Your last sentence times a million. I never understood fans incessently screaming for coaching changes early in their tenure. It doesn't do anything but further erode the program. Root for your damn team and hope for the best. If things go all Mac or Mullen, (or White after many years), then you can start complaining, but it's a bit early to start calling for Billy's or Todd's head. Does it come from some weird tribal need to be in a opposition group? Go Gators. And go Todd Golden*. *I reserve the right to call for his head two years from now.
A couple things. First, the Florida was nothing until stormin Norman. Is that hiring an up-and-comer or is that about the best we could ever hope for.. I would consider lawn and establish coach at the time. He wasn't a G5 wonder, he coached for a basketball school.. Billy is obviously the goat. My reference to up and comer is hiring a G5 coach in the hope that that is the next flash who turns into a great coach. We've done that in both football and basketball this last go-around. We aren't a traditional powerhouse or blue blood. We are what Norm and Billy made us. Mike White might be one of my favorite coaches of all time on a how much do I like to coach level. I just think that in both football and basketball we should have hired somebody who didn't need to learn on the job. But here we are, and I'm praying that both of them figure it out
I partially disagree with this. I don't think CTG should be on the hot seat. With that said, I don't think I have to be a successful CEO to expect to make the tournament in Year 2. My expectation is to make the tournament each year. After that, it's a total crap shoot. I'm not asking for championships or Sweet 16s every year. Nor am I expecting a top 5 seed each year. I would say not making the NCAA field in the second year is a failure. I'd confidently assume Golden would say the same. We are at the minimum, a program that should expect that after our success in my lifetime.
Generally this has been the UF model, young, dynamic, high energy, exciting, etc. BD and Sully are the poster children for this but our women’s soccer coach, Golden and BN are undetermined at the moment. All programs with rich histories. Even SOS was at Duke and nobody thought his offense would work in the SEC when he was hired. Mouse was not Mouse when he was hired. Tennis coach was young and solid at GT but has now won a natty at UF, another program with a rich tradition. So yes that has been the model here for a long time. But these are different times, and sadly not for the better, so the jury is out on the UF model. Honestly, I pull for all of our coaches but I’m tired of waiting!!Ha! More a reflection on me I’m sure than whether this model can continue to be successful. “Wes Chandler was Percy Harvin before Percy Harvin was born.”
I think it’s more than just a “fan expectation” problem. The portal and NIL has undeniably changed the entire landscape. When players are commanding 6-figure payouts… is having an expectation of some sort of ROI unreasonable? And shortened timelines extend to players and coaches… transfers and roster turnovers are exponentially higher. *In his first season, Dusty went 17-16. In the four years prior to his arrival, FAU’s records: 9-20 8-25 10-20 12-19 His impact was immediate.
There are many programs where the impact is felt within 2 seasons. Improved stifling defense. NBA style offenses. Close competitive games. Attracting top HS basketball athletes. You know within 3 years. Portal athletes are rentals.
To be fair, you get one or two good players in that league, you’re near the top. You get one or two in ours, you’re about 8 short. Much easier to build a program in a lower league with a break or two. I don’t disagree with much you have said the last few days though. It’s just odd to me (and you pointed it out yourself) how differently you are treating Todd than you did Mike. Lessons learned?
Yes. The players are being paid for the use of their name, image, and/or likeness, not for their performance. Further, we are not paying that 6-figure payout. Any contribution we as fans are making toward these salaries is likely miniscule. Some fat cats might be directly contributing to collectives, but I doubt they are on GC complaining to the message board community.
Yes. There are no contracts, no expressed and agreed upon expectations. It's the wild west; it's for fools (from an ROI perspective) and people who have more than enough money to toss around without getting bent. I don't see any other reason to participate in it. Just wait, and the players will be legit employees soon enough. The schools should be the ones paying the players with all their revenue streams; that was the original intention of all this (or so we were led to believe). I'm not on board with your view of expectations, no problem if we disagree. I just don't see it the same way you do; I don't even think moving in that direction, mentally, as a fan, is a worthwhile endeavor. I realize we are miles apart on this stuff; no big deal. I just wanted to offer a different perspective. You can't at the same time say you have to win in the short term while also saying that going slightly above .500 (overall, not even in conference play) constitutes having an immediate impact...in Conference USA. You are biased here, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it took him more than 2 years to get things going. FAU went 8-10 in conference play in each of his first two years, after going 6-12 in the two years prior...that is not having an immediate impact in the context that you are talking about. 17-16 included 3 DII wins, I believe. Sagarin had them at 14-16 and ranked 180th that year. That's not a significant improvement. We certainly wouldn't claim that if we saw a GATOR Team go from 6-12 to 8-10 in SEC play. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
I hired Mike White. I didn’t hire Golden. Kidding aside…my perspectives were/are perhaps warped by initial impressions. I lobbied for the the hiring of White and thought he was the right fit. For a variety of reasons… it didn’t work out as I expected. I rarely saw him coach the way he did when I covered his La Tech teams, and held out hope he would assemble the roster needed to do so. In Golden, I see a better program guy… better fit to embrace and succeed in the NIL landscape… where Mike remained reluctant. But Golden’s assembled talent has highlighted my concerns about his experience and coaching acumen. I don’t think I am treating Todd unfairly… at least I hope not. I admittedly became too involved in the defense of White. My opinions were sincere, but I should’ve bowed out of the discussion sooner…. rather than getting so entrenched.
i guess you can parse it out any number of ways, but I’ve been witness to his entire tenure… and covered the team and conference before Dusty arrived. Dusty’s impact was immediate… both in wins/losses and talent acquisition. He brought in 10 new players in 3 months… immediately and entirely overhauling the roster; and signed local star Michael Forrest. We may have to agree to disagree on this one. Also- I am not personally advocating a “win now” mentality. That has never been my approach with any coach of any sport. Hell- I’m a Bengals fan! What I did say is that the portal and NIL have combined to make it possible to win now; and by extension … created a greater expectation to do so. This is probably more true at big programs that are paying large sums for top transfers than it might be at an FAU.
I have news for you… the schools paying players will do absolutely nothing about NIL. Schools will not be able to say, “we are paying you a salary, thus you can no longer privately profit off your name/image/likeness”. That horse is outta the barn and it is running wild.
This is a myth that is being force fed down fans' throat, but I'm not sure why. The portal is an opportunity for *every* coach. It's not an advantage for a new coach, you're still competing against other coaches trying to upgrade their rosters. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
You have this backwards; I'm not suggesting that players should be paid *instead* of NIL opportunities. I'm saying that will be paid in addition to NIL opportunities. The important aspect is it will give some control back to the athletics departments. I don't care what players earn above and beyond what the school's offer. Can't control it; don't like that it's been inconsistently enforced in years past. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
