Has administration learned its lesson?

How about Lon Kruger...

 

Alabama had a slight clue when they hired Nick Saban. Michigan had a clue when they hired Harbaugh. Ohio State had a clue when they hired urban Meyer. USC? Spending big money on proven commodities is a much surer way to success. Jimbo Fisher not working out so much for Texas A&M. But our basketball hire, Maybe but not so much

 

Still, a lot of those hires came down to circumstances.

Saban had perfect timing where Mike Shula was dead man walking but had also righted the ship from a short stint of probation and Saban was in the perfect position where he could see the writing on the wall that it wasn't going to work with the Dolphins. If any of that happens a year earlier or a year later, it may not have come together.

Harbaugh is a Michigan alum. He wasn't taking any other college job at that point.

Urban Meyer is an Ohio State guy. He wasn't leaving the pre-game show for any job other than the Buckeyes.

It's not easy to get those things to line up.

I'll grant you Lincoln Riley was a case of just throwing a bunch of cash at him.

 

We could have had Brian Kelly if we wanted him. UF is too big for it’s britches sometimes

 

Sloan made the Sweet 16. Kruger made the Final Four.

 

They were all cash except hairball but when a big fish is available, do we even try to bid. So far the answer is no. We are always on a budget and I guess that’s ok.

 

Careful. Gator Nation loves itself some recruiting, and assumes that stellar recruiting with an awful football coach will be worth it in the long run because the next guy will assuredly take that talent and win bigly. You aren’t allowed to say that all the Napier talent bails in a millisecond if/when he’s fired.

 

Thanks for the correction. But that helps make my point - Sloan was one of our best and his only claim is a sweet 16? Kruger one Final 4? In the history of our basketball program, the only coach who did any better than one final 4 was Donovan.

Our entire heritage - our legend in basketball essentially boils down to a 3-year run under Donovan. We were never a basketball school before (short of one final 4), and we haven’t sniffed success since.

 

I don’t think a 3-year run is a fair assessment. In addition to Kruger’s FF team, we made the championship game in 2000. The ‘04s. Then three Elite Eights and another Final Four. There aren’t many schools with all that on their resume.

 

Good points. I stand corrected

 

Norm Sloan was UF's first full-time coach in 1960...so yes, our basketball program history isn't terribly impressive.

 

Kruger was legit also.

 

Who was that little big man we had? He was pretty good.

 

Dwayne Davis Dunk
Demetri Hill?

as good as my memory is. Haha Seems we had someone who was a Barkley body type and pretty good

 

Not him. We win some tournament games and I think it was one of our first good teams.

 

Ronnie Williams

 

Chatman? He had a Barkley type body. That might have been a really good team had Sloan not gotten NCAAed and Arnsparger stuck us with DeVoe. Dwayne, Dwayne and Liv could have been a hell of a front court.

 

I think it was Rodney Williams that I’m thinking of

 

DA MEAT HOOK!

 

Brian Kelly was a cash deal as well. He might be more of a cultural fit at UF than he is at LSU but winning takes care of that.