the gap between Georgia and the Gators is what we all witnessed. Spurrier placed more emphasis on Georgia than FSU much to the dismay of the younger fans because he knew who the bigger rival was historically. So post-Bowden, FSU has been garbage minus a couple seasons. Not the biggest rival for Florida. Georgia has their SOS. He’s an alum, got whooped by UF 3/4 years on the field like SOS by the Dawgs, and his goal is to punk Florida which he has so far. Kirby could very well coach 20 years or more in Athens. Up to Florida to figure out how to beat him because he’s taking all the talent he wants from the state and could win back to back titles. Stay irrelevant for too long and you become Tennessee who just had their first decent season in over 20 years. Napier brought in a solid class but it’s miles behind where it needs to be to win championships.
What will it take to get back to even with them? It's simple really, but it will take some time to get there. Recruiting, Recruiting, Recruiting. Keeping classes together and managing rosters. Not having recruiting cycles where you take 1 or 2 OL.
This really needed a thread? It’s only been brought up over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again in every thread.
I thought this was going to be a thread about the guy that used to go to the games dressed as a banana.
Above all else Spurrier understood that our first priority should be winning the SEC. I think he had a little extra distaste for Georgia because they upset us his senior year and it cost us our first SEC championship. I remember that the cover of Sports Illustrated after that loss had a picture of Spurrier being sacked. I think the headline for that cover was something like”Dog Day Afternoon”. Spurrier never forgets.
Since Urban left we have had 3 coaches who treated our rivalry games as “another” game, one of 12. If BN hasn't gone through a primer on the intense dislike, utter contempt our fan base has for Uga, ut, fsu, miami and a building of similar feelings for the likes lsu and uk he needs this activity checked off his list before off-seasoning conditioning begins. This education should include the WW II travesty and the 55-0 versus uga, M Richt encouraging his team rush the field to celebrate a TD, Spikes planting K Moreno and the timeouts to to savior the moment plus barking grown-ups. D Dockett/MA, the swindle, the choke, echo of the whistle DW game and the Natty reeemption game as a start for fsu. Any game from the 80’s thru Lane K at ut plus the horrible songbthat passes for music for ut. Miami start with the “flop” then take your pick of further incidents. Lsu just a montage of Les M 4th down game and fake fgs, TT cell phone calling and finish with the shoe toss. BN as every coach moving forward needs to understand and embrace the vitriol those teams have for us and we need to return it 10 fold on the field. Playing those games with our hair on fire will take care of the rest of the season. I appreciate the level of determination BN has brought to the team vis a vis them battling in each if the first 12 games despite the score. Better talent will help in earning a better record. Matching and exceeding the emotion of rivals during the above games is crucial to long term domination. Losing in these games isnt life and death but the history dictates its a mark not easily removed and hurts in positioning of the UF brand and personal accomplishment of the coaches/players involved.
13-1 in 2009. Won 9 or more 5 other times. Not championship level but certainly relevant especially to the teams that the Gators beat.
I agree w 31 . For any Gator fan north of 50 there is one team to beat each season an t that is the puppies. No other team comes close. In understanding the hate one can not forget the AD's stripping of our 1984 SEC championship which was led by none of then Saint Vince.(even Ala voted to let us keep the trophy) They are the enemy. Unfortunately Kirby has them recruiting at a Nick Saban level and after a few inexplicable on the filed gaffes in his first couple of years he is now a very good if not great game day coach as well.(Exhibit 1 was last night semi final) . As Charles Dickens said in the Tale of Two Cities, these are the best of time and the worst of times for Gator sports fans.(unfortunately without the best) I am also including Gator Basketball in this statement as well. We need to give both BN and Golden time to recruit and establish their respective programs.(remember Billy the Kid did not start out as a savant his first couple of seasons) We need to be patient(just look at Tenn) but it will be a tough couple of years as right now the gap between us and Ala/Ga is very wide.
Smart is not staying another 20 years. He almost quit 2 years ago. It will be a short dynasty. Kirby Smart Admits He Was ‘Ready to Step Down’ Last Summer - Sports Illustrated
Gators Depends how you look at it. Gators are ranked 25th in total wins over the last ten years. Doesn't seem very relevant to me.
Good points, even for those of us who remember the Spurrier years. Kirby Smart is the Georgia equivalent of Steve Spurrier--an award-winning alumnus with a passion for beating rivals. His knowledge of the inner workings of the program give him unique insight into fixing the problems created by or ignored by his predecessors. Yes, Kirby and the Leghumpers are going to be a problem for a long time and Napier needs to figure out how to beat him. Each bad hire at Florida dug the Gator program into a deeper hole that will not get fixed overnight. Some of Napier's fixes are not going to be immediately obvious. Napier's plan looks promising, but he still has much to learn. I get it, we all have PTSD from the last three hires. Based on a few good things we have seen I think we should wait at least 3 years before we bring out the pitchforks. Also worth repeating: UGA is our main rival, not FSU. One would think this does not need to be repeated, yet we see this uttered right here on the forum.
