That's a good point and a fair point. Since I'm part of the "some" that are hoping for this . . . I can only give my answer. There is no evidence to cause this hope, except that Coach White's seat is probably getting pretty warm. No way was anything happening last year. I do think Coach tried, in a way, to address the offense through the portal and that didn't work out as planned. Does he try it again with different players? I hope not. That's less likely to work than hiring an offensive-minded assistant. However, to claim a coach "is what he is after 7 years" is not necessarily fair either. If he/she is unwilling to grow or change as a coach then it's probably fair. I saw some change(s) in the way he coached toward the end of the season so I am admittedly hopeful (but "agnostic" as Tilly said elsewhere).
White didn't change the offense to take maximize the skill set of the players he brought in. That's not good coaching.
Wait. Zook went 8-5 8-5 and 7-4 finishing 2nd , tied for 1st and 3rd in the east with marquee wins each year. Why the different standard of judgment for him compared to white? You call that floundering but how do you explain our current trend line under White differently? If anything I did Zook a disservice comparing his record to White.
It goes to what I have been saying for a while this season: the direction of the program is stuck; it isn't going forward OR backward. The players aren't showing any real growth (although two players had some fine games against aTm) but the players haven't checked out. Truly baffling. As I posted before, I cannot fathom Mike getting one more year without Stricklin making him get some offensive coaching help. And it probably won't be Mike's choice and they will have to make him the associate HC to get an effective one. I do hope both sides realize that this experiment is basically over and all it is attempting is a Hail Mary pass if it continues. And on top of that Hail Mary effort will be a VERY fatigued and agnostic (great description Tilly!) fan base. Is it really worth it?
Agree. I don’t think that White will make ANY significant hires that will bring major change to the way he does things. And if it happens it will be ‘forced’, much like it was going to be with Mullen when he was forced to FINALLY ditch the anchors that were sinking his ship. These guys ARE who they are. They think that ‘their way’ will work. And either it does and they get extensions with bigger contracts or they get served the pink slip. Mike has made good money here in 7 years. Appreciate his effort, but it’s time for new leadership and vision for the program.
Congrats for reaching the NCAA tournament and winning 1 game the past 3 trips after the Elite 8 season, but that's a far cry from where the expectations of this program should be. That's mid-major expectations. I've gone on record several times stating I'd excuse early NCAA exits if we had awesome regular season performances. Through 7 seasons, he's averaged 12.5 losses (only 2 seasons had fewer than 12 losses). I won't be upset to see him go. That's good that he ran a clean program, however, the other part of his job description is winning and competing for championships. He's had 7 seasons to get things rolling, yet we continue to see the same stuff. I just don't understand his direction offensively with the players he recruits and lets play extensive minutes during the season.
Who gives a damn if we make 50 NCAA tourneys in a row winning a game if we don't compete and win championships? Can Mike White lead us to championships? If what YOU have seen for the last 7 years leads you to believe he can, then I just don't know what to say. IMO, you're either blind, or lying to yourself.
Since there has been a lot of mention of assistant coaching… Of the two new assistants that were brought in, Pastrana was a known and coveted recruiter. I don’t know how strong of a coach he actually is and what his specialty may be but it was considered somewhat of a “steal” to pry him away from his former job. I’m assuming he was helpful in securing our first 5 star big man (power forward) in quite some time. He’s the first 5 star big to sign with UF since Chris walker in 2013 (who didn’t do much). Prior to that it was Patrick Young (who did). Securing 5 star bigs has been super difficult for UF so I’m. Assuming the hiring of pastrana helped with this. Thus I endorse that hire.
Snake bit, unlucky, whatever. Its time to turn the page. Thread after thread discussing the situation is not going to change anything. Scott Stricklin is paid plenty to make the ultimate decision. I trust he will do that in this situation.
Practically impossible to get A Guy after The Guy. I’m thinking of Scheyer at Duke. Maybe he kills it. But I am having a hard time not just going ahead and mocking that idea already. I’m as conflicted as most, for all the reasons stated ad nauseam. I would move on. I hope MW proves my opinion wrong.
Serious question: do you know the new assistants’ skillsets well enough to make this statement? I’m not trying to be snarky. I mean that sincerely.
this is a fair point when taken out of context - it is always easy to dunk on Gator fans who complain and then do not support the team. Gator basketball is completely lacking in energy and support from Gator fans. however, Mike White is guilty of coaching unattractive and boring basketball. it is incredibly frustrating to watch a 55-52 loss and it’s not that much better to watch a 54-51 win. most of the folks commenting did not seem to have read the article, because this was Whitley’s main takeaway - that Gator basketball has been neutered by the Mike White Experience. taking a cold, clinical look at the end of the year seems to always result in Mike White getting another year because his teams are fairs to middling and he runs a clean program in a sea of filth. Whitley was correctly noting that Gator fans are sick of this cycle and are very clearly done supporting Mike White teams. anyone who attended a game this year can attest - it’s the worst GameDay atmosphere in a decade at the O’Dome, and opposing fans are often louder than Gator fans in the building. something is broken, and sometimes you have to walk away.
General consensus, which I agree with, is that CMW is a good coach, but winning at the highest levels takes more and he just isn’t getting us there. Maybe we are hamstrung, but we have to try. He’s been a perfect citizen (I don’t like the comparisons to Zook, who was a buffoon and in over his head). I think about it as a rebranding. A moment to light a spark in the malaise.
Maybe he is stubborn but he has needed to bring someone in to help with the offense for quite a while now. I heard them talking about Buzz at A&M and he says that he doesn't coach the X's and O's (his assistants do) and maybe that is something that Mike needs to think about. Giving up some of that control over the coaching. You just don't see our assistants getting involved during the game that much like you see from some other programs IMO.
Yeah but it's much easier to simply claim Gator fans want final fours and national titles every year while disregarding the countless pages of articulated reasons why many want change. For some here anyway...
and neither should have been hired to begin with, after the legends they followed, but that was Foley’s MO. He wanted to hire the next Billy D, instead of hiring the guy to keep the new standard in place..
