Gator Fans Made Urban Meyer Sick
by Renegaded on Nov 29, 2011 11:45 PM EST
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PrintI have just finished reading the Sun Sports article(link below)on Urban Meyer leaving UF and now taking the Ohio State job. When Urban Meyer announced he was leaving I did not immediately dismiss the possibility that maybe there was in fact something medically wrong with him. However something about the whole situation made me think that even if there was, it wasn't anything life threatening that he couldn't continue coaching. This was confirmed when he took the ESPN job. Now that Urban has taken the Ohio State job and several quotes from him have come out I realized my original instincts on why he decided to quit were correct.
Bottom line is Urban Meyer decided to leave because he did not want to face the music, music that would be blaring from the sound speakers of thousands of gator fans. He had won national championships at UF and was seen as a head coach legend(at least to UF fans), but he knew the truth. The truth that any head coach that has coached long enough knows: All programs have ups and downs, what makes a coach great is being able to handle the lows while rebuilding the program back up in as little time as possible.
Urban Meyer knew that he had reached his high and now after several talented players had left for the NFL, and several of his coaches had moved on to head coaching positions at other universities the program was going to be in a rebuilding phase. A phase that would take a couple of years of recruiting, rebuilding and several seasons of mediocre football by UF standards to be able to get back to where they wanted to be. Meyer could have perhaps rebuilt the program, if he was given time, but he knew yet another truth. Gator fans and administration would not be very patient during this time, he would be put under pressure and his legend status would be questioned. Instead he decided to take the easy way out and just leave, be a coward. That is why he decided to quit the first time after Tim Tebow left, he knew well the following season would not be great, he decided to stay hoping that maybe the season would not be as bad and wanted to gauge the reaction on his public opinion.
What occurred was a year of criticism towards him and his coaches. He, his players, and his OC Steve Addazio were booed by UF fans in their own home stadium(though some say they were just booing the OC). You can read his thoughts straight from the article were he says:
"Meyer expressed concerns over his legacy at Florida. He told me he was amazed at the anger expressed toward him as Florida struggled to a 6-6 season." 'All I did for six years is go into that office every day and work my tail off,' he said. 'And then I go out to get a sandwich and somebody is yelling at me because they[the team] had a bunch of false start penalties'."
So in order to not make this article any longer here is the final conclusion. Urban Meyer, after the terrible year his team had just had knew the following year would not be any better. The criticism from gators would continue to grow and he was unsure of how long it would take for the program to be back up and whether he would even be retained long enough to find out. So instead of sticking it out and possibly getting fired he decided that if gator fans wanted to whine and complain about the job he was doing, they could hire somebody else they thought could do a better job to do it. Of course he knew the next head coach would not succeed, at least not immediately but he was sick of it, he was sick of how spoiled, whiny, and unrealistic Gator fans had become. This is not to excuse Meyer, bottom line he was a coward, somebody who ran away from his problems, he left players he had recruited and made promises to in a ship he knew was headed towards rocks. He didn't care or even think about it, after all he had already jumped off and a nice yacht with the name ESPN was waiting for him... and who knew what else could have been in his sunny future. We now know.
So why should we as Nole fans care what a mess Florida is? The main reason is to make sure we never become like gator fans.
Whether people want to admit it or not Urban Meyer is not a bad coach. Anyone who says Muschamp is a better coach than Meyer doesn’t have any proof yet, maybe he will turn out to be(hopefully not). But I think had Meyer been given time he could have done as good as almost any coach to bring the UF program back up, luckily gator fans suck and ran him off without realizing it.
This applies to Noles more than anything based on how crazy this year was with all the “expectations” FSU had and how quickly we turned around and criticized our coaches. Of course it’s not entirely the same because Urban had already won at UF. But we need to look and make sure we aren't being unrealistic based on circumstances or pulling the trigger too quickly or we might end up becoming like gator fans and regretting it. I'm not saying we should give coaches a free pass and we should accept mediocrity just that we should take everything into account and try to do it in a productive way.
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link to Sunsports article: http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20111128/columnists/111129572?p=all&tc=pgall&tc=ar
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If anyone wants to post this at Alligator Army please do so. I don't have an account over there but really wanted to do so.
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I thought UF fans had every right to hate on Meyer in 2010.
The man had no intention of being there for the post-Tebow era, and it showed.
Tomahawk Nation didn't cause my divorce. It was merely a contributing factor.
by TRMNole on Nov 30, 2011 12:04 AM EST reply actions 2 recs
Urban told Muschamp repeatedly that the "program was broken"....
This is why I’ve been trying to tell people that Florida’s program has issues that recruiting can’t and won’t fix. They are headed in the wrong direction no matter how good Will Muschamp’s intentions are. Players are leaving because they are not buying into what is being sold to them. And they are going to end up signing A LOT of “filler” recruits and add a lot of walk-ons when it’s all said and done.
What is broken about the program, though?
Is it something a new coaching staff is able to fix, or do the problems stem from another source (e.g., AD, big boosters, fans, etc.)?
I heard from a gator fan
that Weis a few weeks ago made a comment along the lines of “well, at least we’re getting them to come to practice finally”.
If that’s even close to true, that’s pretty bad.
Also reports about...
there being a rift in 2010 between the upperclassmen and the freshman in which Urban did not fix which had killed the chemistry of the team for the past 2 seasons. And that the new coaching staff weren’t able to fix either… On twitter; after the seniors gave their farewell speeches; Matt Elam wrote that the "only speeches I respected was Jeff [Demps] and DT [Deonte Thompson], the rest was FAKE … !"
I remember
seeing Brantley getting into it with someone on the sideline after Mike Harris picked him off LAST year. I think the 2010 UF class will wind up being a joke (maybe even moreso then ’08 Miami).
"Nothing like a tight one." -Heather Cox
I heard abuot that from Elam
He’s a scumbag. Absolute, utter, total scumbag. Very happy he didn’t come here.
That isn’t your typical 19-20 year old kid, looking for attention. He’s a problem.
I think you may very well be right.
I really don’t have enough info on the kid to be sure though. I believe when Coach Meyer left, after promising him he would not, it had a very bad effect on the kid’s attitude. I can’t say for sure which came 1st, the chicken (his bad attitude), or the egg (Coach Meyer leaving=Bad effect on kid’s attitude), or if it is a combination of them both. Either way, the kid did not / is not, handling it very well; and I am happy he is their problem, not ours.
When ahead never let up.When behind never give up.
by Chief Pit Bull on Dec 2, 2011 1:48 AM EST up reply actions
Look at the sidelines
No one talks to Brantley. There just seems to be mass amounts of dissension.
Shot a Gator in Jean Shorts just to watch him die.
by AMFKNole on Nov 30, 2011 10:25 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I know someone that grduated from Dwyer, HS the same year. He told me some shady stuff about that kid.
if you are going to say" shady stuff", substantiate the claim.
"What kind of addicting substance has Jimbo spiked the Tally water with?
It’s this new thing going around campus lately-I think it’s known by the term…"winning". I hear it’s really addictive and the real hardcore victory junkies can smell it from all the way across the nation."
by SmoothCrimiNole on Dec 1, 2011 10:36 PM EST up reply actions
or at least spead the gossip
RayRayRayRay = Homerism Squared
.
by Aaron Tampa Nole on Dec 3, 2011 5:48 AM EST up reply actions
spread
RayRayRayRay = Homerism Squared
.
by Aaron Tampa Nole on Dec 3, 2011 5:48 AM EST up reply actions
@Invictus13 ....
Besides the reports about the team chemistry being broken because of rifts between the upperclassmen and younger players; I think what really started to ruin Florida’s program was Urban Meyer’s recruiting. He got so obsessed w/ star rankings and pleasing the fan base and boosters that he wanted his classes to look good on paper. Subsequently he bought in a lot of talent that had character flaws and started venturing all over the country to land big name recruits. Florida has had at least 31 arrests under Urban Meyer’s tenure.
It is very important to stay in home as much as possible because you need to continue to make sure bridges are strong and your pipelines are strong. In state players just have an understanding of the “persona” of these Florida schools that outer state players don’t come in with. In any case, it is important to always make sure your home turf is recruited the hardest first. Just like when Randy Shannon messed up Miami’s South Florida pipelines because he didn’t want to recruit South Florida players besides Northwestern. In Randy Edsall’s 1st year, he is said to have messed up Maryland’s recruiting pipelines in the state of Maryland because he basically ignored in-state schools and recruits. Urban just saw where the outcome of his actions were heading too and he got out before it started messing up his record and reputation. He’s a liar, con-artist, and manipulator and Florida is paying for it now….
Isn't it a bit ironic
that both FSU’s and now UF’s fortunes took a dive right after they started filling their classes with “superstars” from California and other out-of-the-norm places? Were some “me-first” types who wanted the attention and to choose the hot program, rather than the best fit, and in turn ended up hurting the program more than helping? Jimbo take heed.
+1,000,000,000... bbnoles
This is what I hope Jimbo is aware of and I believe he understands this already.
At the same time, I respect what they are doing establishing a footprint in Jersey.
As much as my DNA hates any-and-everything “Jersey”……there’s some good players there.
Don’t think FSU would have found a 27-year-old 4* OT in FL last year.
"D.RUSSO IS THE MAN" -DA-2
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Add Coker's Miami to that list.
It’s the downfall of all the Florida schools. The classes ended up looking better on paper because these schools offered the kids.
Nice legs. What time do they open?
by Nole Resurrected on Dec 1, 2011 2:31 PM EST up reply actions
Thanks (to all who responded)
Interesting comments. I have a couple follow up questions.
Is there any indication about whether or not muschamp is repairing the bridges? (Their class, though still a bit small-ish for what they need, looks good on paper; and they have more in-state commits than we do right now.)
Will the team chemistry be better next year, now that there will be only one group left from before the apparently problematic super class from a few years ago (those not RS’d will be Juniors next season)? I haven’t kept count, but I don’t seem to remember as many arrests this year, either (particularly after JJ got kicked off).
I suppose I’m trying to gauge how much progress they can make in the offseason. I hope you’re right that the problems will affect uf for a few more years. It would be great to have our own 4-6 year win streak.
I suppose Muschamp can repair bridges...
They do have some good recruits on board right now. But I’ve heard rumors that they will lose a few big name recruits to other schools before it’s all over. I just don’t think Will can do it by himself. It’s all about the structure of the program. You can’t just come in and do things on the fly; you have to have a program in place that is clearly understood and executed. When you hire guys like Charlie Weis (who doesn’t have a good rep) and Aubrey Hill (who doesn’t have a good rep) recruits are going to notice. Sure, they may be able to get some players because it’s still Florida but the product is going to be in question for awhile. Even fans from Texas were happy that Muschamp left because they weren’t happy w/ the product he put out on the field.
When you hear about the number of upperclassmen leaving the program that’s a knock on this coaching staff because players are not buying into the program. And it’s not like they are losing nobody’s that wouldn’t play; they are losing key pieces that they were dependent on. When Jimbo Fisher took over, we didn’t have a wave of key upperclassmen leave because they believed in the product that Jimbo was selling. They felt that he had a philosophy that would bring FSU back to where they wanted. The same can be said for Al Golden in Miami believe it or not. Players didn’t leave when he took over because players are buying into what he’s selling. Now how long it’s going to take them to get back to gaining some type of respect is unknown but the 1st step is making sure your key players buy into what you’re selling and Florida has failed in year-1 to do that. So I would expect for us to continue dominating Florida for the next 4 years at least. I don’t think players like Tim Jernigan and Karlos Williams will ever know how it feels to lose to Florida; which is a great thought…
So Matt Elam might not know what it means to beat us
Rather than never losing to us? I’m good with that, LOL.
I hope you’re right, and we do dominate uf for the foreseeable future. That would be most excellent.
UF will have a good chance in 2013 if Muschamp rights the ship this winter.
"D.RUSSO IS THE MAN" -DA-2
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I highly doubt it against FSU's 2013 defense.....
they may be a better fielded team but we will be the bullies… Joyner will probably be here for what will be his senior season and Karlos will be a Junior. That’s ugly for opposing offenses no matter how you slice it. Then you’re going to have Jernigan and Erving in the middle along w/ Edwards, Shanks, and who ever else you want to throw in. We are looking at a defense that could possibly be history making in 2013.
I don't know about history making or Joyner's 4th year.
Joyner had a very good year this year whereas Jenkins’s number were down. If Brandon goes pro, I do not know if Joyner will stay for four. Naturally, these decisions can be influenced by how much success a guy has, injury, etc.
History making also depends upon whether the X-man stays, what the new corners look like, what the LBs look like, etc. I do think we’ll have a strong D, but not ready to drink too much 2-year out kool-aid yet. Actually looking more toward 2013 O, when this year’s freshmen, Green, Greene, O’Leary, Freeman, Wilder, Coker, tons of OL, are all RS sophs and Juniors.
That alone is good enough reason for me
So Matt Elam might not know what it means to beat us
Nice legs. What time do they open?
by Nole Resurrected on Dec 1, 2011 2:35 PM EST up reply actions
… do the problems stem from another source (e.g., AD, big boosters, fans, etc.)?
Urban repeatedly warning Muschamp that the program was broken seems to suggest something bigger than just coaching issues and bad recruiting. Given a few years, a new staff can change those things.
Was Urban’s warning along the lines of “I really screwed things up, and it will take you awhile to fix what’s broken”, or was it more along the lines of “the program is broken, and there are inherent problems with the athletic department and boosters that you won’t be able to fix”?
The answer to your question is "yes"
Seminole Game Day -- "All the trash talkin' stops, when the spear drops."
please enlighten us.
FU usually gets strong coaches. Good AD. Have plenty of money. Get top recruits simply b/c they are FU. Biggest problem I see is lack of people on scholly, which means Muschamp can take large classes of guys he’s selected. So where/what is the “program is broken” problem? And how is it a problem that Muschamp will have difficulty overcoming?
This....
FU usually gets strong coaches. Good AD. Have plenty of money. Get top recruits simply b/c they are FU.
…. is why I was scratching my head when they hired someone with no HC experience. Seriously, they could have done better. Yet, everyone was high on the hire.
Nice legs. What time do they open?
by Nole Resurrected on Dec 1, 2011 2:38 PM EST up reply actions
I’ll answer the above question in a bit… But who would you of hired who would take the job and boosters liked?
Seminole Game Day -- "All the trash talkin' stops, when the spear drops."
by FSU on Dec 1, 2011 4:17 PM EST up reply actions
If I remember correctly, Dan Mullen was highly interested in the job
and I’m sure the boosters would’ve liked him.
"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." Vince Lombardi
"We'll win games with talent, we'll win championships with character." Jimbo Fisher
Next hire wasn't going to have Meyer ties, so that's scratch
Seminole Game Day -- "All the trash talkin' stops, when the spear drops."
by FSU on Dec 2, 2011 9:49 PM EST up reply actions
Dan Mullen.
SKip Holtz would have been a better hire than Muschamp.
Throw money at Peterson.
Gary Patterson.
I’m sorry, but if you are a top 3 coaching destination with bottomless pockets, you don’t hire someone with no coaching experience.
Like I’ve said before, for every Jimbo Fisher, there are 5 Randy Shannons.
Nice legs. What time do they open?
by Nole Resurrected on Dec 2, 2011 11:44 AM EST up reply actions
I **WISH** there were 5 Randy Shannons...
And I FURTHER wish they were employed at Miami, Florida, Clemson, Notre Dame, and SouthEast High School in Bradenton.
"D.RUSSO IS THE MAN" -DA-2
Follow me on Twitter for all the outrageous sh!t I can't say on Tomahawk Nation...
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what do you have against southeast high?
My pops graduated from there so we watched PW and a bunch of D1 guys come through there during the 90’s. Did u play them or something?
1-4 vs Southeast H.S.
"D.RUSSO IS THE MAN" -DA-2
Follow me on Twitter for all the outrageous sh!t I can't say on Tomahawk Nation...
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Ok i gotcha now
what high school did you attend? Wondering if you were one of those victims that had a running clock for the entire second half during their hay days
UF getting good coaches is hit and miss.
They were coming off of probation when they made good with Spurrier. They f’ed up hiring Zook and made up for it when they hired Meyer. The jury is still out on Muschamp.
Don’t buy into the myth that everything UF and Foley does is golden.
Hard to argue with 2 national titles.
If you don’t like him as a coach, you have to respect his ability to put together a staff that won.
I disagree about Zook
he did what they needed him to do, which was to raise the talent level of their roster so that when they got their next head coach (Urban as it turns out) that they would have roster ready to go.
I remember reading a lot of opinions about that among UF supporters when Zook was hired as they didn’t expect to succeed with him, but did with whoever came next.
Seems like a weird thing to say, but clearly worked out pretty much exactly as they forecast.
"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." Vince Lombardi
"We'll win games with talent, we'll win championships with character." Jimbo Fisher
...
Not sure I buy that. Why not just hire a Saban type guy who can recruit AND succeed?
Possible exception: they knew they couldn’t get a real coach because no one wanted to follow Spurrier. Then, perhaps I could buy that delayed-gratification approach (and I do seem to remember that some big names got brought up but none seemed to want the job).
I think that has a lot to do with it
they knew they couldn’t get a real coach because no one wanted to follow Spurrier
Kind of like no one would’ve wanted to follow Bowden had he left following the 2000 season, but after 2009 it was a different story. Spurrier left when UF was still very good (they won the Orange Bowl that year, despite finishing 2nd in the East).
"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." Vince Lombardi
"We'll win games with talent, we'll win championships with character." Jimbo Fisher
I've heard that same opinion/rumor, but I don't buy it either.
Why bring in a “recruiter” for the next guy and watch that guy leave the cupboard bare? Does that mean Muschamp is supposed to restock for the next guy?
No. UF sucked last year AND the cupboard was left bare.
Spurrier was well regarded and left for the pros. Meyer’s last year sucked and it is no mystery that it will take several years to rebuild UF after Meyer was through with it. Meyer was scared to death about what it would take and QUIT on the program.
#UrbandIsNotAHardActToFollow.
Amen brother.
We can not afford to become like gator fans.
This year, while disappointing, resulted in victories over uf and um. FSU is, for the foreseeable future, the only football program in the state of Florida that has a prayer of competing on a national level. Our domination of Florida recruiting has already begun. Next year we will likely destroy THREE Florida schools, uf, um and usf.
When uf was in a similar situation, they won two Mythical National Championships under Meyer. Then they ran him off by acting like gators.
This year has been incredibly hard on the Fishers, off of the football field. His son is sick and they have had multiple deaths in the family.
If act like gator fans, nitpicking every mistake he made this year, Jimbo will have more of an incentive than Meyer to take some time off from coaching and take care of his real family problems.
We had a bad three game streak due to injuries and a ridiculous schedule. Probably shouldn’t have lost to Wake. Definitely should not have lost to UVA.
We beat the canes. We beat the gators. Win the bowl game, clean up on recruiting and FSU will be stronger next year.
Thank you Jimbo! I am proud to have you as the Seminoles head coach.
by SumoNole on Nov 30, 2011 10:20 AM EST reply actions 8 recs
I agree completely
I think most of us appreciate the job Jimbo is doing, despite a few tough losses this year. I, for one, have the patience to wait for Jimbo’s recruiting successes to pay off.
by FSU PHD on Nov 30, 2011 11:14 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Agree 100%....
We need to continue to show the coaches we support their vision and the job they’re doing, as well as the players. I really want the FSU fan base to push for a culture change in how we go about criticizing losses and celebrating wins. We should be like the New Orleans Saints fans even though I’m not a fan. After every win or after every loss; they show up in a show of support to show the team and the franchise that they are sticking w/ them no matter what.
The fans knew were the Saints came from as far as being irrelevant in the NFL landscape to Champions; so they won’t ever turn their backs on them. So even if we end up National Champions next year, but we end up losing a big game the following year or in any case; we should still show our support for FSU. We would never have a problem w/ recruiting if we show that our fans are crazy about FSU in the sense that we’ll never lose support for the team. Because we know what it was like for 10 years going through hell w/ this program to now finally seeing a positive direction we’re headed into. It’s ok to get upset after losses because the players and coaches are just as upset if not more upset too; but if we have fans that start ragging on coaches even after we win then that’s a problem (ala. FSU 21 Florida 7). We don’t need fans yelling at Jimbo, when he’s out getting a sandwich, about false starts even though we won the game. :-)
by zone3nole on Nov 30, 2011 2:50 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
A reality:
You can’t change your fans.
Tomahawk Nation didn't cause my divorce. It was merely a contributing factor.
Agreed.
And I’ll add: The more you win, the more unrealistic your fans become.
That's one of the biggest differences between NCAA and NFL football.
The other is that, in NCAA football, Tim Tebow is considered an excellent QuarterBack.
"D.RUSSO IS THE MAN" -DA-2
Follow me on Twitter for all the outrageous sh!t I can't say on Tomahawk Nation...
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by DRusso97 on Nov 30, 2011 4:36 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Makes me wonder how Dan Kendra would of done in that UF offense. Cause I think might of been similar.
Seminole Game Day -- "All the trash talkin' stops, when the spear drops."
Not yet…Due this month… I am READY for her to get out now
Seminole Game Day -- "All the trash talkin' stops, when the spear drops."
#LessJesus
"D.RUSSO IS THE MAN" -DA-2
Follow me on Twitter for all the outrageous sh!t I can't say on Tomahawk Nation...
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Less Halo more Boom
Seminole Game Day -- "All the trash talkin' stops, when the spear drops."
by FSU on Dec 1, 2011 4:18 PM EST up reply actions
That, and at least in the southeast,
fans actually give a poo about the team. NFL is a passtime, CFB is what the NFL gives a break from.
Nice legs. What time do they open?
by Nole Resurrected on Dec 1, 2011 2:42 PM EST up reply actions
To your point, I was as proud to be a Nole after the OU game, as I have ever been. Not because I love loosing, but because of the way the fans acted afterwards.
The way all the fans stayed in the stands, and cheered the players as the walked off the field was hart warming. Any recruit that was at that game had to of came away thinking, this is somewhere I would love to come and play, and these are some fans I would love to win games for.
When ahead never let up.When behind never give up.
by Chief Pit Bull on Dec 2, 2011 2:18 AM EST up reply actions
Bravo SumoNole
This comment should be a permanant front page post!!!!
"I got a PBS mind in an MTV world"...Jimmy Buffett
by The Ryno and I Know on Dec 1, 2011 4:03 PM EST up reply actions
Right on man!
When ahead never let up.When behind never give up.
by Chief Pit Bull on Dec 2, 2011 2:06 AM EST up reply actions
I am 100% behind CJF. I think he has the proper vision and direction for the program. I think we probably overachieved last year to be 10-4 and therefore set potentially unrealistic expectations for this year. The important thing is we are 4-0 against rivals and 3-0 so far against the vaunted SEC. I don’t care if UM and UF are “down”, when we were down they took credit for beating us so we should do the same. Go Noles!
Does this mean Bowden wasn't great?
what makes a coach great is being able to handle the lows while rebuilding the program back up in as little time as possible
I kid. I kid.
Nice legs. What time do they open?
by Nole Resurrected on Nov 30, 2011 10:52 AM EST reply actions
Buddy of mine was arguing Bobby is the greatest and that in 14 trs. of top 5 finishes he had to deal with injuries too.
Said Jimbo isn’t as good b/c he couldn’t handle injuries like Bobby did. I started following FSU during the lost decade, so don’t really have perspective to comment. OLD BUC? Law74? Any insight on how Bobby dealt with injuries or if he had a season as injury riddled as we have had on offense? Imagine back then that concussions were just called getting your clock cleaned or having the wind knocked out of you.
You know OLD BUC is only like 30 years old.
'see da broad ta get tha booty yackum, layem down smackum yackum...ho got ta be.... shiiiiiit!' 'early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise'
We definitely dealt with injuries and difficult situations
Lots of times we lost a guy or two in fall camp to a season-ending injury, but I don’t remember many (if any) years with this number of injuries. It’s one thing to plug in a new WR, RB, DL, DB, OL – or even a new QB on occasion; it’s another thing altogether to plug in new players at ALL those positions.
We were also much deeper during most Dynasty years. Marvin Jones graduates? Enter Derrick Brooks. Deion Sanders graduates? Enter Terrell Buckley. Chip Ferguson gets injured? Put in Peter Tom Willis. Etc.
Every team deals with injuries
during the season. During the 14 year run of top 5 finishes we seemed to be reasonably lucky in this regard.
I’ll talk about the two areas where we got hurt this year.
Quarterbacks.
FSU got into a rhythm with it’s qb’s for the most part. RS Jr. would step up and do his two years and then another rs jr. would take his place. When we had an injury, a rs freshman or soph would take his place but we always seemed to be two deep. Think that had a lot to do with many games being blowouts and the second string guys got a lot of game reps (seemed like some of the second string guys played more than the guy in front of him). There were times (C Weldon/ B Johnson) when there was stiff competition for the starting job. The one real bummer that stands out in my mind was 1998 when C Weinke got hurt and M Outzen came in. Beat UF (big upset) but then lost to UT. I was in Tempe and Outzen just didn’t have the arm strength to throw deep outs and it cost us the game. Weinke plays in that game and we have 3 NC’s…not two, and I have a strong dislike for UT fans to this day.
O Line.
Can’t recall injuries to one position like the O line this year. Started out with several concussions and bum shoulders and it just seemed to multiply as the year went on. Unreal.. Don’t recall that ever happening since the late 60’s. If the rash of injuries had happened next year it probably wouldn’t have been that bad. Next year the O Line class that were freshmen this year may have been ready to step in; but not this year.Just didn’t have the quality, mature depth. Seemed to hit us at our weakest point.
But that might be faulty memory more than a rash of injuries in one area.
by law74 on Dec 1, 2011 2:01 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Should have also added that we always
seemed to have a quality qb backup. During that 14 year run we seemed to have quality backups at every position (maybe not as experienced as we’d have liked). Don’t think we have reached that point yet. It’s an old saying and is often overused but FSU really did reload and never went through rebuilding. One AA was replaced with another AA…it was unreal.
Blame Jared Jones.
He sticks around and Chris Rix doesn’t start as a freshman. On the other hand, Bobby’s coaching decline would have made it all moot anyway.
Considering the OLine.
Do you think the injuries continue to mount because as a guy goes down, everyone else has to take up his time in the rotation? More time on the field = more wear and tear on the player. This will cause another injury, and the cycle just keeps getting worse because everyone is seeing more and more time on the field?
Nice legs. What time do they open?
by Nole Resurrected on Dec 1, 2011 2:50 PM EST up reply actions
BC from outsiders addressed this on another thread
yesterday and said even though more exposure means a higher risk of injury it was still a small % increase. Keep in mind he was only talking about the starter staying in.
The total number of plays is still the same…just split differently between the starter and the backup.
One thing he didn’t mention (and it would be hard to quantify) is the fatigue factor. I believe there is a higher risk of injury when you’re worn out. And I mean really worn out…not just hurting because of playing a violent game.
Thing about '98 was Weinke was not supposed to be the starter....Kendra was.
Kendra blew out his knee in the spring. Outzen was the third string guy.
This....
Imagine back then that concussions were just called getting your clock cleaned or having the wind knocked out of you.
… and elite teams back then could just stockpile talent. FSU’s 2nd string could have been a starting unit for most teams.
Nice legs. What time do they open?
by Nole Resurrected on Dec 1, 2011 2:44 PM EST up reply actions
I forgot what year it was but
FSU would make a wholesale substitution of the entire O line. I mean 5 new guys would come in, take a few snaps and then leave to be replaced by the guys that had just left earlier. I think part of that was to rub our superiority in the other teams face.
That was pretty damn neat.
You referring when we ran the 2nd team out there for a series? The KY Derby Offense?
Seminole Game Day -- "All the trash talkin' stops, when the spear drops."
by FSU on Dec 1, 2011 4:19 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, it was the whole 2nd team offense
That was some strange stuff, but fun that we had enough fire power to do that just for the heck of it.
Was really bizarre. But shows what an embarrassment of riches FSU had and how big the gap was in conference then.
Seminole Game Day -- "All the trash talkin' stops, when the spear drops."
by FSU on Dec 1, 2011 5:34 PM EST up reply actions
Even more amazing
They would score from time to time. I believe Dan Kannell had a real knack for this.
Huh? The KY Derby Offense?
>------::----::------->Spearing 'em and Scalping 'em like it's 1999
I'm not so sure this Jimbo fella is the right man for the job.
luckily gator fans suck and ran him off without realizing it.
They didn’t run Meyer off. He quit because he couldn’t handle the post Tebow era at UF. Unless you’re saying they ran him off with high expectations. In which case I will assure you, the fan bases and boosters that expect and demand excellence, often recieve it.
"Nothing like a tight one." -Heather Cox
by FTSNole on Nov 30, 2011 11:13 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
See Saban, see Miles
See Meyer Humpty Dumpty who had a great fall and couldn’t put himself back together again.
RE: Your headline. It's perfectly understandable. Gator Fans make me sick too.
>------::----::------->Spearing 'em and Scalping 'em like it's 1999
I'm not so sure this Jimbo fella is the right man for the job.
by FrankDNole on Nov 30, 2011 11:45 AM EST reply actions 2 recs
^ - I was just about to post this, almost verbatim.
#DamnYouFrankDNole
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In a good way.
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This should be Neon Green.
When ahead never let up.When behind never give up.
by Chief Pit Bull on Dec 2, 2011 2:29 AM EST up reply actions
Great post
Florida is going to be a meat grinder much like Bama was until Saben got there. There expections are just unrealisitic and while they can occisionally have runs and meet them in the short term they just can not substain them. No program can in this day and age and only a small handful ever did in the first place.
While I don’t like Meyer at all he is not wrong here. How can you coach 2 NC winning teams and have a down year and get the crap he did from the fans and boosters (I know the stepping down then going back did not help). Even demanding programs like Texas, OU, and tOSU give you damn near a decade long honeymoon after winning 1 NC. If uf fans were sane he would have put a staff together that could at least get back into the SECCG at the usual uf clip.
Running off Meyer is going to hurt the program in the long run. Top tier coaching prospects will still take the job in the future but every one of them is going to at least think twice before accepting and many of them passing on the job leaving uf with the Shulas of the world.
F the Deacs - Notre Dame, Rutgers and UConn to the ACC
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