Everyone has their theory. One of mine is the dismissal of Cam Newton. Meyer had Cam groomed to replace Tebow and utilize the same system he had with Tim. When he left, John Brantley was chosen to succeed. John was also a Gatorade Player of the Year (as was Brock Berlin, and DJ Lagway), a fresh transfer from Texas, and a legacy, but he was also the type of QB that didn't fit in Meyer's system. Fans would say, "Well okay, but he is basically Chris Leak with a stronger arm and better mobility." John didn't have the football IQ of Leak, however, and for this and a variety of other reasons (fans generally blame Addazio), Florida struggled. Meyer's last recruiting class was not a strong one, and he simply wanted to get out of Gainesville. He was burned out by the white hot pressure. Will Muschamp, the HC in waiting at Texas, jumped at the chance to coach his hometown team, but Champ was going to do it the way they used to do it, with bone-crushing defense, and an offense just efficient enough to give the raw meat eaters on defense time to rest. For decades, Florida has been a defense-dominant program, but SOS and Meyer brought in high-flying offenses, and the younger Gators of the day demanded these offenses return. Moose brought in Charlie Weis, but that didn't work out, likely because Muschamp's vision would have been impacted. Champ was fired, and Dan Mullin was brought in to fix the offense. His defense remained very strong, but the offense was even worse. We've had ups (Grier, Trask) and downs (the perpetual flux), but we have not righted ourselves since Tebow left. It wasn't that Tim was the overwhelming catalyst of the team, but with Cam now gone, everything fell apart, and never really recovered, at least as a program.
I think it was the Champ/Mac transition. I still think Muschamp shouldn't have been given that fourth year, but regardless, McElwain was the reactive choice that in hindsight shouldn't have been made. Yes, the way things ended makes that easy to say, but the process of following up one failed Saban coordinator with another Saban coordinator but on the other side of the ball starts this rinse and repeat process of chasing a fix rather than starting over with the overall right candidate. Yes, Muschamp had been most recently at Texas, but a major part of his pitch was the Saban coaching tree which had led to the Texas job and coach in waiting title. He built a great defense but offense was always a mess. So we look for the same up and comer with a Saban pedigree to fix the other side of the ball. Plus he's been a head coach for a couple seasons! I think Muschamp was a very justifiable but ultimately wrong choice. It happens. But then we followed it with a harder to justify and just as wrong choice. And so begins a cycle of having to "fix" the last guy's mess.
And we had Mullen, who was great at coaching offense, but for whatever reason didn’t know how to build a program by recruiting relentlessly. So we hired a process oriented guy, who was way over his head from an X’s and O’s standpoint. If Napier would’ve hired an offensive coordinator and a good defensive coordinator he might have had success. But, much like Muschamp, his stubbornness and pride would not let him do it.
A heavy set Charlie Weiss sitting on a cooler, while holding a cane was a sight to cringe at as a Gator fan....... Hopefully the offensive and defensive juggernaut days will return soon for the Gators. GO GATORS!!!!
When you exercise a buyout, in addition to costing lots of $, it impacts the next coach who will have a larger buyout in his contract. That’s an evil of the system. whoever is our new coach will have a mind numbing buyout. Will be hidden in his base contract which will include guarantees and a very long length. Billy had a 7 year deal. Bet the next coach will demand 10 years guaranteed. bottom line is you need a coach who knows how to evaluate talent and football acumen in players. That has hurt us because it certainly appears that we have a large number of untalented players whose ability to grasp and understand a game plan is low.
Brantley signed with Florida. He was a Texas commit at one point. That situation felt forced, like he was recruited solely because he was a legacy and the GPOTY. Not even sure how bad Meyer wanted him as he was a poor fit for what we were doing at the time. That said, you may be on to something.
I knew McElwain was a mistake at his first press conference, when he made some wise crack, looked over at the UF president, and chummily (or condescendingly?) called him by his first name. “Eh, Bernie?” Bernie probably wanted to tell him to go hug a shark. I knew Muschamp was a mistake when he couldn’t control himself on the sideline, with at least one ref throwing a flag on him. He reminded me of Ohio State HC Woody Hayes slugging a Clemson player for making an interception. I knew Mullen was a mistake when he was asked about the shoe toss after the game, and said, “I didn’t see it.” I knew Napier was a mistake when I watched his play calling. Which all leads me to believe that the next HC who UF hires will be a mistake.
I’ll never understand how McElwain made it past the interview. I couldn’t stand that guy from the rip when he started talking about his dog. He was such a goofball dork. There was nothing about that guy that exuded “SEC coach”
Maybe they should switch to the Dream Weavers. They were a singing group that was formed at UF in the 1950s and had a Top Ten hit with "It's Almost Tomorrow." Let them use that at games and see if the product on the field improves. (But then the song ends with "I am hoping that tomorrow won't come.")
