Uncertainty and Potential Surround Florida's College Football programs
For five of Florida’s college football programs, there are tough questions to answer. Quarterback development, depth charts that have big holes, and coaches that need to win or could be in trouble of losing their jobs are all topics in play.
Has there ever been a more unknown time with the Florida college football programs? Florida State and USF have the most experienced coaching staffs, and they are each entering year three. That’s crazy by itself. With that, time to discuss the Seminoles.
Florida State
Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell enters year three with records of 3-6 in 2020 and 5-7 in 2021. He’s definitely a coach that needs a big year. If not, when does his seat begin to get warm, if it’s not already?
The Seminoles have talent in spots, but offensive line and quarterback play have been inconsistent for the first two years of his tenure, among many issues. To be blunt, the signal caller needs to rise up. If not, can Florida State even be 7-5, maybe 8-4?
Keep in mind, this is a Florida State team that allowed 26.5 points per game last season, ranking it 67th in the country. That mediocre defensive effort placed a lot of pressure on the quarterback play, and it was good and bad at times.
Jordan Travis completed 122/194 passes, 62.9%, for 1,539 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. On the surface, that looks fine. He just has those random throws where it’s not close and he also sometimes has passes that simply went to the wrong player, i.e. missed reads. If Travis elevates his game, the extremely athletic signal caller can propel the ‘Noles to a really good 2022 season. If not, that spells trouble.
Florida State fans are tired of the excuses. They want wins. Now. Their rivals in Gainesville have questions as well.
Florida
As for Florida and its newly hired Head Coach, Billy Napier, there’s reason to believe there can be a fast turnaround, although it comes with a couple of big “ifs” for that to happen.
Who’s the quarterback going to be? What if the quarterback room shrinks by way of Emory Jones leaving after the spring like many expect? If that happens, will redshirt sophomore Anthony Richardson be able to master the playbook and be dialed in to be the starter for the Gators?
He’s a gifted athlete and football player, but the knock on him has been the ability to know the playbook, according to those with knowledge of his struggles last season. To be the Gators signal caller, Richardson must embrace the after hours studying that comes with the position. Not to mention, as Napier and his staff implement their offense, it’s all new to the vast majority of Florida players beyond the handful that transferred over from the University of Louisiana where Napier last coached.
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Florida was a disappointing 6-7 in 2021. There’s reason to believe that Florida will rebound this year, but how much and how quickly Napier and his staff gain the trust of the players. That’s hard after what appeared to be a very uninterested Florida roster finished out the 2021 season.
Too much turmoil with former Head Coach Dan Mullen, too many players looking lost on the field. It was a disaster. Napier and his staff must win the locker room and get the quarterback situation ironed out post haste. That’s a lot to ask during spring ball, but it’s absolutely a must as Napier attempts to resurrect the program. Down in Orlando, there’s more optimism but also change.
UCF
Gus Malzahn enters year two after going 9-4 in 2021. Will the Knights figure out the quarterback situation by the end of spring? During his opening press conference on Monday, Malzahn mentioned giving five different quarterbacks a shot to show what they can do during spring ball. That’s a lot of guys tossing the pigskin to receivers.
All eyes are on Ole Miss transfer John Rhys Plumlee, as he’s an incredible athlete behind center. Can he read the defenses and make the throws or is he just a really talented athlete that’s playing quarterback? If it’s not Plumlee behind center, will it be returning starter Mikey Keene? Someone else? Still, most like the upside of Plumlee.
If Plumlee understands what’s happening, the upside is incredible. He’s the same player that rushed for 210 yards against LSU in 2019. He’s just not a proven passer, to date. UCF has a lot of talented players coming back on both sides of the football, but quarterback has everyone’s attention. UCF could be the best team in the AAC prior to jumping to the Big XII in 2023 if quarterback play comes together. At Miami, quarterback should not be an issue.
Miami
With junior Tyler Van Dyke returning to Coral Gables, the Hurricanes are in the best situation at quarterback in the entire state. The returning redshirt sophomore is coming off a season in which he went 202/324, 62.3%, 2,931 yards, 25 touchdowns and six interceptions.
With those numbers, it’s not close as to who’s the best returning signal caller in Florida. Van Dyke has a NFL arm and he’s proven that he can be a clutch player. Now the question for first year Hurricanes Head Coach Mario Cristobal is how to fix the porous offensive line and fill in holes around the roster.
The skill talent for Miami is really good, but like with Napier and the Gators, as well as many other new coaching staffs, how quickly will the players completely buy into the system? That’s a big question. If the answer is immediately, there’s a chance for a really quick turnaround after a 7-5 season that included losses by final scores of 24-21 to Florida State, 45-42 to North Carolina, and 30-28 to Virginia.
If the Hurricanes just find a way to be better in close games, 9-3 or better should be the expectation for 2022. Van Dyke is a major part of that expectation, and now it’s about team chemistry and development. The final team on this list, USF, absolutely needs to get things rolling this season or else there could be problems in Tampa.
USF
After going 1-9 in 2020 and 2-10 in 2021, USF Head Coach Jeff Scott needs a winning season. In fact, he needs a team to show it can be far more competitive than it was during his first two seasons as the leader of the program.
Yes, the Bulls were rebuilding when Scott took over. Now, however, he has a quarterback with experience with the return of sophomore Timmy McClain, plus a list of transfers that’s 14 players deep.
Finding a way to at the very least reach 6-6 and make a bowl is the first priority. To do that, McClain’s continued development needs to be priority No. 1. He’s much like Plumlee in that his physical gifts are evident. What needs to happen beyond the Bulls relying on McClain to run around and make plays, well that begins with a defense that ranked No. 117 in the nation with scoring defense, allowing a horrible 34.7 points per game.
Help is needed across the board. From defensive end to safety, every position needs to be more consistent and make more game-changing plays. If not, even with McClain improving as expected, Scott will probably be in danger of losing his job. Any record close to the records of the past two seasons and it’s hard to imagine him returning in 2023.
Final Thoughts
It’s spring practice time across college football, and it may seem like a long way from the college football season. It’s not, really. Every practice matters to help improve here in Florida. There’s been a lot of turmoil within the state for the past decade. Further, right now all of the five teams mentioned in this article have holes to fill and they are all doing so with fairly new coaching staffs. It’s going to be a very interesting 2022 season within the state of Florida.
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