Grading the Gator Coaches

[Escambia94]

The head coach likes to give out grades on his players, so let's grade his coaches not on 2010 (they all get a D), but on how we think they will do in 2011.

Part of our problem here is that out of the staff Urban Meyer brought here in 2005, only Addazio and Heater are left. Our coaching staff has been depleted of its best talent. I graded Urban Meyer as good, because I think he is still the best head coach and he is the right person in that position to fix the program. Dazzler Addazio is graded as bad, not because he should be fired--he is not the right person in that position I have him listed and he will not help us in that slot in 2011. Teryl Austin kept our defense in the top 10-ish, so he gets a "good" for his potential for keeping us in the top 10 in 2011. Chuck Heater is one of the originals, and he has helped keep the defense on top. I don't know what to make of Loeffler, Azzanni, McCarney, etc just yet. What are your thoughts? Which of these coaches need to go before 2011 based on bad grades for potential in 2011?

Position	2005    2006    2007    2008	2009	2010	2011	Grade
Head Coach	Meyer   Meyer	Meyer	Meyer   Meyer	Meyer	Meyer	Good	
OC		Mullen  Mullen  Mullen  Mullen	Addazio	Addazio	Addazio	Bad
DC		Strong  Strong  Strong  Strong	Strong	Austin	Austin	Good
Co-DC		Heater  Heater  Heater  Heater  Heater	Heater	Heater	Good	
QBs		Mullen  Mullen  Mullen  Mullen	Loefflr Loefflr Loefflr ?	
WRs		Gonzals Gonzals Gonzals Gonzals	Gonzals	Azzanni	Azzanni	?
RBs		Drayton Drayton Drayton Carter	Carter	Drayton	Drayton	?
TEs		Hevesy  Hevesy  Hevesy  Hevesy	White	White	White	Good
DL		Mattisn Mattisn Mattisn McCarny	McCarny	McCarny	?	?
LBs		Strong  Strong	Strong  Strong	Strong	Durkin	Durkin	?
ST		Meyer	Meyer   Meyer	Meyer	Meyer	Durkin  Durkin	Bad
Recruiting	Gonzals Gonzals	Gonzals Gonzals	Gonzals	Addazio	Addazio	Good

 

[Leakfan12]

Austin I think will improve though with Powell, Floyd, and other starting next season will help I hoping.

 

[Escambia94]

Austin I think will improve though with Powell, Floyd, and other starting next season will help I hoping.

Absolutely. Teryl Austin kept us at the #10 total defense, #27 against the run, #13 against the pass (our performance against FSU and SOW popped us out of the top ten), #33 scoring defense (we were in the top 20 before those two games). It's not a lot to write home about until you look at how many freshmen we had in those holes. Our defense was essentially Ahmad Black, Janoris Jenkins, and a lot of freshmen/sophomores. Moses Jenkins and Will Hill had some good days, as did Cody Riggs, but we could consistently count on Ahmad Black and Janoris Jenkins, and we could see that Powell, Easley, and others are learning Austin's defense. Defense might be in good shape a year or two from now.

 

[DRU2012]

This is what it has come to. One year on from dropping our first game after 22 in a row, and by now this is as "up" as we can go when discussing the state of the program. And, relatively speaking, this is the "good news"-thread!

 

[Escambia94]

This is what it has come to. One year on from dropping our first game after 22 in a row, and by now this is as "up" as we can go when discussing the state of the program. And, relatively speaking, this is the "good news"-thread!

I really don't see us going 22 in a row again unless Meyer snags some hot shot coaches willing to stick with him for a while. Urban Meyer was always able to throw together a team of coaches to recruit for a 4-5 year run at greatness before the entire team of coaches moved on. Well, we are in year 5 of Meyer here and all his coaches moved on without him. Either Azzanni, Heater, and Austin are "his team" or we are screwed in terms of trying to sustain the dynasty.

 

[DRU2012]

Given the state of our offense and signs that the lack of required changes there will continue, we may very well DEPEND on our "D" to keep us close (perhaps even win a couple) in games against otherwise "decent" teams with a playmaker or two next year. We'll need at least one shut-down DE from the upcoming class, a BEAST who can get to the quarterback when he drops back OR turn and grab the runner from behind if it's handed off. That's why losing Pagan was such a set-back. There are a couple of other promising possibilities out there, but he was the most heralded; the SIZE with the speed makes a difference in that role.
There were some other things showing up in that unit's play as the season wore on that were cause for concern as well. A lot of missed tackles is one example, just part of a general "fading" in sharpness and apparent effort by the whole defense later in the game. I know that conditioning is not the problem--we've got Mariotti getting them ready all spring and summer in the most thorough and rigorous such program in the nation. That leaves motivation, one of the coaches' areas of responsibility. This is only one of a number of what can only be described as "questionable results" on the coaches' part. Some changes are evidently required, I suspect more decisive than simply replacing McCarney (who left on his own).

 

[crmixon]

We lack attitude on both sides of the ball. Where is the pride in being a Gator? NOBODY messes with a Gator is how it used to be. Someone would score on us and we'd get pissed off and go off on them. Now we just shrug and let it go.
We lost some great on-field leadership in Spikes and Tebow I admit, but having said that I also think it's part of the coaches jobs to instill the pride of being a Gator. There young men play for one of the premere (sp?) programs in the nation. Urban said that one of his main goals in coming here was to "take back the swamp" and he did that by putting the attitude back into the gators. We need him to do it again. We need our swagger back.

 

[DRU2012]

We lack attitude on both sides of the ball. Where is the pride in being a Gator? NOBODY messes with a Gator is how it used to be. Someone would score on us and we'd get pissed off and go off on them. Now we just shrug and let it go.
We lost some great on-field leadership in Spikes and Tebow I admit, but having said that I also think it's part of the coaches jobs to instill the pride of being a Gator. There young men play for one of the premere (sp?) programs in the nation. Urban said that one of his main goals in coming here was to "take back the swamp" and he did that by putting the attitude back into the gators. We need him to do it again. We need our swagger back.

I couldn't agree more.
(As I note in response to your comments on another thread here, I THINK it is at least to some extent a reflection of our Head Coach's own performance and/or state-of-mind this season. C'mon, Urban, get angry, GET INTO IT, man!)

 

[Escambia94]

Yeah. Anger. Intensity. People need to fear the Swamp again. They need to fear the speed. They need to have their eyes gouged out. As many times as we are getting penalized, we might as well get penalized for being angry MFers. Well, maybe not that much, but we at least need to get fired up like we are ready to play. How many games have we sat back and thought, "Who are those guys? They didn't make a game of it! Did they forget to bring a football team to a football game?" Wanna know what's embarrassing? Even when we lost games under Zook we looked like we were trying. As bad as some of our losses have been, it almost looks like we are throwing games! It's embarrassing!

 

[DRU2012]

Bad, ain't it? I do a lot of shaking my head and holding my hand up now as I continue walking by when acquaintances and coworkers come up and start talking about the Gators. I make it clear in a non-verbal fashion that I don't wanna talk about it, thank you very much.
Frankly, I know I've said this before but I STILL can't believe we've fallen this far this fast.
It took so LONG to get up there and make it appear to "stick", that we were THERE now and would be "in the discussion" every year for the forseeable. What's changed is all in PERCEPTION. It took real bumbling mismanagement off the field and, as you say, EMBARASSING play on it to lose all that so quickly.
That's what makes becoming resigned to it and hardening my heart for the long haul so difficult for me:
I KNOW it hasn't gone far enough to be irreversible quite yet; I can SEE all the things that could be done, changes made and our fortunes reversed JUST as quickly, before it goes too far. I want so badly to see it accomplished, and instead it all seems to be slipping away. It feels like grabbing sand, or one of those bad dreams where you're trying to run but somehow the ground is sinking and moving and bogging you down and you just can't get anywhere--our goal is getting further away.

 

[Escambia94]

On Saturday I was home in Florida, so although it was great to see a lot of orange and blue it sucked being surrounded by idiot SOW fans. The week before, I was in Texas commiserating with Shorthorn fans. This week I am on travel in northern Alabama where everybody is either a Bama or Auburn fan. The good thing is that most Auburn fans are not jerks. Rammer-jammer-yellow-hammer Bama fans on the other hand are complete a$$es, but not as bad as SOW fans. Other than that, I don't mind talking to people who say, "Tough year", "What happened", or "How 'bout them Gators" (depending on the tone). As bad as it is, in put things in perspective. It could be worse. We could be Texas and not bowl eligible. We could be USCw and be under sanctions.

I just don't want to be embarrassed by Penn State or Michigan in the Gator Bowl, not that I can go. I will be traveling in that timeframe.

 

[DRU2012]

The only thing worse than the SOW-fans are the ones from the "EEEWWW"--and they are logarithmically worse!
Hey, do we still chant this one when we play the Tide? (I haven't been to a game against 'Bama with a Gator crowd in a long time--and when I started it at the local Champion's--where the Austin Gator Club gets together downtown for watch-parties--it was "new" to most of them there.)
"Around the bowl and down the hole: Roll Tide Roll!"
Silly, sophomoric, but it matches the one they actually chant and drowns it out quite effectively.

 

[ttimpain]

People do not see us going 22 in a row again unless some hot shot Meyer disadvantages coaches ready to take with him for some time. Urban Meyer was still able to put together a coaching staff to recruit for one year 4-5 before running to the greatness of the entire coaching staff have left.

 

[DRU2012]

???????? (--maybe try that one again)