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Coming into early signing day, recruiting experts felt that the Gators had a chance to have a really good day.
#Gators fans are gonna be happy this week. pic.twitter.com/KlPWSRTGbC
— Mike Farrell (@rivalsmike) December 17, 2019
Boy, were they wrong.
The Gators missed out on a bunch of top targets and sunk down the rankings as teams like Georgia and Auburn jumped in front.
With the smoke cleared, Florida ranks eighth nationally according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. More importantly, the Gators rank sixth in the SEC. And more than that, there is a definitive separation between Florida and Alabama, Georgia and LSU, the three teams Florida is going to have to play to win the SEC.
All is not lost. These players are going to do a good job representing the Gators. Florida is going to win a bunch of games with them making big plays and shutting down the opposition.
But if history is any guide, I’m just not sure they’re going to make enough of those plays to win either an SEC or National Championship.
Evaluating the Class
This is Dan Mullen’s third recruiting class at Florida.
He has gone 20-5 on the field and turned a terrible offense into a pretty good one. He has helped develop Feleipe Franks into a really good QB. He transitioned to a pass-heavy offense to play to the strengths of backup QB Kyle Trask and his stable of wide receivers.
He’s done all he can to show the results on the field that I was told I needed to wait for when I raised some concerns about recruiting prior to last season.
Yet, this class has zero (!) top-100 recruits on the offensive side of the ball. His 2019 class had zero (!) top-100 recruits on the offensive side of the ball. The Gators have four top-100 recruits on the offensive side of the ball in the last four cycles.
Georgia has six…..this year.
But perhaps the biggest flashing warning light is the following:
Third-year recruiting classes for last five Gators head coaches. (Will Miles/Read and Reaction)
Anytime your recruiting is being compared to Jim McElwain, that’s a problem.
Because Florida’s class is pretty full, teams like Texas, Notre Dame and Oklahoma have an opportunity to pass the Gators, potentially sinking the Gators below eighth.
But more critically, there is really a lack of top-end talent.
This past offseason, I went back and looked at how often players ranked at various spots in the 247Sports rankings were drafted for the 2013 and 2014 classes.
What I found was that players ranked in the top-15 got drafted 78 percent of the time. That dropped to 57 percent for players ranked 15-30 and 29 percent for player ranked 76-90. The likelihood of getting drafted then leveled off to around 20 percent for players ranked 101-300.
The reality is that you either need to focus on those high-end (i.e. 5-star) players or you need a ton of players in that 100-300 range to work out. Those high-end guys usually make an immediately impact as well.
Clemson is often held up as a model that Florida is following. The Tigers signed two top-100 players in Dabo Swinney’s first two classes (2009 and 2010). The Tigers went 15-12 in those two years.
In the 2011 class, Swinney signed five top-100 players. Sammy Watkins caught 82 passes that season (led the team). Stephone Anthony had five tackles for loss and two sacks. Mike Bellamy rushed for 343 yards. Three of the five top-100 players eventually were drafted.
That 2011 team was led by a 5-star QB (Tajh Boyd). The leading rusher was Andre Ellington (ranked 107th, so just barely outside of the top-100. It also played in a weak conference and got dismantled by West Virginia 70-33 in the Orange Bowl.
Clemson went on to play for the National Championship in 2015. The prior recruiting class, they signed six top-100 players. They added six more in 2016 prior to winning the championship and another eight the class prior to winning again in 2018.
My point isn’t that the Gators can’t follow the Clemson model. It’s that Clemson’s recruiting picked up considerably before the Tigers started winning. Then it went up another level before the Tigers started winning championships.
Florida’s 247Sports average recruiting ranking was 90.75 in 2018, 91.06 in 2019 and is currently at 90.04 in 2020. That is an enormous step up from Jim McElwain (87.26, 88.72 and 89.11 in his three years) and Mullen should be lauded for that. He also should be lauded for his work with the QBs and the toughness that he has instilled in his players.
But the reality is that based on the recruiting trends, we should expect Florida to be just about as good this upcoming season as it was the year before.
And unlike Clemson, Florida has to go through some pretty tough teams to take the next step.
With the 2020 class, Georgia and Alabama have essentially maintained the pace they were at before. But LSU is the SEC team who has made the recruiting jump. The Tigers were ranked 15th nationally in 2018 and jumped to 5th for the 2019 class. And the 2020 class has taken another leap, with an increase in average player rating from 90.75 to 92.93.
It’s easy to attribute that to this season, but the Tigers were recruiting at that elevated level before Joe Burrow started playing well.
History says the same thing will need to happen before Florida takes a huge step forward.
Takeaway
I think Dan Mullen is a damn good football coach. And he’s proven that he can take top-10 recruiting classes and win at a level for his team to finish in the top-10 nationally.
But at the close of the early signing period of his third recruiting class, the truth is unavoidable. He struggles to recruit at a truly elite level.
Let me be clear. Florida just got better today by signing a bunch of really good football players. That’s especially true on the defensive side of the ball, where the defensive line recruiting really shined.
I have no doubt that these players are going to represent the university well and lead the school to a bunch of wins. And with Mullen in charge, I’m sure there will be a handful who will overachieve.
But even with all that, competing with Georgia, LSU and Alabama is going to be difficult. Basically, this recruiting class sets Florida up to be exactly what it has been the past two seasons. Good enough to get up all of our hopes, but not quite good enough to run the SEC gauntlet to a championship.
For some fans, that isn’t enough. A bunch of wins over Kentucky and Missouri isn’t going to be seen as a success now that Mullen has established that as his baseline. They want Georgia and they want championships.
And those are expectations Mullen has set for himself. He always references the “Gator Standard” when talking about his program. Like it or not, the Gator Standard means SEC and National Championships.
At the end of the day, Mullen is getting paid $6 million per season to manage a program. That includes coaching at an elite level. It includes developing talent at an elite level. But it also includes recruiting at an elite level.
Some might blame the recruiting woes on certain assistants….but Mullen hired them. And let’s not forget that wide receiver coach Billy Gonzalez – the ire of much of today’s criticism – was once the primary recruiter for Percy Harvin.
Some might blame the recruiting woes on other programs bending the rules regarding player compensation….but the reality is that all programs are bending to some degree (don’t kid yourself) and so Florida needs to figure out a way to do it better.
I don’t want to hear about how this staff’s evaluations of players are different than the recruiting services. There is a large body of evidence that these rankings matter. To believe that a staff can canvass the same breadth of players that people paid to put together these rankings do is laughable.
Do these services make mistakes? Absolutely. But so do staffs that have the hubris to believe that they know better than everyone else while the programs that are following the rankings keep winning big. And it’s also not like Florida wasn’t trying to recruit a bunch of the same players who make up Georgia and Alabama’s classes. Those players just didn’t choose the Gators.
Following the Missouri game in 2018 – after the Gators laid an egg for the second game in a row – Mullen came out with a quote that the players and fans rallied around.
“They keep score. Someone wins and someone loses. I don’t care what we’re doing. If you want to thumb wrestle me right now I’ll kick your ass.” – Dan Mullen
They keep score for recruiting too. And right now, Mullen isn’t the one doing the kicking.
TNGatorBrad
If your goal is to work more closely with the Florida Football team as a journalist, these articles have got to stop being so critical.
If your goal is to hold our Gators accountable and provide interesting, thought-provoking content, then you’re killing it!
Every week, you roll out another great article.
Thank you for keeping our expectations kn check… all of the “other media” would have us believe that we closed out yesterday in GREAT SHAPE! I knew better. We can’t miss on every single flip and claim victory.
Jordans with Khakis and a weird-smiling picture pose ain’t gonna get it done with 17-19 y/o’s.
I love Dan and 100% believe that he’s the best Coach for us right now BUT these recruiting failures will cost us. Dan’s arrogance about Joe Burrow may have cost us a national championship (who knows if he would have even considered UF).
Will Miles
My goal is to be true to the statistics I find and what they mean historically. If people get angry at me for presenting and interpreting data, I’m fine with that.
Carey Freeman
Do you have proof that Dan’s arrogance cost us Burrow. The articles I’ve read indicate we were never in consideration and that LSU had the inside track from the beginning. No, you don’t. And this is why “recruiting guy” annoys me. Baseless emotional accusations that serve no purpose other than to inflate his own sense of self importance. We all wanted Burrow, but the fact remains that he was never coming here and Dan didn’t waste his time (or embarrass UF, or alienate the QB room) by making some Quixotic recruiting push.
Will Miles
Did I say Mullen’s arrogance cost Florida Burrow? Florida needed a QB, Burrow was available, Florida didn’t get Burrow. Regardless of why that didn’t happen, it didn’t happen. Were I saying this in hindsight, you’d be right that I’m being unfair. But I wrote two articles prior to Burrow’s transfer, one indicating he could be the most important recruit in Mullen’s tenure. Turns out, he was the most important recruit in Ed Orgeron’s.
John
Keep in mind that during that offseason, LSU was a far more desirable destination. Coming off 4-7, we were not a program on the rise. If anything, based on the offensive performance in 2017, a quarterback looking at Florida could see being sacked 40 plus times in his future.
Did anyone see two consecutive 10+ win seasons in 18 and 19, regardless of how much you believed in Mullen?
Carey Freeman
Reply to TNGator, not you. No, you would never make such a baseless comment.
Carey Freeman
You (and the guys at GB) did a great job of covering that and introducing us to Burrow. I wanted him bad, and I think we can see that he would have been a great fit. But I think he was only considering a few options and UF wasn’t one of them. I would attribute Dan not chasing him to prudence, not arrogance and the fact he probably knew something TNGatorBrad didn’t. Go figure.
Robert
I believe Mullen is different than most coaches. He looks for players that are winners, he develops players, and he puts them in position to play to their strengths. So why not compare his recruiting at MSU when they were briefly ranked number 1. Was he recruiting at an elite level at MSU?
Will Miles
Because that team (2014) didn’t beat anyone who had more than 8 wins.
ALAGA8OR
I think Mullen is EXACTLY who we need at HC and who we need for the next Decade. Keep in mind that although his MSU teams didn’t play elite teams, he had a weaker recruiting pool out there trying to compete with LSU, Auburn and Bama. When he was hired he inherited a mess. I think he has done wonders with what he was given and what he has brought in. Lets not go calling them average just yet, Franks was a joke at QB, glad he is a grad. With what he has done concerning Trask, what he did here before with Leak and Tim, the job he did with Dak at MSU, we are going to be fine. The trickle down effect will also eventually factor in and those kids that wanna go to UGA but can’t, wanna go to Bama but can’t are the kids that are going to wind up in OandB and Coach will have Kirby and Nick asking the front offices why they didn’t sign that kid. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will the Gator Nation be. I’d rather see him take a 3Star and form them into a 5 than get a five who thinks he deserves more than he is getting and wants to pout or eventually jump ship. Coach has a “program” not “players” and I like that. Next man up is as good as the last one out because they bought in. #gogators
Tom
You’re spot on but to be honest I’m stilling willing to give it time…….I guess you could say I see enough potential to believe that this an area that will correct its self eventually! I could be wrong but with all the positives Mullen brings to the table, I’m ready to tell folks lets give Mullen time, and lets not be too hasty with making snap decisions about the current recruiting short comings……
Shannon
Tough read for Gator fans. But fair and balanced. Every fan should read this. Thanks man. Yeah, until we become elite recruiters its just not going to happen for us. We can always look at 2006 and say we should get there by chance. Those were some good classes by Zook however before Meyer got there. It’s tough. I really appreciate this article and your work with David on the podcast. Thank you.
Rick
If you think having top facilities plays a part in getting elite recruits, then things will change in that regard in the next couple of years. I personally think that theory is a little overblown, but everybody tells me I’m wrong.
Roger Austin
Thanks, Will, for your always honest analysis. This is more of a question than comment or criticism – given Dan spent 10 years recruiting in MS, TX, etc., isn’t he still “new” to these kids in Fla, Ga, etc.? What I mean is that Kirby and Saban and others have known all these kids since they were 14-15 and got on someone’s radar and so these last 3 years, Dan was behind the 8-ball in terms of the relationships. To me, Dan is awesome and from here out he’s on a more level playing field with each successive year and over time, I have to think that edge comes to us – who wouldn’t want to play for Dan and what parent wouldn’t want their son to play for Dan?
Sean
I agree Roger. While he’s clearly not an ELITE recruiter, he’s getting quality recruits to join with minimal time to build relationships in FL. The gators have fallen far from the pedestal that we all remember them at. Kids signing now probably don’t remember the HBC and might remember Tebow. They were 10 when we won the championship. Instead of thinking of those teams, they remember a coach laying naked with a shark and a team that won 4 games 2 of 3 years. Why would a 5* believe Mullen could fix that. However, next years recruiting should show us the truth. Mullen has proven he can coach. He’s proven he can develop. He’s proven he can get facilities improved. AND he’s now had as many years to build FL relationships with next years graduating high school classes as every other coach (For the most part). I am I’m the same boat as most. Did I want Tim Smith. Sure. Do we need RBs, maybe. Do we need a few WR, yes. NSD is still upcoming for this year. And I hope Mullen can pull that 5* WR from the portal?!? But it’s 2021s class that MUST be top 5 (or higher). If that happens, I’ll breathe much, much easier.
tim
Steve Spurrier & Urban Meyer were the great recruiters, Mullen should spent time with Urban & Steve and learn recruiting as they did it , and find out what coaches they would hire to get the job done, also Urban was the greatest special teams coach ever, copy what he did on special teams . Let Spurrier help on the offense , too
Carey Freeman
Bobby Bowden handed SOS his ass pretty much every year the two competed against one another. SOS won with scheme, not by outrecruiting everyone else. I guess you don’t remember the Georgia (they get all the best players) joke.
Mike
Casey, FSU beat Spurrier every year because Spurrier didn’t care about FSU. All Spurrier cared about was beating Georgia and winning the SEC, in that order. FSU was inconvenient to Spurrier because it was a week before the SEC championship game, thus why Spurrier constantly tried to move the game to the beginning of the season. Florida beating FSU wasn’t that important to Spurrier, the exact opposite of FSU. To FSU beating Miami and Florida was the only teams they cared about beating.
Darrick
I agree with this. The only way they might break through to win national titles, maybe, is if one of their quarterbacks turns out to be a transcendent player, sort of like Cam Newton or Burrow this year. I think it’s possible he could make a run and win an SEC title (Malzahn managed to do it once at Auburn, though he hasn’t done it since), but years like seems like his ceiling to me if things stay the same. They won’t of course. They never do. But it will be interesting to see what Mullen does to try and close the gap, if they continue to fall short of winning championships.
Spike
I guess my one comment would be if Mullen was able to win 10 games with JM recruits averaging 88 or so per class perhaps his own recruits averaging 90 or so per class may yield a slight uptick in performance and some upsets of the Georgia’s of the world. I think a sure fire stud qb that tilts the field would also be a game changer.
Gary
This is a great point. Mullen’s running a solid program. Is he recruiting like Urban Meyer? No, but I am alright with that.
Jim Padgett
This is a great article and should be required reading for every Gator fan! Dan does not (yet) have the closing ability elite recruiters do, but I think our problem lies more with his assistants. Gonzalez’s can’t recruit, but at least he can coach. Greg Knox can’t do either one! National title without at least one elite RB? I don’t think so. Dan needs to get over the loyalty stuff and bring Seider (sp) back for starters. Then look around for guys with good recruiting reputations. They’re out there, just gotta go recruit them!
Carey Freeman
What evidence do you have that Greg Knox can’t coach? Seider. . . you just showed your colors with that one.
Geof Kirsch
Will,
A most interesting write-up. I know you love the statistics and I will concede that a high percentage of the time those stats will bear good results. I, on the other hand, am a big fan of the human spirit and the triumph of the underdog. I love overachievers, always have. I love the kids who don’t rate a fifth star but because they might have more to prove, outperform the experts opinion. I’m not a big fan of the young guys who have an overinflated sense of entitlement because they’ve been celebrated their entire lives.
My opinion is the Mullen is very good at developing leaders as well as developing talent. I’ve been a recruiter most of my life. Finding people to build two very successful, publicly traded companies, active in all kinds of sports and civic organizations and building the equivalent of a charter school. I’ve never had to compete in corrupt business and I have no idea as to the nature of college recruiting. Is it really as dirty as many opine? I’ve never met Dan Mullen. I have read volumes about him. Unless there’s stuff I’m missing, I think his approach is exemplary and will stand the test of time. I get unhappy with the constant barrage of criticism by many. I think it contributes to a rapid burnout of coaches and staff. Fortunately, I have more modest expectations, love watching our teams, thrilled we put good effort forward, love it when we win, don’t get suicidal when we don’t.
NatureGator73
Florida has been recruiting on the same level of the Clemson team that won a championship when Watson was the QB for the Tigers. Watson was the difference, along with a couple of other big time playmakers. I personally believe Jones has the skills to perform at a championship level at QB for the Gators. And next years team will have Grimes (if he returns), Copeland, Pitts, Tony, and Pierce at the skill positions. And they are all championship caliber performers at their respective skill positions. And the OL will be much better next season, both in performance and depth. And I do not believe anyone in the SEC, or the country, will have a better defense than Florida next season. I believe Florida will be a championship type team next season if Jones is the QB, not Trask, as long as Jones continues to show the improvement he exhibited during his field time this season. Trask is a good but limited QB, and especially in Mullen’s offense. And I do not believe Florida can been Georgia and win the SEC title with Trask as the QB. He simply does not have the skill set that Jones (or even Richardson) has. Florida will likely win 10 games again with Trask at QB next year. Florida could win all 12 regular season games with Jones at QB (if he improves even more over the spring and summer). Jones could be an exceptional QB, and that is what Mullen and Florida needs to win a championship. They have the talent elsewhere, as Clemson did when Watson carried them to a national title a few years ago. And Florida and Mullen need Jones to become that exception QB next year in order for the staff to take the next step in recruiting more elite recruits in the future.
Mike
The two teams we have to play are LSU and Georgia. We may not have to play Alabama.
Will Miles
If things go right and we beat LSU and UGA, most years we’d play Alabama.
Mike
You mean if LSU looses to Alabama. Alabama got beat by both LSU and Auburn this year. I don’t think they’re a cinch to win the division next year. Maybe they will. But they didn’t last year. They didn’t win the west two of the last three. Maybe they are due this year. But it is not guaranteed.
Will Miles
They’ve been the dominant team in the nation for a decade and they’re in Florida’s conference. I think it makes sense to compare yourself to them.
Mike
True. But in my point, we may not have to play them. We absolutely will have to play LSU and Georgia. I do think that this team can win the east this year, and perhaps win the SEC, maybe undefeated, maybe with a loss to LSU in the regular season. I’m not sure we have the depth to win the playoffs. But this will only happen if Mullen has another fantastic year. I think Mullen did a better job in 2019 then 2018. Mullen did as well as possible this year, and will probably have to do as well as possible next year to have a chance. 2020 is really the first year he’ll have a real chance to be a championship team. Recruiting still needs to get better to win it all. Let’s hope 2021 recruiting expands on the success so far.
Wadeless
If this is the third Mullen class and he has made an increase in the average from the high 80’s to the low 90’s, then why shouldn’t we expect this team to be better than it has been. After all, this is now more than 50% a Mullen team (whereas Mullen’s first two teams were more than 50% Mac players). This article argues against itself at times. The play calling, player development and offseason training are all areas where Mullen and his team shine. I’m not ready to throw in the towel on competing with UGA, Bama or LSU cause we are ranked 8th after the early signing period. If Toney and Grimes come back, next year’s offense could be dynamic with Trask distributing the ball behind what should be a much better run blocking line as the young guys mature. The defensive line recruiting is going to allow us to replace Greenard and Zuniga which was really the most important thing for this staff to do. We need to be physical on defense and we weren’t as good as UGA nor Auburn in that area last year (especially when our two senior lineman were nicked). I think the staff is doing well in recruiting and the fact that they didn’t have a single recruit get flipped by another school is not getting enough credit. UF also got several flips a few days before Wednesday and if those flips had occurred on Wednesday the narrative would be different.
Matt R
Spot on!
Matt R
Love your articles. I get your point. But let’s take a minute and think about Kyle Trask. Now let’s take a minute and think about Jake Fromm. A more compelling article is how little Georgia has done with all their blue chippers and how much Mullen has gotten out of his. Florida is on the rise and so is the recruiting. There are always adjustments to make and Dan knows what it takes. Go Gators!
NatureGator73
Will, just started reading your site. Hope you can continue with this college sports communication medium, as your articles carry so much more insight and thought, with a targeted perspective (be if one agrees or disagrees fully with what perspective you gathered from stats alone that never provide the full picture or the full possibilities of what humans can still achieve), than most anywhere else.
NatureGator73
Wadeless. Exactly. Imagine if McDaniel, Braun, and Pouncey had waited until Wednesday to flip from Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas to Florida. And if a player like Dexter had not committed to Florida until then. The media would be saying that Mullen and his staff would have closed with a great class and took elite players from two major rivals in the SEC and stole one back to Florida from Texas. And the Dexter commitment would have been considered one of the biggest signings of the day. But no praise for Mullen and his staff for working hard all year on the recruiting trail and getting players to commit early and stick with their commitments to Florida. If the above had occurred on signing day, few would be talking about not getting the recruits that did not flip to Florida on early signing day. But Mullen has to now go out now and get a top flight WR recruit (hopefully Henderson) and a potentially excellent running back (hopefully Gibbs from Georgia Tech and/or Parrish to commit and sign in February (and that does not include getting the athlete (WR or DB) recruit/commitment from South Florida to sign on the dotted line then as well). If Mullen loses out on big time recruits in February and does not fill the glaring need at WR and RB, people and the media can rightfully state that the Florida coaches did not close as well as they should have at a program like Florida. Losing Bowman and Henderson to Clemson and Rosemy and Smith to Georgia from the state would sting big time. Getting Henderson would reduce the sting of losing the others big time.
tommy
Mullen inherited a dumpster fire from Mac. I read some really bad reviews from parents of prospective recruits about what they saw during the Mac era and it takes time to wash that away.
Keep in mind that Bama, Clemson and Georgia have a head start on us. While we were struggling with mediocrity and worse for at least 6 or more seasons, they were winning championships. You can’t overcome that in two short years. Also, this is not the SEC of the 90’s and 00’s. The strength at the top is much better. To think that Mullen would do what Meyer did and have a Natty in year two is unrealistic. It will take longer to reestablish this program than that.
One thing is true about college football, nothing lasts forever. Satan is 68 and he won’t be there forever. Who knows about Dabo, he might get tired of college and take Jerry Jones NFL money. We all know how quickly things can change, just look at our own experience or that of our pals in Tally.
What I like about Mullen is that not only is he an excellent coach, he’s stable and will be here for awhile. He will build this program and put it in position to take advantage of what happens in the landscape of college football. In this business, timing is everything.
Tim
Great article, Will. It’s good to have a fair and even analysis to temper expectations. We’re improving but that last step is the highest and hardest.
I do think you should have included the transfers in your analysis. That is a vital part of roster management now . (Note 3 of the 4 playoff QBs are transfers!) Grimes is a legit 5* as is Cox. Toss in Greenard and Shuler as sure draft picks and it’s fair to say Mullen & Co. have excelled there.
And while skill players are important, the Gators lost those two games because of superior line play. Our sack-happy Gators got zero in those two games. And we couldn’t run block anyone all year. That HAS been addressed in 2019 and 2020., and their track record for development of OL and DL is clearly excellent.
Tiffany
Hi Will! Thanks for the great analysis! I see slow but steady progress, so I am overall pleased, but I get the sentiment that we are still behind a lot of folks in the SEC. I have a question that I haven’t seen addressed anywhere else yet…what happened to the guys who were ineligible from 2019 class? Did Wilson get his Visa? Did the academically ineligible guys qualify? Cause that would really change things. It doesn’t count towards this year’s class, but it counts on the field.
Carey Freeman
Okay Will. I like your work, but we’ve seen several articles making this exact point and never anything offering a solution. You obviously spend a lot of time following recruiting. What’s the solution? Does Dan need to kiss more ass? Make false promises? Find more boosters willing to dole out $100 handshakes? Are he and the staff not trying hard enough? Is it not kind of pointless to point out shortcomings without a semblance of a solution. IYO, what do we need to do differently?
Will Miles
I have an entire section in this article from May called “OK smart guy, what would you do then?” But more globally, have you ever met a really bad salesman? I have (because I am one). In real life I work on technology, and what I’m learning is that no matter how good/differentiated a product is, you still need a good salesman to push the product beyond the people who buy-in immediately because they see the value in the product. Selling feels smarmy and I don’t like it and I don’t surround myself with those who do on purpose. That’s a mistake. https://www.readandreaction.com/2019/05/13/chris-steeles-reasons-for-transferring-dont-really-matter/
John
I don’t consider myself a good salesman. However, I’ve learned in two recent examples that I’m better than I ever thought. It has to do with the quality of product you are selling. As a salesperson, that confidence in your product shines through to your potential customer.
Unless you have some disagreeable personal characteristic that turns people off, most people who have basic communication skills and like people can sell effectively. I see nothing from Mullen that tells me that he can’t lead a great sales team for UF and close on 5 stars.
I go back to my original post. This is a work in progress. It will take time to reestablish this program. The main job was to fix the broken culture, that appears to be done. The on field performance has shown that.
Carey Freeman
I think you hit on a point here. Dan is kind of like me. I’m a great salesman when I have a good product to sell and one I believe in. But, in that case, you let the product (and you own confidence in it) sell itself. Dan isn’t going to sell snow to an Eskimo, he’s not that guy and never will be. I don’t know if that ever changes, so we may be looking at SOS v 2.0 when it comes to recruiting, good but rarely great. All that said, what factor do you think facilities has on this equation. I’m thinking (more and more) that it’s a big deal. When I saw the first pics of the new football complex (and the recent video) I was blown away. Then I realized that all those team’s were chasing not only have similar facilities, but have had them for quite a while. How much of a factor do you think our lack of premium facilities has, not just on luring kids, but in creating a greater overall image of the program?
Gary Golden
Question, as facilities keep being brought up in rgards to recruiting. And, I do think we are way behind in this regard. How does the new facilities compare to others out there that have already replenished their own? I guess what I’m asking is how does everyone feel about our’s that’s being projected? Because, I find them to be very Bland! I see a lot of white on white!
Thoughts?