The 2011 Florida Gators will have a new man running the show as former Texas and Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp takes over. Muschamp is known for his enthusiasm and tireless energy on the sidelines. He has hired long time NFL coaches Charlie Weis and Dan Quinn as his offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively. Weis is known for developing quarterbacks as he developed one of the greatest of all time in Tom Brady at New England. But he’s got his work cut out for him developing Jeff Brantley.
Brantley was highly recruited out of high school and sat behind Tim Tebow for a couple of years before taking over last year. He struggled some completing 200 of 329 passes for 2,061 yards with nine TDs and 10 ints. He had his moments, but he also had some struggles. Muschamp said that Brantley completed 70 percent of his throws in the spring, but he was not so great in the spring game. He will have some playmakers behind him this year, guys like world class sprinter Jeff Demps, who won the NCAA 100 meter run for the second straight year this Spring–he missed spring practice for track. Demps, a running back, ran for 551 yards and three tds last year, not overwhelming numbers, but he was hurt some. He has a lot of strength for an 181 pounder and can really break it when he gets in the open field. Chris Rainey is another guy with explosive play ability. Rainey ran for only 366 and two tds, but he struggled with injuries and sent an infamous text to his ex girlfriend that said “it’s time to die.” Honestly, I don’t know why he remained on the team. Urban Meyer was pretty loose in his discipline and he had 30 something players arrested in his career. Muschamp looks like he’s going to run a tighter ship as he kicked Janoris Jenkins, the team’s star cornerback, off the team in April for his second marijuana possession charge in three months.
The running back position is loaded with playmakers, but not a lot of size. Mike Blakely (5’9″, 198), Mike Gillislee (5’11”, 198) and Mack Brown (5’10, 193) are three others who could be highly productive backs. Rainey weighs 175. Could struggle with injuries with their lack of size. Wide receiver features all purpose back Trey Burton who looks like he’ll be a star as kind of a hybrid running back-receiver and maybe some wildcat quarterback. Andre Debose, Deonte Thompson and Quinton Dunbar are some others who could be key players if they develop and can catch the ball consistently. Jordan Reed, a 6’3″, 237 tight end/wide out, looks like he could present some matchup problems for linebackers and cornerbacks.
The questions are: Can these guys play consistently? Can Brantley run the offense and make the throws downfield? Can Rainey and Demps stay healthy? Can the other guys run and catch consistently?
The offensive line lost four starters, so that could be a problem. Xavier Nixon at tackle (6’6″, 290) is a pretty good player, but they had some linemen out in the Spring. Mike Pouncey left for the Miami Dolphins, but he struggled with snaps all year, and frankly, the Gators were just not very good on offense last year. Oline could be a weakness on this team and that will be a problem.
Defense looks pretty high caliber. Defensive tackles Shariff Floyd (6’3″, 303) and Dominique Easley (6’2″, 278) will be forces. Easley was dominating until he got banged up a little bit in the spring game. Think he’s OK though. Ronald Powell (6’4″, 250) was a five star defensive end out of high school two years ago, so they’re expecting big things from him. Linebacker Jonathan Bostic (6’1″, 238) will be a force, also. Jelani Jenkins is an excellent linebacker, also. Jeremy Brown (5’10”. 184) is an excellent cover corner. They lost a really good player in Janoris Jenkins, but Cody Riggs had an interception in the spring game and could be a good replacement. Josh Shaw is a good safety as is Tim Clark. So they’ve got some players on defense.
The thing I noticed most about the spring game is there were so many guys out. The Gators need to get healthy for the fall. The oline could be a problem for them as it doesn’t seem like they have a lot of depth there. It seems like a team that doesn’t have a lot of depth in general. Some very good players but just not enough of them.
The Schedule:
The Gators open with Florida Atlantic and UAB. Don’t know much about Florida Atlantic, but that should be a W. UAB should, too, as it is in the Swamp. But the Blazers have proved to be pretty tough against good teams. They’ll play Tenn at home, Ky on the road and ‘Bama at home. They go to LSU, Auburn, play Georgia in Jacksonville, then Vandy at home, South Carolina on the road and finish with Furman and Florida State at home.
I’m looking at a 7-5, 6-6 season for the Gators. They might knock off a team that they’re close in talent with or have less talent than, but they may lose one that they shouldn’t. I don’t see them contending for the East title. Think Georgia and South Carolina are stronger. They struggled last year in Urb’s final season, so Muschamp is trying to rebuild. He’s got some good skill players and some good players on defense and his offensive and defensive coordinators are proven NFL coaches. But can their pro experience translate to the college game? They’ve got their work cut out for them and they’re are some brutal road trips to LSU, Auburn and SC and Alabama is going to be very good. They have to go to Kentucky, too, and that’s no gimme. Georgia in Jacksonville will be tough, Tennessee is no cake walk and could lose that and FSU has very high expectations heading into this season and will be better talent wise than Florida as Jimbo Fisher has got his program heading in the right direction and maybe contending for a national title this season. So I think 6-6 and if they knock somebody off in an upset, 7-5. Something like a Music City Bowl team. A pretty good bowl, but I know Muschamp wants to be competing for championships. He had a decent recruiting class with 11 four stars, a couple of four star quarterbacks and six defensive backs. So we’ll see how quickly he return Florida to prominence. It’s not going to happen this year.
(Will Muschamp is trying to rebuild the Gators into championship contenders.)