Will Muschamp enters his fourth season on the job and will be entering a possible make or break year for his head coaching career at Florida. After going 4-8 last year, Muschamp made some changes to his staff. He hired offensive coordinator Kurt Roper from Duke which looked to pay dividends in the spring game as Florida was a lot crisper on offense with playmakers making plays and quarterback Jeff Driskel, back from injury and some inconsistent performances the last couple of years, looking pretty decent, though the guy behind him, Skyler Morningweg, looked just as good in the spring game if not better. Driskel played in just three games last year before getting knocked out for the season with a broken leg and completed 42-of-61 passes (69%) for 477 with two TDs and three interceptions. Morningweg played in three games as well and completed 44-of-63 passes (69%) for 344 yards, three TDs and one int. If I was Muschamp and Roper–who had a lot of success at Duke offensively coaching under David Cutcliffe–I would look at both players closely this August and see who gives the Gators the best chance to win. Muschamp has to have it this season. The Gator nation is running out of patience. His team was decimated by injuries last year, but 4-8 is not going to cut it in Gainesville regardless of the circumstances.

There are some pretty good receivers led by Quinton Dunbar, who had 40 catches for 548 yards but no TDs last year, and the running back situation looks very good with Kelvin Taylor, Mack Brown and Matt Jones. Adam Lane, a 5’7″, 222 pound redshirt freshman, had an awesome spring running the ball. He could be a force. Taylor, a 5″10″ 209 pound sophomore, ran for 508 yards and four TDs last year as a true freshman and has potential for greatness. Brown, a 5’11”, 209 senior, rushed for 543 yards and four TDs, and Jones, a 6’2″, 235 pound junior, ran for 339 yards and two TDs. The offensive line returns four of five starters and looked much improved in the spring. The Gators offense should be pretty good if one of the quarterbacks can get it done.

On defense there are question marks. The Gators lost three of four starters in the secondary, but have three talented four-star freshmen,  along with highly touted five-star cornerback Jalen Tabor  coming in this fall.  Sophomore cornerback Vernon Hargreaves, III posted three interceptions last year and had 11 pass break ups. He was a  highly regarded five-star recruit out of high school two years ago and he’s lived up to his billing so far with a terrific freshman campaign. He will have an excellent year if he stays healthy. He is a game- changer type player in the secondary. The front seven is where there are question marks. Defensive end Dominique Easley was a first round pick by the New England Patriots and linebacker Ronald Powell was a fifth round draft pick by the Saints. So defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin,  defensive line coach Brad Lawing, along with Muschamp, who has a major hand in coaching the defense with his coordinator background at Texas and Auburn, will have a major be challenged to develop the front seven and depth for the fall. But the Gators have recruited well, so we’ll see if the defense can perform well on August 30th against Idaho.

The schedule:

The Gators open @ the Swamp against Idaho on Saturday, August 30, @ 7 PM ET/6 CT on Duh U. Then they host Eastern Michigan ( Saturday, Sept.6th, 4 PM ET/3 CT) and Kentucky ( Saturday, Sept. 13th, 7:30 PM ET/6:30 CT) with both games being televised by the SEC Network. Florida could be 3-0 after those three games. Then it gets pretty interesting. The Gators are @Alabama, Saturday, Sept. 20th (game time/tv to be announced), @ Tennessee,  home against LSU, home against Mizzou, Georgia in Jacksonville, @ Vandy, South Carolina @ home, Eastern Kentucky @ home and then FSU @ Tallahassee on Saturday,  Nov.29th. The Swamp can win you a lot of games, so seven at home should help.

Muschamp really needs to get eight wins out of this season and nine would probably keep him secure at least for one more year. It’s year to year in most jobs in the SEC if you’re not S, Gus, Spurrier or Miles. I guess Miles. He his detractors in Baton Rouge. Not the players, they love him, but the fans can question his decision making at times, which has been questionable. Richt at Georgia is still on shaky ground.

If Florida can develop on defense this August, their offense could be pretty darn good this year. Roper looks to have the offense handled. It’s up to Muschamp and the defensive coaches to get it done. I can see the Gators going 9-3, possibly 10-2, and even contending for the East title by the time South Carolina comes to town November 15th. South Carolina looks good on offense, but the defense is suspect as they lost some good players off last year’s unit and the defense wasn’t that good last year anyway. Georgia keeps having to dismiss players. They’ve already dismissed three players from their secondary last year who played key roles. And they weren’t good last year on defense either, so they’ll be questionable on that side of the ball. At least Georgia will hold players accountable for bad behavior. Some coaches and universities don’t seem to do that. Like Georgia doing that. It makes Richt’s job tougher, but it’s the right thing to do.

So if the Gator defense does develop and there aren’t a  rash of injuries like they experienced last year, this team could be right there playing for Atlanta in November. Alabama and FSU will be extremely tough for them to win, but the others–even LSU, with their question mark at quarterback– are winnable.  If it’s another  7-5 or 6-6 campaign, the natives could get very restless. AD Jeremy Foley is fully behind Will, but he needs to do better this year. Surely he won’t get the disastrous rash of injuries he incurred last year. That had a lot to do with the catastrophic season in Gainesville.