Some thoughts on the UF coaching search...

First, my disclaimer. No inside information here. Just trying to read between the lines...

The names and rumors are flying hot and heavy for the vacant Florida head coaching position now that the majority of teams in college football have seen their regular seasons come to an end.

Since Saturday night, we've seen four names get dropped as "leading" contenders for the job: Doc Holliday (several sources, most notably a now-deleted tweet by Only Gators Get Out Alive), Hugh Freeze (first in a report by SI's Pete Thamel on Saturday night, followed by report from SB Nation's Steven Godfrey that UF had extended Freeze an offer), Jim McElwain (a report by Yahoo's Pat Forde which included a nugget that McElwain and Foley spoke via phone on Saturday evening) and Josh McDaniels (based on reporting by Football Scoop on Monday morning).

The takeaways from all the early conjecture?

1. I do not believe that Hugh Freeze has an offer in hand from the Gators, as it seems Foley is still in the process of "vetting out" his candidates (a term used directly in the Football Scoop report). I would not, however, be surprised if Freeze was the early or current favorite in the eyes of the UF search committee.

2. Jimmy Sexton strikes again. There could be portions of the SB Nation report which are accurate (I hate to seemingly throw Godfrey under the bus, as Sexton would be a legitimate source if that's where the information came from. But you must always be wary of agents ...). For instance, could Foley have already spoken with Freeze or an intermediary? Quite possibly. Could Foley have thrown out a figure like "$4.2-4.3 million" as the number UF was looking to spend on the upper end? Wouldn't surprise me. Could Freeze now be "mulling" the possibility of taking an offer from UF if it comes? Certainly within the realm of possibility. But the only thing I Would read from the Freeze reports at this moment, is that he's poised to make quite a bit more money next year, regardless of where he's coaching.

3. There seem to be some similar general characteristics developing from the names which are jumping out early on. Head coaching experience is a must (all four names fall under that group). SEC experience is highly preferred (Holliday, McElwain and Freeze have that, McDaniels does not). An offensive background is a major plus (all but Holliday fall into that category). And age may not be as much as a factor as it has been in previous UF searches for head coaches -- McElwain is 52 and Holliday is 57, while McDaniels (38) and Freeze (45) seem to fit the more typical profile of a Foley hire.

4. Once again, I have to wonder how McElwain's buyout will figure into the picture if he were to become one of the last finalists the job. A $7.5 million buyout at Colorado State, on top of the ~$8 million or so (a number that will certainly figure to go down as Muschamp staff members get jobs elsewhere) that Florida already has committed to the outgoing staff. That's somewhere in the neighborhood of $14-$15 million BEFORE paying for a new staff. McElwain has done a good job at Colorado State, but I don't know if he's worth the financial commitment Florida will have to make to bring him to Gainesville.

5. Josh McDaniels is a bright, young offensive mind who deserves another crack at a big job down the line. But is UF the right fit for him? He is the son of a coach, and already has over 15 years of experience at the ripe old age of 38. However, he has only spent two years at the collegiate level (as a graduate assistant under Nick Saban and Bobby Williams at Michigan State from 1999-2000). No real recruiting experience, and he's going to get thrown into the gauntlet that is the SEC? Not a good combo. Hiring McDaniels would require a strong staff of recruiters (read: expensive group of assistants) around him.

So, that's what we have so far. I do believe there is some legitimacy to all four of the above-listed names being in the mix for the UF job. We know from past experience that Foley wanted 15 names as candidates for the job when he went through the search that led to Urban Meyer's hiring in 2004. We also know that Foley can throw us a real curveball, as he did with Will Muschamp in 2010. So, the biggest takeaway from everything right now ... until the Gators actually make a hire, there's a LONG ways to go in this coaching search.

Lynden Trail and the 2010 Defensive Line Class

Looking back on Florida's 2010 defensive line class, it's hard not to think that's not one of the better units signed at that position in UF history. Urban Meyer and his staff should get a lot of credit for this group. Let me illustrate this point. The Gators signed six players to play up front for the Class of 2010:

Neiron Ball (6-3, 196, Jackson, Ga.)
Dominique Easley (6-3, 270, Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis)
Sharrif Floyd (6-3, 311, Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington)
Leon Orr (6-5, 344 New Port Richey/Gulf)
Ronald Powell (6-4, 250, Moreno Valley, Calif/Rancho Verde)
Lynden Trail (6-7, 220, Miami/Booker T. Washington)

Ball was technically listed as a DE-OLB, and has played both positions at Florida (as Ronald Powell has done as well).

Overall, let's consider what this group has accomplished.

– Floyd, of course, picked up All-SEC and All-American honors as a junior on his way to being selected 23rd overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2013 NFL Draft.

– We're only three games into the season, but Easley appears well on his way to earning at least All-SEC honors as a senior in 2013. His draft stock is steadily climbing as well, and he could very well be a first-round draft pick when next April rolls around.

– With a year of eligibility remaining for both Orr and Powell, there could be a few chapters left to write on both of their careers in Gainesville. Nonetheless, both are extremely talented physically, and figure to at least here their names called at some point during one of the next two NFL Drafts.

– After overcoming a condition known as arteriovenous malformation (AVM), that Neiron Ball is even still playing for the Gators is a miracle. The fact he's become a solid contributor with plenty of still untapped potential is even more incredible.

– Finally, that brings us to Trail. The one "bust" you could label in this class for the Gators. In that sense, Trail certainly didn't live up to the lofty expectations placed on him entering Florida. A tall, lanky and extremely athletic defensive end, many (including myself) thought Trail would come to UF, hang around on the bench for a year or two as he gained weight, then provide a pass-rushing presence similar to that of former Florida star Jarvis Moss. Things never worked out in Gainesville, as Trail quickly added the weight, but was unable to make any sort of impact for the Gators. After redshirting in 2010, he only dressed for one game in 2011 (the season-opener against Florida Atlantic) before opting to pursue a transfer after the season.

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But the story doesn't end there. Trail's journey would take him to 1-AA Norfolk State, a member of the MEAC based in Norfolk, Va. There he has excelled in 15 games with the Spartans. Playing as a outside linebacker in Norfolk's 3-4 defensive scheme, Trail led the team with 70 tackles, 17.0 TFL and eight quarterback pressures, and tied for the team lead in sacks (6.0) and fumble recoveries (2) in 2012, despite the fact he only started three of 11 games during the season.

Trail is off to a solid start this fall as well. Now a full-time starter, Trail is second on the team in tackles with 22, and has added 1.5 sacks through the first three contests of the season. While things may not have worked out for the big man in Gainesville, the now 260-pound Trail appears well on his way to playing at the pro level, just like his defensive line comrades in the 2010 recruiting class for UF who have seen their success take place in The Swamp, as expected.

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What's most interesting to me about the 2010 class, is the success Florida had recruiting on the defensive line, considering the mixed bag of evaluations for the Gators at that position from 2006-09.

– In 2006, the Gators had a need for numbers, and reeled in a group that included Brandon Antwine, Jermaine Cunningham, Corey Hobbs, Lawrence Marsh, and Terron Sanders. Cunningham would excel for the Gators, while Marsh and Sanders were more than serviceable. Antwine showed flashes when he got on the field, but injuries ultimately derailed his career. Hobbs was a bust in every sense of the word, as he would eventually move to offense before disappearing from the squad altogether. The Gators made a run at a trio of linemen who would eventually sign with Penn State – Aaron Maybin, Jared Odrick and Phil Taylor – but obviously missed on all three. However, the glaring miss for Florida in 2006 would be a guy right under their noses: Geno Atkins at St. Thomas Aquinas. Atkins would go on to have a productive career at Georgia and is now considered one of the two or three best interior defensive linemen in the NFL today.

– In 2007, Florida again signed a large and highly-touted contingent of defensive linemen that included John Brown, Torrey Davis, Carlos Dunlap, Jaye Howard, Duke Lemmens and Justin Trattou. Dunlap and Howard had fine careers in Gainesville, while Trattou proved to be an extremely versatile piece of the defensive line rotation for four years. Brown and Davis, of course, were unable to stick around at Florida for too long, although Davis holds a place in most Gators fans hearts for his big fourth-down stop at the goal line against Oklahoma in the 2009 BCS Championship Game. Looking back now, the defensive tackles that UF turned away in the 2007 cycle have to make some fans sick. Local product Linval Joseph was committed to the Gators at one point, but then dropped (ultimately to free up a slot for James Wilson). Joseph went on to become a dominant force at East Carolina and was a second-round pick of the New York Giants. Ian Williams had a solid career at Notre Dame after the Gators elected to move on from his recruitment. He's now a key contributor in San Francisco (or was until he was placed on IR a week ago). There was also Cameron Heyward, who reportedly had a high level of interest in the Gators before UF elected to move on from his recruitment as well. Heyward starred at Ohio State before becoming a first-round pick of the Steelers in 2011.

– 2008 was a mess. William Green and Omar Hunter were a pair of All-Americans who never quite lived on to their billing. Earl Okine was a local project who never could really carve out a major role at Florida, despite his immense physical talent. Troy Epps was an undersized JUCO transfer who had no business ever playing for the Gators. That UF elected to pursue Epps, instead of Swanson Miller, a local product from Alachua always sort of baffled me. Miller played for Oklahoma State before moving on to spend two years with the Broncos.

– The following year, 2009, again proved to be problematic on the defensive line. Gary Brown was talented, but troubled, and lasted less than a year at Florida. The Gators then elected to reach on a pair of projects – Kedric Johnson and JUCO transfer Edwin Herbert – as they missed on many of their top targets (Ryne Giddens, Demonte McAllister and Curtis Porter, among others). That Florida couldn't close the deal on Pernell McPhee, a Pahokee product who ended up at Mississippi State and is now with the Baltimore Ravens, had to sting a bit.

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How this class even came about was a bit of a minor miracle. Of course, this group was held together in the Urban Meyer "he's going, he's staying, he's going" drama that played out in three acts over the course of 12 months from December of 2009 until December of 2010. But when Meyer first decided to stick around for what would ultimately prove to be his final season at Florida, Steve Addazio essentially ran most of the operations, although Meyer was still involved in terms of interacting with and contacting recruits.

Interestingly enough, Dominique Easley had recruited Florida harder than Florida had recruited Easley throughout most of the process. He visited Gainesville twice on his own dime – once, in the spring of 2009 for a Florida practice. His second trip was to Friday Night Lights in July. It was there that Meyer reportedly nixed Easley's inclusion in the class after eyeing him in person. One person in the Swamp that night later relayed to me that Easley had issues with a warm-up routine led by strength coach Mickey Marotti that included push-ups (this witness claimed that Easley struggled to do even 10 on that particular day, whether or not that's true I can't say for certain). In any case, Easley had come to Gainesville expecting to give his commitment to UF. Instead, as he left Florida that weekend, he and the Gators appeared to have parted ways. So Easley's recruitment carried on, and he figured to be head elsewhere for college. All the way until the morning of the 2010 Under Armour All-America Game, that is.

Oregon and Penn State had moved in as the leaders of Easley's recruitment after UF backed off. Easley made official visits to both programs, and Oregon appeared to be in the driver's seat. In covering practices the week of the Under Armour All-America Game, I hadn't even bothered to do a story with Easley, as he did not appear to be on the radar for the Gators. Then as I showed up to Tropicana Field a couple of hours before game time, an excited JC Shurburtt (then with ESPN, now the top national analyst at 247Sports) stopped me as I set down my stuff. 

"Easley's going to Florida," he told me.

I was dumbfounded. The Gators hadn't even appeared to be a factor just 24 hours before, now they were going to sign a guy whose performance that week rocketed him up the charts from a borderline national top-100 caliber player to a consensus five-star stud. What had happened?

The answer was very simple: Steve Addazio. Now given the authority to make some of the personnel decisions, he authorized a late offer to Easley which the big man quickly jumped on. Addazio had been the point man on the Easley recruitment and was in his corner from the outset. He had privately relayed to people that he felt Easley was the "second coming of Dwight Freeney." While his game didn't ultimately translate to the college level the same way in which Freeney's did, the impact both can have on a game is very much similar. Addazio's projection was off, but his evaluation was right on. He saw a high-quality blue-chip prospect long before many others did.

For Floyd and Powell, it was more of a matter of building the right relationships with the right people around them. Then, it was just a matter of holding on those last few days as Meyer went back-and-forth on his future in Gainesville. Once he decided to stick around (albeit, for less than a year), all the pieces fell into place on a recruiting class that was proclaimed to be perhaps the best in school history. While some positions didn't live up to their billing, it's hard to say that Florida didn't knock it right out of the park along the defensive line back on February 3, 2010.

About Will Muschamp ...

The predictable calls for Muschamp's head have started flying this week. The most demonstrative coming in the form of a column from Neil Shulman of Alligator Army.

While his piece is full of emotion and not entirely rational, I can't help but acknowledge the fact that after 28 games, Muschamps' record sits at 19-9. Ron Zook, after 28 games as Florida head coach, was 17-11.

Looking back, it's hard to argue that Florida didn't make the right decision by moving on from Zook after a harrowing loss to Mississippi State on Oct. 23, 2004. The Bulldogs were were 1-5 at the time and had dropped a 27-13 contest to UAB at home just two weeks earlier. This followed crushing losses at Tennessee, where a questionable late personal foul call against Dallas Baker directly allowed Tennessee the opportunity to move into field goal range to win the game. And, of course, there was the "Leak slide" at home, three weeks later that would also lead to setting up LSU for a game-winning score. The Mississippi State debacle what just the latest in a run of "oh-so-close" losses for Zook which eventually cost him his job.

But consider this:

– As many Floridians remember, 2004 was the "Year of the Hurricane," where the state was battered by four named storms (Bonnie, Charley, Frances, Jeanne.) Frances forced the postponement of the opening game against Middle Tennessee State to ... you guessed it, the bye that was scheduled for the week before Mississippi State. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but if the Gators get the week off, perhaps they pull off what was a very winnable contest on the road. But let's not forget that Starkville had proved to be a house of horrors for Steve Spurrier as well. He was 0-2 at Davis-Wade Stadium. In fact, Mississippi State was the only SEC road victory he lacked on his resume as head coach for the Gators.

– Then, there was the single yard – one measly yard! – that cost Florida the chance to run out the clock against LSU. A win would have given Zook his second straight victory over Lord Saban, by the way.

– And of course, we cant forget the Dallas Baker penalty (Which ramped up the "LACK OF DISCIPLINE!!!" chatter around Zook's regime ... sound familiar?) Although Baker was guilty of a foolish mistake, how the side judge elected to call Baker for a personal foul, after he clearly saw Jonathan Wade instigate the skirmish is still beyond explanation.

If anything, Zook was guilty of bad luck. Sometimes all it takes is one questionable call, one yard and one rescheduled game because of a Hurricane to cost a coach his job. Again, I don't think Gators fans are upset with the results, but you can still make a pretty strong case that Zook was never afforded the opportunity to succeed at UF. Of course, Florida coaches have to operate under a razor-thin margin of error. That comes with the territory, as a result of the incredible success Steve Spurrier, and then Urban Meyer achieved in Gainesville. If anyone knows that, it's Will Muschamp.

But back to this notion of the team being "undisciplined." Penalties seemed to be the biggest exception Shulman took with Muschamp to make this point. But Florida has had a penalty issue really dating back to Spurrier's first days as head coach in Gainesville. To wit, here are the penalty statistics for key years since the 1996 championship season:


1996: 10.4 for 91.3 yards (First National Title)
2001: 9.2 for 65.5 yards (Maybe Spur-dog's best team?)
2004: 8.8 for 70.3 yards (The year Zook was fired)
2006: 8.3 for 63.4 yards (Meyer's first championship)
2008: 7.3 for 59.9 yards (The second BCS title)
2009: 6.8 for 52.5 yards (Tim and the gang's final ride)

In 2012, the Gators averaged 8.1 penalties per game for 69.2 yards. Through two games this season (still much too small of a sample size), they have accrued an average of 10 penalties for 70 yards per game. Meyer actually did do a solid job of slowly getting the penalty numbers down. But under Muschamp, they haven't risen all that dramatically either. And they certainly aren't at the levels the Gators seemed to experience throughout their greatest successes in the 90's.

So, what it really comes down to, is trying to tilt the numbers to fit the narrative. Muschamp doesn't win in a way that is as stylish and as fun to watch as the Spurrier years, or even the pinnacle of offensive success under Meyer in 2007 and '08. If Muschamp is going to win with field position, special teams and defense (which should be noted, are three things Meyer strongly preached when he got to UF in 2004), then he will have to win. And win big. But Muschamp knows that. All I'm saying is, let's let the season play out before we start speculating about the future. Give the Florida staff a chance before throwing them under the bus. Because continuously cycling through coaches isn't always the answer either. And if you need an example as to why that's not the preferred route, look no further than the gold standard in college football today: Alabama.