Talent alone doesn't explain Florida Football's struggles over the past decade

I'm really not calling this Muschamp's failure.. Muschamp was very transparent, and we now now who he was. His O didn't work and he couldn't manage it or the team. If you hire someone who does exactly what he is capable of, then the failure is in you hiring him. IMO, This was the AD"s failure in hiring Chump..

 

True. I would think an AD monitors, discusses, and ensures a HC is conducting operations in a way that makes sense. But maybe they aren't allowed to meddle?

 

Yes, it would be nice if someone else was held accountable for these bad hires. They only cost the university and fans millions.

Then maybe we wouldn't have some of these silly decisions, and if they don't know what a solid coach looks like then find someone who does. Because it should cost them their job, as it would in the real world.

 

Three Blind Mice wedged between 2 coaches.

Napier might not be a giant but he ain't a blind mouse.

 

I pretty much agree that it has not been so much a talent issue as a coaching one. That said, comparing our winning % to schools not competing in the cheatingest conference to ever exist is like comparing apples to oranges.

 

It's telling that none of the "win with less talent" schools are SEC while 9 in or close to the "lose with more talent" are SEC. That speaks to the dominance or the elite few and the risk of playing an entire conference schedule against talented teams. This chart is more about conference parity than failures of individual teams.

 

Of course, to be fair, Muschamp had never been a HC so who really knew what his Offensive philosophy would be. Heck, I don’t think he had ever thought about it either.

 

And then you have teams like Kentucky with a stable, coaching staff, and program that when the minimal amount of games to make everybody happy

 

You beat me to it. Last four years:

Georgia: 50-4
Alabama: 49-6
Ole Miss: 34-15
LSU: 31-19
Tennessee: 30-19
Texas A&M: 29-18
Kentucky: 29-21
Mizzou: 28-21
Miss State: 25-24
Florida: 25-25
Arkansas: 23-25
Auburn: 23-26
USCe: 22-26
Vandy: Who cares?

We averaged about 5th in the SEC in recruiting since 2018, according to 24/7. It's not just about the conference, the schedule, or the Jessies and Joes...

 

What that list indicates to me is that unless you are in the top two that is so superior in talent, it is really hard to win in the SEC, even against those who have lesser talent. The only coaches I see excelling above their talent may be Drinkwitz and Kiffen and to a degree Stoops and Heupel and below their talent in order of magnitude is Kelly, Fisher, Napier, and Beamer. I see Drinkwitz and Kiffen so far excelling above Napier and Kelly and Fisher having done worse with their level of talent. Heupel is hard to read because he wins some games but gets hammered by the best defenses.

 

It’s all of those things combined and all the teams ahead of us on that list have every opportunity to win and are trying to do so. Vandy, who cares is right because they don’t even attempt to compete in football. They should either not be scheduled or forced to give up football. Everyone gets a trophy crap at its best.

 

Kiffy got destroyed by puppies last year too. Missouri wasn’t really that good (stable) , we could have beat them last year. Not nearly in top tier realm despite ranking.The stable programs are doing slightly better and Georgia and Bama have clearly purchased far superior talent to all others. Talent gap may currently be shrinking now that everyone else can buy their talent too. Too early to judge Napier, kiffy, Kelly. Three years from now, they will all be winning games or fired.

 

I agree with you, but in Muschamp’s case I’m not so sure I wouldn’t have made the same decision that Foley did hiring him.
He was considered a “hot commodity” at the time and to listen to him talk he was very sharp reeling of percentages and numbers. He seemed to have a grasp on what it takes to win football games. I’m sure in the interview process he never mentioned he could be a human volcano eruption on the sidelines or even at pressers and so obstinate he couldn’t see his own failing: his acumen, or lack of, on the offensive side of the football.
As much I was glad to see Muschamp go I am grateful that he cleaned up a mess left to him by Urban Meyer. It seemed like picking up a newspaper in Meyer’s last months included looking for the latest Gator football player arrested. Muschamp put an abrupt and impressive stop to that. And unlike creepy Dan, after being fired he stayed on for the last two games of the season. That takes a bit of integrity that Mullen didn’t display.

 

...especially when they collect a gigantic, unearned paycheck to go with that dime-store trophy.

 

I can’t see that continuing in the new landscape of football. It’s hard to compete with the best when you have deadweight. SEC does, however, have much less deadweight than all other conferences.

 

I'd love nothing more than to see their TV payouts tied to the level of their FB related expenditures. Or better yet just give 'em the boot. They've been picking the SEC's pocket for decades. Enough is enough.

 

This may be unpopular, but... It's not bad having one or two (at most) Vandy's in the conference. Someone needs to lose games. Take away Vandy and go to 9 conference games, and now programs like UF can expect losing seasons on the regular. That won't go over well with fan bases that are very used to never having losing seasons.

I'm not saying UF should schedule 12 cream puffs to inflate their record. But take away Vandy and all of the sudden one of the other schools has to take their place at the bottom...

 

Yes, you are saying schedule cream puffs. If you deserve a losing record, you should have a losing record.

 

Haven’t we lost to Vandy a couple of times in the last several years?