Conflicted About The Future of Gator Football.
- Buddy Martin
- Apr 5, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 6, 2024
by Buddy Martin - GatorBaitMedia.com
I listen intently and watch closely for a little indicators of evidence, my profession mainly given to making mountains out of molehills, and trying to read tea leaves out of an empty cup.
After nearly 70 years as a seeking pathfinder, documenting the twists and turns, the ups and downs, and occasionally sensing the ecstasy of the championship gold, I honestly don’t know where to turn next for insight and information.
I think I still understand the purpose of this journey, but I keep waiting to discover who is singing in this choir, the body language of the maestro, as well as his (or her) passion, what page they are singing on and if the beautiful harmony of music is even possible to attain anymore. And are they singing out of the same hymnal, let alone on the same page?
And let's be completely transparent: "They" means "We."
I listen intently and watch closely for a little indicators of evidence, my profession mainly given to making mountains out of molehills, and trying to read tea leaves out of an empty cup.
Sometimes I wonder why I even care anymore when it’s so difficult to discern the next step of a long journey, let alone envision an ultimate destination (and, by the way, without a map, a lantern, or a compass), and yet I feel duty-bound.
Why do I keep doing this year after year? Because it is what I do. I am a paid observer. Here I sit again in April, after filtering through literally thousands of words, dozens of interviews, and on a nightly basis, holding discussions of the subject with my colleagues and guests on a podcast, as if some sort of epiphany will arise from all this just a week away from the Orange of Blue football game, traditionally a harbinger of things to come.
I can’t figure out if this program is going north or south, east or west. Yet I remain hopeful.
And by the way, the apprehension and uncertainty surrounding the program are not just Billy Napier‘s fault and scared money has nothing to do with it. They’re just not playing Texas Hold ‘Em them the way they used to. The rules of the game, the opponents and the way the players are curated have changed. It’s more like, "Texas And Oklahoma Don’t Necessarily Hold ‘Em.”
So where do we go from here in college football, since the paradigm for the purity of rah-rah sports has been swiped from us and placed in the hands of football mercenaries?
There are certainly some good free-agent mercenaries for hire and Florida got one in Graham Mertz, who also wants to get paid but is not driven only by cold hard cash. So while he plays the game for money, he also plays it for pride and the glory of he and his teammates — and just maybe a tch for the University of Florida, its alumni, the fans and students. Or does that matter anymore?
Yes it does and what we have seen in recent weeks of Caitlin Clark and women’s basketball is a evidence that we can and will support excellence and the purity of competition when it’s done the right way by the right people. Our problem is, "the right way."
So after all that rambling, you’re still going to ask me, “Six or seven wins?“ And I have to plead ignorance.
But let’s play along …
Oh, balderdash! We all still want to know about the skills of the new players, the impact of the new assistant coaches, whether issues like jumping off sides, missing the snap count and lining up with the proper number of players will be fixed. And if so, then how will the 2024 Florida Gators survive the onslaught of superior opponents on at least a third of the schedule help build or destroy this teetering Florida football program?
I shudder to think.
And yet, upon reading the report of my colleague Franz Beard from Thursday’s press conferences and practice, perhaps it is all still granular in nature, and you just have to know where to keep digging in the dirt for the secrets. As Franz’s work ethic proves time and again, there is a reward for hard work, persistence and dogged reporting.
I don’t know about you, but nothing encourages me as much as hearing players bragging on other players in a genuine fashion, as did Mertz this week about his offensive line.
“It isn’t just the tackles who are getting the job done. The entire offensive line has been re-tooled,” Mertz said. “The three inside guys are returning starting center Jake Slaughter (6-5, 297) and guards Knijeah Harris (6-3, 323) and Damieon George Jr. (6-6, 362), who has been bumped inside after starting at right tackle last season.“And I mean, when you have an offense and you have those five and the quarterback and you guys can communicate at a high level and understand what everybody's thinking all the time, that's when that group really, really sets the tone for the game,” Mertz said. “Whether it's run game, pass game or anything."
That confirms the suspicion of what I had sensed as an uptick in conversations around the ballyard these past two weeks.
Yes, I know Hope Springs Eternal every spring and none of it matters until they put the ball down this fall to see if these theories have proven to be accurate.
I’ll put it this way: It’s looking and sounding better these days. And for now I’ll take that rather than to fly the white flag. Put me down as candidate for believing in rejuvenation.
The Buddy Martin Show
Comments