Year 3 dips are attributed to it being the season that your roster is led (from a seniority perspective) by the previous coach's final recruiting class and the transition class, the first class signed by the current head coach, which is traditionally lacking due to the time of the hiring. On top of that, the coaching change also leads to players leaving the program. (Less of a problem for UGA as Richt signed the No. 6 class in 2015 and Smart signed the No. 6 class in 2016.) Does it apply to Mullen's Year 3? Maybe. McElwain's last class was ranked No. 11. There were some good gets in there (including 3-star Kadarius Toney) but the talent lacked overall. Blue-chip ratio was 11/23 in 2017 class, which is sub-optimal. OL and LB were not recruited well in those classes, and it showed on the field in 2020. Poor play in the secondary is more on the Mullen staff.

Really intrigued by Neil's starting offense especially Davis at WR and Wright/Bowman as RBs 1&2. I could see Pierce hitting the portal post-spring if he's behind Wright and Bowman on the depth chart. But if he stays, he could be late in the game when defenses are worn down and might struggle bringing down a bruiser back – kind of how Marion Barber was called a "closer" for the Dallas Cowboys in the mid 2000s.

I think Doering does well as an analyst but completely disagree with his take. The Florida-Oklahoma outcome, good or bad, holds little significance on 2021 and beyond. UF has played its measuring-stick game, and that was this past Saturday. The Oklahoma game won't tell me anything new about the program. We all know the defense is poorly coached. We all know the offense is going to look different in scheme and personnel next year. If Oklahoma wins? If the Gators win, cool. Mullen and co get to hoist a "trophy" for a non-championship bowl win and Jordan Brand gets to print some new "champion" shirts and the record is 9-3 instead of 8-4, numbers that won't matter on the recruiting trail. The non-CFP bowls are exhibition games that are fun to watch and make a lot of money for ESPN and the SEC. Enjoy them for that. I will fully enjoy getting to watch one more Gator game in 2020. Hopefully, one more Trask Gator game.

Purely ignorant to act like the committee is favoring Florida. Between computers, Vegas oddsmakers, coaches or media, Florida is consistently ranked top 10: SP+ - No. 4 Vegas oddsmakers - No. 5 Associated Press - No. 10 FPI - No. 7 Coaches Poll - No. 10 Simulated BCS Ranking – No. 10 The NY6 is meant for the Top 12 teams. (6x2 = 12) The turd in the punchbowl this year is 4-2 Oregon, No. 25, getting a Fiesta Bowl bid. If you want to be mad about something, be mad about a 4-win team getting a NY6 bid. I guess Booches is just sad the committee didn't call him up to rule on whether Florida belongs in the Top 12 and is NY6 worthy.

That returning production number makes Florida's struggles even more maddening. Best I can make of it: -CJ Henderson and Jon Greenard were far and away UF's two best defenders. Without Greenard, the pass rush is suffering. QBs have more time to throw and without Henderson: 1) WR1 isn't in lockdown coverage 2) the other pass-catchers are facing even weaker defenders. -Kyree Campbell officially "returned" but hasn't played. With Campbell out, Florida is in trouble on the interior DL. Campbell's absence is causing both Zach Carter and Brenton Cox to play out of position because they're the best options available at other positions. Time for Mullen and Grantham to bite the bullet at DT, move Carter back to SDE and Cox to BUCK to improve the pass rush.

I'll admit I get some amusement out of Kentucky's 0-2 start after the Cats latest round of coaches and players whining about not being higher in preseason rankings and not getting media accolades. The wins over Florida and Penn State in 2018 were big and impressive. The Lynn Bowden QB Experiment was a feel-good story, but the Cats didn't beat a ranked team in 2019 (and lost to quite a few unranked teams). Stoops has obviously built the program up with a lot of excellent recruiting evaluations, maybe this 0-2 start will humble the Cats a bit and stop the media whining about disrespect.

Shouldn't Richt, entering his first season as Georgia head coach, have just said something to the effect of "that's about to change"? I don't follow why it "hurt" a first-year head coach who had no prior ties to the state of the program.

I'm getting a bad feeling about the game. Texas A&M has talent. Jimbo and Elko know X's and O's. Jimbo's no doubt feeling the heat. Florida hasn't had to pay for concerning issues on defense in all areas (pass rush, pass coverage, stopping the run). I could easily see this being a "salvage the season" game for A&M. Slightly reassuring: Ole Miss offense had another big day against a well-coached Kentucky team; Muschamp is still one of the conference's top defensive minds. But I worry if A&M is able to control the clock and keep the Florida offense off the field.

I think Pawl is overrating Southern Miss a bit as a step up for Freeze (Liberty and Southern Miss weren't too far apart in 2020 recruiting rankings, fwiw). But I think the Falwell exit could convince him to jump ship. Junior was clearly committed to having Freeze build the program up. With Falwell out, Freeze may seek a job with more tradition and program stability. If Falwell were still at Liberty, I think Freeze would be comfortable holding out for a more prominent job.

Billy G appears to be a lazy recruiter. He seems to only be able to deliver in down to the wire, pressure's on situations (Copeland, Henderson, Burke). His early-cycle recruiting, on the other hand, tends to be whiff city. It's a shame, because I think he's great at the teaching aspect of coaching.

Year 1 coaches figure to be at a significant disadvantage this season due to the COVID offseason, but Kiffin will definitely have some tricks up his sleeve for the Gators.

It's not that complicated. It's an SEC site. Alabama fans still like Hurts from his days as a Crimson Tide QB.

No way Franks transferred to Arkansas without a virtual guarantee of being the team's starting QB. Pretty telling neither article - SDS or Rivals - mentions another Arkansas QB "competing" for the job.

Norvell is an innovative offensive mind. And I don't discount an insider's take that he's a good coach. As an outsider, I'm wondering if he's cut out to manage a Power 5 program. Many coaches who have had success at the G5 level have failed at the P5 level. Norvell's recruiting struggles are putting himself in a bad position against Clemson, Florida and even Miami. I'm not sure Nole fans will have the patience for a long rebuild if he struggles against those 3 teams.

It's not directly related to this, but FSU's athletic department was a mess even during the height of Jimbo's success, particularly the power structure with admin and FSU boosters. I think the only reason Jimbo didn't leave for LSU was that the 2017 Noles were supposed to be a national title contender. Then FSU lost Francois for the year in the opener against Bama and the season went off the rails.

It's unfortunate. The resources of P5 athletic departments benefit players. They obviously have better access to testing and medical professionals on campus than at home. But, campus life remains the biggest threat to a CFB season. Good luck asking over 1,000 young men to self-isolate and give up bars, parties and meeting girls for 5 months (August-December). I'm optimistic the SEC will start a 2020 fall CFB season. Having a lot of players in 14-day quarantines could cause the season to fall apart. The way the virus can spread in close contact, we could have position groups, even whole starting 11s out for 2 weeks at a time in quarantine.

Players wanting to play is obviously an important part of the conversation, but, remember, many of these players would play the next week after a concussion if it were up to them and there wasn't a medical protocol in place. At the very least, team doctors have to also be on board with playing because players will want to play when they probably should not. The conference is (obviously) in contact with health experts every step of the way. I certainly hope the doctors and health experts continue to tell the SEC we can have a season.

"They are either students or employees, they can’t be both." Under the current framework, that's correct. The NCAA says they must be amateur non-professional athletes to compete in their sports. But, the NCAA doesn't control how the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) crowns its champion, so we have bowl games and the College Football Playoff instead of an official NCAA tournament/championship. (Raises the question - why do FBS schools bother with the NCAA in football?) Power 5 athletic departments depend on CFB players to make money, big money. If the players really boycotted, P5 athletics might actually be forced to break from the NCAA and allow them to play as employees of the athletic department. Obviously, those types of things won't happen overnight. But the labor - P5 football players - have some leverage in their movement.

I think CFB players would voluntarily go into bubbles to play. Setting up those bubbles, however, brings the the employee vs. amateur student-athlete debate back to the forefront. University presidents probably don't want to deal with the issue of a group of students being prohibited from certain activities (such as socializing) that are allowed for other students. At some point, student-athletes will probably be recognized as employees of their school's athletic department. Universities already allow for athletic departments to run as their own corporations.

Connor is a columnist. Columns tend to be opinion-based.

Obviously, games on the field matter more, but Norvell's recruiting doesn't suggest a turnaround any time soon. His G5 staff has landed 4 four-stars and 10 three-stars so far committed for the 2021 class. That's not "run the state of Florida" talent. Nothing suggests FSU is in for an enjoyable 2020 season, so hard to see recruiting getting better for the Noles in the fall. Full disclosure, I thought FSU football was on life support as the Bowden era came to a close. That was obviously a freezing cold take as Jimbo Fisher took FSU back to the top, capitalizing on rough patches at Florida and Miami. That said, nothing indicates Norvell is another Fisher. Jimbo was always an elite recruiter. Norvell can't recruit worth a bleep right now. Jimbo is a Saban disciple. Norvell is a Todd Graham disciple.

And if too many scholarships start getting pulled, the corporate athletic departments have to put out a weaker product and the school feels a financial impact. We seem to be watching a restructuring of the balance of power between student-athletes and colleges/universities who profit from athletics.

Yeah, I have pretty much the same reaction. At this stage of his career, he should have the financial comfort to not take the risk of getting another concussion. Obviously, he loves to play the game but I worry about his long-term health considering his concussion history.

NotGreatBob.gif Fandom aside, wanting to see them on the field this fall, it's understandable if any player opts out for 2020. There are numerous unknowns only months into dealing with a "novel" virus. Even if the virus is not life-threatening to young and healthy athletes, any impact to the heart or lungs (and there are certainly anecdotal accounts out there) would be career-threatening. Not sure with the NCAA is going to do about eligibility for opt outs, but Toney has a redshirt available. Copeland used his in 2018.

Many people, including a lot of Gator fans, forget that coming out of high school, Emory Jones was labeled as an elite passer who "can run when needed." From a December 2017 article breaking down Jones' film: "There is a reason Emory Jones is a five-star quarterback. Jones brings nearly every asset to the table that is wanted in a college quarterback. Jones has a cannon for an arm, is able to read and dissect plays, can run when needed, and is able to stand up in the pocket to pressure." (Armchair Media Network) Mullen has used him more as a running QB so far because he's a more natural runner than Franks or Trask. Mullen is big on not playing his QBs too early in their careers. He noted Franks was probably played too soon by McElwain in 2017.

I dig South Carolina's "less is more" approach as opposed to the graphics that try to cram everything in. The rings look really sharp on LSU's official offer.

Yep. It's simply easier to manage when it's all one conference and one commissioner. Cancellations/forfeits/postponements/TV assignments are all easier to manage when it's conference-only. I'd be surprised if all the ACC teams actually end up playing an 11th game against an out-of-conference foe. I think the ACC just wanted to keep the door open for the rivalries with SEC East teams hoping the SEC would agree to it.

All comes down to evaluations. Quite a few recent UF draftees were 3-stars (Jawaan Taylor, Lamical Perine, Jabari Zuniga, Jachai Polite, Jonathan Greenard). And we've all seen 3-star heavy teams at Kentucky, Missouri and South Carolina pull upsets. But, generally, the recruiting site evaluators are good at their jobs and the more 4-star and 5-stars, especially for overall depth, the better positioned a team is to succeed.

More 3-stars than I'd like but it's going to happen when you take a QB like Kitna just to have another body on the depth chart and a long snapper. Strickland is a terrible take, I just have to hope Hevesy knows something I don't because Strickland's film is garbage. Complete opposite with Watson. Dude is massive and will almost certainly shed some of that bad weight once Nick Savage has him working out. As for the other 3-stars, McMillon is a top-150 player on 247 but 3-star in the Composite due to a low Rivals ranking. Elksnis, Mitchell and Young all have good film. Hopefully when all is said and done the class has a blue-chip ratio above 50%.

Mullen is the designated play-caller but Hevesy, Gonzales and Johnson all have input. I see no reason to give the coordinators or co-coordinators anything extra to worry about. For temporary head coach, Greg Knox (MSU's interim head coach for bowl game after Mullen left) or Tim Brewster (former Minnesota head coach) make most sense.