After Spring Game, John Brantley will continue to take heat from Gator Nation

[travisduncan]

New coaching staff, new season, but the pressure is still on John Brantley. The senior quarterback had at least two tipped balls Saturday and completed just 4-of-14 passes for 45 yards.

Brantley will be the starter next fall if the decision was made today. And from the sound of it, barring injury, he'll be leading the Gator offense September 3rd against Florida Atlantic.

Gator Nation as a majority in the two days since Saturday's game do not believe Brantley has improved much over last season.

That won't change until he wins a game next fall or otherwise the Gators win despite less than stellar play at the quarterback position.

Beyond the glimmer of hope that Weis can accentuate the senior's accuracy, improve his timing, and help him limit mistakes, some might want to see what redshirt freshman Tyler Murphy can do when the games matter.

But Brantley has the support of both Will Muschamp and Charlie Weis.

The two coaches (especially Weis we know from his style at Notre Dame) aren't the type to really let what is said online or even presented to them in press conferences affect how they manage a football team. Weis went through the gauntlet of criticism in South Bend, billboards included, but never broke stride in how he coached his team on the field.

Brantley's going to be the guy even if Gator Nation looses sleep from now until September.

It would appear the offensive players are behind Brantley as well. But it's hard to know exactly how guys like Quinton Dunbar and other skill position players on the offensive feel about Brantley as opposed to a guy Murphy. You don't find those things out until a couple of bad losses.

Murphy had a nice afternoon, finishing with 7 of 11 passing for 68 yards, including a touchdown with 9:47 left in the game to sophomore running back Ben Sams.

Murphy can make plays on the fly, while his down the field passing, or the "vertical game" which Muschamp calls it is lacking for Murphy.

Jeff Driskel doesn't look to be a guy who could challenge Brantley at this point. The true freshman completed 2-of-6 passes on Saturday.

True freshman dual-threat QB Jacoby Brissett, will join the Gators later this summer and is a wild card at this point.

"I thought [Brantley] had a really good spring," Muschamp said Sunday.

"If we started the season today he would be our starter. He's experienced. He's got talent. We had the first deep ball coming out of the gate on the first play. The ball should have been caught."

"He's close to 70-percent completion percentage for the spring."

"I'm very pleased on how he's managing our football team. He's picking up our offense. He does a great job at the line of scrimmage. We put a lot on the quarterback as far as running pass checks, protections, run game, taking it to the right side or the other. So I'm pleased with John."

One way to interpret Muschamp's comments is that what they want Brantley to do is not lose the game. Get the ball into the hands of Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey, Trey Burton, or Quinton Dunbar among others and let them make plays.

Muschamp's plan going into the game was to have a "functional" scrimmage, not blow anyone away, or unveil the complete offensive or defensive schemes. In essence, not show everything they have in terms of schemes and plays. There may be more in store in terms of what Brantley can do in this offense.

"Our philosophy as a coaching staff is 'let's evaluate our players and put them in situations where they can be successful, and let's identify our playmakers."

"We've identified our playmakers. We've ranked our Top 22 guys on both sides of the ball."

Muschamp says that because of NCAA rules, the coaching staff can have very limited contact with the players and that it is time for players to step up into leadership roles, and to make sure 7-on-7 drills are "structured". All the more reason while Brantley was named the starter Saturday.

The offensive line is perhaps a bigger concern than Brantley's play.

They did a nice job on sweeps, with some help from wideouts and tight ends, and the running game looked good. But pass blocking will be an issue.

Muschamp says there has been some "spotty work" up front. He believes the SEC is a "line of scrimmage" league and that's where the Gators need to improve.

Other Notes:

-Sophomore running back Malcolm Jones ran for a game-best 35 yards on eight carries. -Sophomore wide receiver Robert Clark was the game’s leading receiver with one catch
for 31 yards and a score.

-Freshman Kyle Christy tied Nick Fleming’s 2003 Spring Game record for longest punt
with a 55-yard punt in the first quarter.

-Redshirt freshman defensive end Chris Martin registered the first sack of the game by
sacking Murphy for an eight-yard loss in the first quarter.

-Redshirt freshman Lynden Trail recorded the second sack of the contest by sacking
Murphy in the second quarter for another eight-yard loss.

-One basketball note, Vernon Macklin was impressive in the Portsmith Invitational this past weekend, scoring 57 points in three days and showing his nice touch shooting.

 

[DRU2012]

This idea that "Brantley has the support of both Will Muschamp and Charlie Weis" raises a question--a big red flag, to a lot of us.
It's like a nightmare we STILL haven't been able to wake up from: "What, a new coaching staff and we STILL can't get rid of this guy?"
After all the talk of "he's a pocket passer" and "The pro-set offense will suit him, Weis will bring him back...", we all know what we saw out there on Saturday. The kid's a bust--instead of a QB in the long line of greats like those honored at halftime, #12 has a lot more in common with the statues. He's still a stiff.
The only thing I can figure about all the excuses, explanations and efforts at putting a "positive spin" on his performances and supposed (to us unseen) progress is the simple fact that none of the other youngsters are far enough along yet to place in that role; the attitude right now must be: "Unless and until someone steps forward, busts out and takes the job away from him, for the moment Brantley is still "the Senior Quarterback", the defacto starter: he has experience, knows the playbook and understands the basic requirements of the job...let him take the heat and the pressure of the role for now, and see how it all settles out."
I do understand the idea, have faith in this staff, top to bottom, and am trying to take "wait and see" approach, for now.
I'm guessing the coaches are doing more than just "hoping"--that they really DO see the odds of JB "blossoming" into at least a competently efficient leader at QB--someone who can manage games, not lose them, anyway--as better than even (and have admittedly more concrete means of judging that than I do), know that if and when they did have to move him aside, there'd be no going back. For the moment, the current situation leaves them more hope AND more options.
They're making the same old excuses for him. We've heard it all before. Too often he's either failing to recognize the calls, or not making the throws he needs to make to wide open receivers. We've seen it all before. OUR hope is that they not end up waiting TOO long to make a change, should it become necessary.

 

[Escambia94]

The title of the article is very appropriate. I did not expect a Sugar Bowl performance out of a spring scrimmage, but I did expect Brantley to prove on the field what we have been hearing for four years. I am not setting myself up for more disappointment. Bring in the #2 QB if the #1 does not prove his worth in the first two games of September.

 

[robdog]

The title of the article is very appropriate. I did not expect a Sugar Bowl performance out of a spring scrimmage, but I did expect Brantley to prove on the field what we have been hearing for four years. I am not setting myself up for more disappointment. Bring in the #2 QB if the #1 does not prove his worth in the first two games of September.

I have to agree with you on NOT setting yourself up for disappointment. I guess we just need to set an expectation level for Brantley and see if he hits it. What types of numbers should we expect or what would be acceptable performances during a game?

 

[Escambia94]

Against FAU and AUB, I unrealistically expect 300 yards, 2 TDs, maybe 1 int. I request, check that, I demand zero batted balls and zero self-passes for negative 15 yards.

 

[DRU2012]

Perhaps a clear, realistic statistical goal is a fair way to judge JB and whether he is :making the grade" this Fall.
At this point, though, I guess I require something more , something BEYOND "acceptable target numbers". What I'm looking for is that Brantley TAKE CHARGE: step up and make the job and the offensive team HIS. It may not be a "clear target" in the numerical sense, but we all know it when we see it.
What made last year's situation so frustrating and confusing (and probably led directly TO the dreaded "THM"--ie."3-headed-monster") was that we DID see at least flashes of it in two guys who aren't even QBs anymore!
I'm telling y'all, if #12 just doesn't have that in him (as indeed seems to be the case), no amount of patience, practice and "working with him" is going to make the difference--and Coach M, Weis & Co. will need to "turn the page" at QB sooner than next Spring, despite the understandable hopes and (tentative) plans.
However, unlike last year and the "vacancy" at a similar "collective brain trust" (where Meyer seemed determined to "honor" a promise to the Brantley family, and was "already gone", in a sense, anyway--leaving Addazio, a "walking vacancy" at OC , if you ask me, to basically "mess around", with no real plan or vision), I'm confident our coaches are maximum detail-oriented (like Meyer USED to be): not only will this regime not let things fester and flounder, I'm sure they have a detailed overview of where things stand, what the best scenarios are for success, and alternate plans depending on various potential outcomes. #12 will either reach a certain "acceptable level of efficiency", not LOSING the game while leading an offense that scores enough points for a very strong defense to win with, or our coaches will make a change.

 

[Escambia94]

It's not in JB4's personality to jump up and take charge. He is even more reserved than Danny Wuerffel. I am okay with him being that way. He is capable of 300 yards, a TD, and at most 1 int. The little details on how to get there are up to him. I am almost certain Weis is showing him film of the bad habits: wobbling the deep ball, not stepping up into the pocket, not sliding to his strong side in front of a collapsing pocket, staring down the receiver, hitting the outlet receiver flat-footed, sitting on the out pass, keeping the ball high and tight during wind-up, etc. These are fundamentals that the supposedly prototypical passer is missing!!! Where did all that go? I saw it when he was backing up Tebow. I think he's BROKEN.

 

[DRU2012]

Yeah...Frankly, I'm tired of WORRYING about it. That's what I'm really saying above, I guess: either #12 pulls it together or he doesn't--and the coaches (THESE coaches, as opposed to last years') WILL be ready to make the "necessary adjustments".
How drastic and how soon will depend on several variables, having to do with who's developing and how quickly--not only how much Brantley is costing us, but how much "upside" there is, short- and long-term, to going with one of the new guys.
I suppose it would be easier if it turned out to be a matter of either JB really stinkin' up the place, and/or one of the talented newcomers (looks like we're gonna have THREE now) just tearing it up in practice to the point where the specific move starts to feel inevitable (we should all be so lucky!).
Of course, it'll probably never be so clear cut, more like a less dramatic combination of the above realities, requiring a "judgment call" that will be difficult and dangerous--the kind of decision that separates the "corporate-type" coaches who are good at avoiding such situations, the "politicians" bent on building and preserving their "highly respected" reputations (note where I live--and maybe why Coach Chomp got out?), and the ones who trust their vision, believe in their team, and GO FOR IT...I'm pretty sure where our guy falls on this spectrum, and have trust and confidence in HIS decision making process and criteria.

 

[Escambia94]

I think Austin and Gainesville have similar political pressures. If Coach Chomp is being pressured into justifying Brantley as the starter, just as Coach Brown at Texas was pressured to keep Gilbert, then look for a 5-7 to 8-4 season. If the coaches are doing the right thing, and if they did not purposely hold back Brantley for the spring game, there is no way Brantley is on track to magically fix everything by September. I'm no expert, nor am I a coach, but history shows us that unless the running backs carry the offense we are not going to put enough points on the board for the defense to carry the team to more than 8 wins. History shows this.

 

[DRU2012]

I think Austin and Gainesville have similar political pressures. If Coach Chomp is being pressured into justifying Brantley as the starter, just as Coach Brown at Texas was pressured to keep Gilbert, then look for a 5-7 to 8-4 season. If the coaches are doing the right thing, and if they did not purposely hold back Brantley for the spring game, there is no way Brantley is on track to magically fix everything by September. I'm no expert, nor am I a coach, but history shows us that unless the running backs carry the offense we are not going to put enough points on the board for the defense to carry the team to more than 8 wins. History shows this.

Couldn't agree more. I have to assume that the coaches (both Muschamp in his overall vision and Weis in his specific approach to offense) have a clear-eyed view and are only concerned with two priorities: giving this team its best chance to win, while building towards the "complete program" that will eventually sustain dominance for multiple seasons. As I have acknowledged before, I can see where this seems a difficult call, that it would certainly be "easier" (on them and the team) if Brantley were to be "good enough" to carry them (ie. to not LOSE games seems to be the somewhat "reduced-expectation" requirement) through this season while the QB developmental-pecking-order is sorted out.
We're counting on that part about them being "clear-eyed"--with all the information, observation, hard numbers balanced against so many unknowns, it is sometimes necessary to just step back and simplify. From out here, it seems obvious they just won't have that long, that at game time #12 just doesn't have that much more "upside" after all: This is the John Brantley we're gonna get. It is way past time to base future plans on what he "may become". You just can't plan for something you've never seen--and, on the contrary, when it counts this kid has been remarkably consistent in his mediocrity.
I've got to believe they know and see that--which means that no one else is even CLOSE to ready yet, that they're in a tight squeeze right now at QB and at the moment they're tip-toeing delicately around the dilemma. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that "the best case scenario" referred to above will hold: I don't think Brantley can "carry them" much further than the KY. game, let alone through all of 2011; as you imply, E-, that road takes us through similar territory (and much the same record) as last year.
Worse, any mad, ill-planned shuffling of back-ups (like last year, let's face it) could do harm to the process of bringing along some or even ALL of the talented young men we now have in line vying to eventually assume the role, "Quarterback and Team Leader". When I said the coaches were "tip-toeing delicately around the dilemma", it wasn't hyperbole.
It is because of this last that I continue to reserve judgment, to remain patient with the staff's approach (if not with Brantley himself: while it may be that he has simply reached his real-world maximum potential and therefore can't be expected to exceed it, that doesn't mean we have to ACCEPT that in the "Gator Starting QB"--and we should NOT). This staff will make the hard choices, do what they must to balance what are sometimes two opposing considerations: build a long-term powerhouse, AND give the team its best chance to win THIS season.