’t orchestrate it, but apparently he allowed it.
Whether that can be blamed on his agent window-shopping him isn’t as important as the bad optics. Job-whispering might have been more damaging than all the other things together and could be a tough memory to erase.
Having said that, Dan Mullen is absolutely, 100 percent the right man for the job at Florida, UF is fortunate to have him and Scott Stricklin knows that. There’s only one thing that will eradicate the misfortune of some of those not-so timely hiccups: Winning 10 games, including over either Georgia or Alabama, and getting back to Atlanta. Possible? Maybe.
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