Dooley Noted: Gators were pathetic, bad in every phase of the game

You nailed it. People keep talking about how could the gators lose with all the talent. I keep looking for the talent but it is not there. Coaching is also bad, guys on defense are constantly out of position and the offense is terrible. Maybe Franks would be better with some coaching, hard to evaluate the kid. Special teams is just ridiculous, this is really on the coaching staff.

Injuries, suspension, lack of talent and lack of coaching is a recipe for disaster and that’s what we have. Mac was captain of this ship and steered it into jagged rocks. Whoever becomes the next coach it will take a few years to undue the damage that has been done. Mac road the coattails of a WM defense, once that was removed he had nothing. Sad, he walks away with a pot of gold and leaves the program in shambles.

Yes, the Gator football team of 2017 has some talent issues like a few too many 3 stars but compared to UCF and USF Florida is loaded with 4 star recruits from the last few years. So the main problem is not the talent unless the 4 stars were mostly over-rated which I doubt. Whatever the reason the team had too many bad apples and it resulted in all the suspensions. Then we got Mac’s antics, mainly sticking with Franks in Jacksonville when he needed to come out for his own good, and of course the earlier, false death threat story.
The Gators were one lucky break away from beating either LSU and Texas A&M or both, but no dice and that would have certainly changed the narrative. Whether or not the abrupt firing of McCelwain will be better in long run or not (I think it will be) the Gators players had the rug pulled out from under them and I’m not surprised about what happened at Mizzou. This is truly a lost season but all we can do is suck it up and ride it out and hope for a great HC hire by Strickland.

In three years, all the QBs suck, and suck bad? I really don’t think the problem is that we don’t have a QB, but that we don’t have coaches that can develop a QB, or adjust an offense around a QB’s strengths and weaknesses, or adjust mid game to what a defense is doing. Even though people go on and on about Grier, who was good, but he still struggled in every game except the Mississippi game. He was still hamstrung by bad coaching and a bad system. I feel bad for these players, but I would be willing to bet there are a lot more stars on this team than seems right now. They just need a good coach.

If the coaching pool (3 years ago) was a ”kiddie pool”, and now (by your own admission, Pat) the coaching ”pool is deep”, then U.F. has to nail this ”high-dive”. Straight in… period! Here’s hoping! Go Gators!

Florida’s supposed “talent” — way overrated. They have players on that roster who don’t belong in the SEC. Even with suspensions and injuries, the starters aren’t even low level SEC quality — just bad recruiting and terrible player development. But keep talking about florida’s talent.

There is so many problems with this current football team it is impossible to not identify a problem.

Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is someone who knows how to recruit and coaches who knows how to coach up the players. We need a head coach who has alot of fire and passion. That’s all I want for Christmas.

Coaching and recruiting have sucked under the current regime. It is embarrassing. I am an alum living in Arizona and really hate having Big 10 and Pac 12 people giving me crap. I pray we can get Frost as our coach. Go Gators!

Pat Dooley I am shocked that you can say now, after the fact, that McElwain was a panic hire. Where has that view been for the last three years?? You come across as disingenuous. Hindsight is a beautiful thing but hey we all have it! You’re paid to have – and offer – more insight then us average fans. I appreciate your honesty now, but it should have been present a year or two ago. More of this honesty please. We want and need your opinion, straight up. Screw the political correctness of kowtowing to the UAA. Please.

face it … UF is not the coaching job it use to be. it was spurrier’s idea to leave, urban faked a heart attack, muschamp & Mcelw hated the place. this gator downfall has been coming for years… its glorious !!!

Dave Fisher,
You may be right, the pressure at UF is intense. We have an awesome fan base and Gator Nation reaches far and wide.
I hope that we will attract a young Coach up to the challenge to build this program back to the nation’s elite.
We have the resources and fan base. Please let’s be positive and support the team.

Enjoyed the post-Missouri podcast.