The only reason we should accept the bowl invite is to get an addition 4-6 weeks of practice in the hopes that SOMEone SOMEwhere gets their heads out of their collective asses and remembers how to coach college football.
Maybe there's a high school kid in Shreveport who can kick.
A friend of mine commented that he will consider next year to be Year One of Meyer's reign again and UM will have to prove himself one more time.
the meyer led gators became the first program to win two BCS championships with the same coach....and your friend wants UM to prove himself?
I know what you're saying. I have posted much the same point in previous weeks.
But at this point I'm kind of with Slidey. "Prove himself" is maybe not the right phrase. But the guy does not look or act or work like he did in previous years. I don't think it's time (yet) to start questioning his job security. But his job execution has been poor. This isn't just a matter of going 7-5: great coaches have down years. Granted. This team has barely shown up against top opponents. That's worrisome.
Agreed. My point is that it was very obvious that his head was not in the game this year. You could see it watching the UM show. The passion was not there, and my wife agreed. If we can see this, so can the players.
I have to think that there was also failure of the senior leadership. Could you imagine Tebow accepting a record and play like this? He would have had a players only meating and ripped the team a new one. Yes he is gone, but why didn't someone else step up and do this?
Yes, great coaches have down years. But the game has changed to the point that we cannot allow this to repeat next year. There is too much money involved. Sad to say, but that was one of the big reasons Zook was fired.
Good points about the extra practice time too. Here's hoping that the team decides to show some pride. It wasn't too long ago UM was razzing halF asS U about being in the Emerald Bowl.
Not to lay blame, but hey, that's what a forum like this is for.
Execution - I put this at the feet of the coordinators and position coaches. I got so tired of hearing that we had the right plays, we just didn't execute. Well that is on the coordinators. If the players aren't "getting it" then it's time to simplify for this season. With the recruiting classes UF has had, I simply do not believe this was an issue of talent. More than anything I think it is these positions where we had the biggest drop-off from last year to this year. I don't believe a Charlie Strong defense would have performed this way with these players.
Motivation - I put this squarely at Meyer's feet. I'm surprised at our sense of urgency in almost every game this year. I hope that he gets this facet of coaching figured out before next year.
I hope that Foley sees that it's our coordinators that are the issue and steps up to the plate and finds some replacements and pays them accordingly. It's a shame what we pay vs. some other schools.
Can I borrow your towel? My car just hit a water buffalo.