In regards to your queation about how Saban flipped success so quick, remember when he started transforming Bama the SEC was just starting its dominance of nattys which started with UF in '06 and ran like 7 straight. In fact outside of UF, UGA and LSU (and maybe Tenn) were the only other teams that were perennially relevant around that time so Saban being the Big name coach who "spurned the NFL to return to college" didn't have as much competition in recruiting the south, even more so once Meyer left. SEC is Much different now with a who's who of Head coaches in the conference now and much more parity, much of which IMO is credited to the rise of conference prestige, all the best want to play in the SEC and a team can only take so many, so then others eat as well. All that was a perfect storm for Saban to build his team into a dynasty unopposed for the 1st few years.
Remember though in 2007 that Bama lost every game by a TD or less. It wasnt as if they were without talent.
Everyone says "Saban year one" but no one mentions Spurrier year one. Our own guy change the culture/the offense/the team in year one. Urbs did it in year two. Let's get to where those 2 brought the team in a shorter time
Still have to have the horses and we seem to be lacking talent in a few key areas. It can be fixed quick but the players have to be in place. We probably need some young guys to step up and some portal help to rebound next year.
I think it’s sad the administration and past coaching staffs let the program get to this point. We practically gave Alabama and Georgia a leg up to dominance. They definitely made Billy’s job a difficult one. Oh well.
SOS is the gold standard at UF in more ways than one, for a host of reasons. There is no arguing the fact that he turned an underachieving program into a winner, virtually overnight. But to be fair, the HBC has stated many times that he inherited a very talented, well-balanced roster. That is simply not the case in this instance. It's also true that Steve is a charismatic, demanding leader AND an offensive mastermind for the ages - which pretty much renders any comparison between our situations then and now entirely moot. Not making excuses for CBN, or Saban either for that matter, but facts are facts. Billy took over a program that was in a death spiral after 12 years of mediocrity and incompetence - Coach Spurrier did not. Just sayin.'
That is one of the biggest things. It takes 2 to 3 years in a system to get a cohesive unit. It should get better and better as the guys taking a field and your three has been in the system for three years
Yes I have heard that in person from him many times. His personality My point is that everyone trots out Saban year one all the time but never mention our own HBC season 1. I was at Florida field the last game before SOS. Moribund team and fans. No QB. A frustrated RB. Sucked. Lowest point for me in 35 years of fandom. Emmitt Smith leaving after that. Say what you want but had he stayed….. So he comes in and wins the SEC in season one. Lets not romanticize it. It was a mess he inherited with talent. CBN is the right guy
There are no shortcuts to doing it the right way. Could he have gotten lucky with a more talented and better coached roster that could learn and win faster? Sure, but we know he didn't. We all agreed Billy was the guy for this because he had a detailed plan for a program we want to have and is capable of doing what is necessary. That doesn't mean he's a wizard and that nothing will go wrong, just that he knows how to fix it. He said it would take time and our deficiencies are no secret.
Actually, for the sake of argument, we did have a QB (Mathews), we just weren't smart enough to play him. And it's also not "romanticizing a mess" to point out that Smith's replacement (Rhett) was a dynamic talent just waiting for his turn - or that the same could be said for several others on that team. IMHO, Galen was a genuinely good person and a very fine recruiter who was elevated to HC only because Coach Pell was fired for NCAA infractions that he could have gotten away with at Bama. Admittedly, Coach Hall was very successful at first due to the culture, talent and toughness he inherited from CP. Unfortunately, he wasn't up to the task of maintaining that standard for the long haul. And to my knowledge, he never served as a HC for another major college program again after being dismissed by UF. Perhaps those are just some of the reasons why some older Gator fans hesitate to make that particular comparison between the situation as it existed then and the one that CBN walked into.
Didn't SOS lose to both ut ( 45-3) and fsu 45-30) his first year by pretty large scores? I love SOS...but he too had a few hick ups ...and I think his inherited defensive roster was better than CBN
I'm patient and think CBN will bring a lot of good things to UF. I do want Geoff Collins back even if just an analyst for some time. Dude was money here at UF... Didn't he bring the Money Down and it was a legit 3rd down Defense when he was at UF.
I appreciate your comments. If you compare Saban year one then season 2 of Saban comes into play right? At LSU and Bama. SOS didn’t have an ‘army.’ We can do a deep dive to compare but the truth is the HBC did so well that there is a first year coaching award named after what he did. Compare CBN versus Dabo; Jimbo at aTm; SOS rebuild at SC
What we can say is: From a program management perspective, he is the right guy and is perhaps the best UF has ever had. He has all the support staff in place to take care of our players- we think. It certainly appears that way. Recruiting somehow appears to be as good as we have had since Meyer was here. Our recruiting is great and with more integrity of evaluation than our previous staff. For a first full class this group has the potential to be very good, if we close well. What we cannot tell at this point is, if our offense and defense are going to be of the caliber it takes to win games consistently. Our offense is not innovative and I cannot see how our staff arrived at the conclusion that our secondary has to play this style of defense. Too much to discuss but those crucial elements to success remain to be seen.
Hall was hit with what we now call “show cause”, although unofficial the NCAA made a pariah out of the man. Of the two main allegations that lead to his dismissal, one violation… paying assistant coaches out of his own pocket, was later itself ruled a violation of antitrust laws by the courts. The other involved a accusation involving child support (a matter of a few hundred dollars). Hall still denies that charge. (and he hasn’t coached since 2011). Hall never had a losing season at UF, was only able to sign a total of 25 players his first 2 years at Florida, and never signed a full class before he was fired. It would be 15 years before he was effectively allowed to coach in the collegiate ranks again, and then only because Paterno basically had the chops to tell the NCAA to bugger off, and made him his offensive coordinator. Galen Hall has not been a collegiate head coach since he was fired at UF, but it’s not because he wasn’t good enough. It was because the good ole boy network that controlled the NCAA then deemed it necessary for him to pay for the sins of the whole rancid system. He was just too nice a man to drag a game he loved down into the mire, to obtain some semblance of justice for himself.
While it's true he didn't play prior to Spurrier, he was suspended for gambling in 1989. Kind of hard to say that we weren't smart enough to play him. UF was 5-1 with Kyle Morris at QB until he too was suspended for gambling. Galen Hall was a very good coach who was handicapped by scholarship restrictions that weren't his fault. His first full recruiting class is the one SOS inherited and it was a very good one.
