Former longtime Gainesville Sun sportswriter Pat Dooley contributes on a weekly basis to Gators Wire with “Pat Dooley’s Book of Lists,” chronicling his thoughts on the past, present and future of Gators sports. Look for more frequent contributions during football season.
Because Florida went through spring practices earlier than normal, it’s going to be a long, hot summer waiting for the opener against Florida Atlantic.
The offseason is when bonds are formed and teams are forged. For the 2021 Florida team, it’s a ginormous offseason because so many of the stars of 2000 are headed to the pros. This is still a really good roster, but it is up to strength and conditioning coach Nick Savage to develop these players in time for the start of summer camp.
Urban Meyer used to say that he would know if he had a good team or not when the players showed up for the first meeting at the start of the season. Mr. Meyer, we have a delivery for you.
We will see what team is ready to go when Florida starts preparing for this “more normal” season. Sorry, by “more normal” is the best I can promise.
To me, there are some players on this team who – quite simply – have to be better than what we have seen, have to play better than they ever have if Florida is going to compete for the East, compete for the playoffs, heck, just compete at a high level.
If these 10 players step up, it could be a special season. If they step off, well, you know what will happen.
Now, before I get to this weekly list, let it be known that I did not include freshmen on this list. I’m looking at guys who have to be better than they have so far at this level.