What We Learned From the Gasparilla Bowl and the Florida Gators 2021 Season
Photo credit: Alex Shepherd
The Florida Gators fell fall short of obtaining in-state bragging rights and will have to hear the taunts out of Orlando for some tie, as the Gators lost to the UCF Knights by a score of 29-17 in Thursday Night's 2021 Gasparilla Bowl.
It was yet another humbling loss for the Gators this year, marking their seventh of the season and finalizing a losing record for the first time since Jim McElwain's final season as head coach and their third losing record over the last decade.
AllGators usually pens its most important takeaways following games, win or lose. But, this time we're taking a bit of a different approach. The loss in the bowl game stings, but it closed the book on the Dan Mullen (and Greg Knox) tenure of UF football and opened the door of a new era in Gainesville, as Billy Napier now solely holds the reigns of this program.
As such, we had some thoughts to share on the result of the game in our takeaways, but we're taking a long-term approach here instead of solely recapping the matchup. Here's what the Gasparilla Bowl and Florida's 2021 season taught us about the Gators as they march into a new dawn of football.
A fresh start is needed, everywhere.
This has been evident for weeks and was emphasized on Thursday night. Florida appeared motivated for this game, eager to send its seniors out with a victory as well as interim head coach Greg Knox, someone the team has a lot of respect for.
That motivation was nowhere to be found at Raymond James Stadium. Yet again, UF put up a lifeless performance.
A fresh start has been needed in Gainesville for some time. In hindsight, one could argue a fresh start has been necessary since Mullen called his players in last year's Cotton Bowl "scout team guys," claiming that his 2020 Gators team had played its final game two weeks before and didn't need to accept their bid to the bowl game vs. Oklahoma.
Players, some of their parents, and people around the team were insulted by the way Mullen described the team that took the field in AT&T Stadium that night, and rightfully so. Those comments shined a light on a non-existent culture that he had built, and the ripple effect could be seen when the same scout-teamers, in his words, became starters in 2021.
According to several program sources, a distaste for the way Mullen spoke of his team in Arlington, Texas and handled the infiltration of his recruits into the starting lineup stuck around in the mouths of his players and people close to them. It carried into the 2021 season, creating the feeling of a lack of trust between some players and their head coach.
The culture at UF needs to be rebuilt. From the ground up.
On top of a broken locker room, Florida's roster is in major need of a rebuild as well. A head coach should never diminish the talent and work ethic that his players put into their preparation as he did, but to give Mullen even the tiniest bit of the benefit of the doubt, his comments alluded to the fact that Florida's next batch of contributors didn't meet the same caliber of his starters on the Gators' SEC Championship team.
That became clear in 2021, showcased in losses to Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina, Missouri, and UCF specifically.
Napier will inherit quite a bit of young talent, although those players undoubtedly need a fresh start in their development under new coaching. Otherwise, the roster is in need of a fresh start as well, as it lacks star power and dependable contributors in numerous spots.
The offense has a need for speed, particularly at wide receiver. It needs physicality along the offensive line. It needs another quarterback of the future, as its current QB of the future has emerged as the QB of the present: Rising redshirt sophomore Anthony Richardson.
The defense possesses underdeveloped talent with plenty of potential, but lacks depth across the board. Quite literally, every position needs its depth rebuilt.
The new head coach has already begun the process of rebuilding the roster, as several players have entered or plan to enter the transfer portal already and the 2022 recruiting class was gutted before early signing day, before Napier was able to land three blue-chip prospects that Mullen never stood a chance to sign.
There is young talent across this roster. Now, Billy Napier must develop it.
To continue on the topic of talent discussed above, yes, Napier is going to have to tear down quite a bit of Florida's roster and put on a hard hat to build it back better. That being said, he has talent to work with moving forward in some spots, including several potential game-changers for Florida football teams of the near future.
The most important talent that Napier will inherit is at quarterback, that being Richardson. But we'll talk more about him later.
We wrote last month, before Napier was hired, that the Gators' next head coach would have 12 building blocks on their roster upon arrival that could be looked upon as not only great contributions with proper coaching, but potential leaders of the team. 11 remain after outside linebacker Khris Bogle's transfer to Michigan State, but otherwise, UF has potential at every position on its roster for not only the 2022 season but beyond.
Richardson is naturally one of those building blocks. Young ball-carriers in running back Demarkcus Bowman, wide receivers Xzavier Henderson and Marcus Burke and tight end Nick Elksnis could have bright futures in Florida's offense. So could Josh Braun, arguably UF's best offensive lineman who will be a junior in 2022.
Defensively, Napier inherits one of the best defensive line recruits the nation has seen in the last three years, that being Gervon Dexter. He also gains two high-potential linebackers in Ty'Ron Hopper and Derek Wingo, and before his ejection on Thursday night, it was obvious what type of talent Hopper will bring to the Gators' defense moving forward in a bigger role.
Jason Marshall, the 2021 recruiting class' No. 1 cornerback, and safety Rashad Torrence, one of the very few players to ever take on an important role as a freshman under Mullen who is now a two-year starter, offer an up-and-down secondary some much-needed play-making abilities and physicality.
This goes without mentioning other prospects that weren't included in the roster building blocks story, such as upper-class offensive linemen Ethan White and Kingsley Eguakun, defensive end Princely Umanmielen, defensive tackles Jalen Lee and Desmond Watson, cornerback Avery Helm, and incoming SI99 signees in safety Kamari Wilson, linebacker Shemar James and defensive back Devin Moore.
But talent can only take a team so far. Mullen emphasized in 2020 that UF, under his leadership, was a player development-focused program, although his development strategies clearly did not work. Napier will be tasked with accomplishing what Mullen struggled to do with his young prospects: Develop their technique to match their talent and create polished college football players.
This is Anthony Richardson's team... at least, for now.
Florida's starting quarterback Emory Jones plans to enter the transfer portal now that the season is over, which is likely in the best interest of both parties. Jones struggled aplenty in his first year as the Gators' starter and was outperformed several times by his young backup, that being Richardson.
Richardson is one of the more intriguing quarterbacks in the entire nation. Despite his 2021 season being hampered by injuries, he has earned odds (50-1) to win the Heisman Trophy in 2022. There is no doubt that Napier is intrigued by what Richardson has to offer at the quarterback position, and as things stand, he'll most likely be Napier's first starting signal-caller in Gainesville.
But make no mistake about it, Richardson has a lot to prove. And it starts with his availability. Thanks to shoulder, knee, and concussion-related injuries this season, Richardson only played in seven of 13 games this year and underwent knee surgery at the end of the campaign.
On top of returning to and sustaining full health, Richardson must improve on the field as well. He is undeniably a special talent. He has a massive arm and incredible mobility for a 6-foot-4, 236-pound quarterback, capable of running at 20+ miles per hour.
But his decision-making as a passer was spotty throughout the year, seen specifically when he started against Georgia and committed three turnovers, as well as by his season-long completion percentage of 59.4%.
Napier joins the program with a clean slate, uncommitted to Richardson or any player at any position. UF obtained Ohio State transfer quarterback Jack Miller this past week and Napier, surely, could open a quarterback competition between Richardson and Miller to start in week one of the upcoming season.
For now, Richardson is Florida's quarterback. and Florida fans have every reason in the world to be excited by what Richardson has to offer at the position. But this offseason, Richardson must earn the respect of his new coaches and prove himself as the rightful leader of this team.
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