Embarrassed

[G8RB8R]

...A QB is more than a passer. Ask Dan Marino how many SuperBowls he has won by being the best passer in history. As Joe Montana what it's like to be a QB that was too small, too skinny, and not as outgoing as most QBs, yet still win four SuperBowls.

They need a coach that will channel those experiences into good practice sessions and good gameday execution.

This means that the veterans need to stop acting like prima donnas and mentor the youngsters knowing that the veterans are probably too old to see a championship team--it ain't gonna happen in 2011. It COULD happen in 2012 if the right players step up in 2011 and align all the pieces.

All the great QBs at Florida have had one thing in common....a great offensive line. Great receivers will always rise to the top, it's up to the coaches to realize that player's potential and use him correctly. But that's not necessarilky the case in a great line. It was the very first indication this year that something was wrong...moving Pouncey to center. No cohesion, no unity, no protection. Then throw into that mix, a QB not suited for the spread offense.

Geez, did no one on the coaching staff realize that you change your offense according to their strengths and weaknesses? When Tebow graduated, and knowing the type of QB Brantley is, why didn't the offense change to reflect his strength? If SOS had been the coach this year, does anyone really think that Brantley would have remained the starter for very long? Shane Matthews was not the starting QB in 1990, but SOS knew Shane could run his style of offense. Same with Terry Dean and Danny W. Matthews replace a starter that was never heard from again. Danny replaced Dean, who was never heard from again. Just because Brantley can throw, does not mean he is the best fit. Make the change!

Besides, there's a whole plethora of problems on both sides of the ball. Let's not forget about the defense. The only teams we could stop, were those that were worse than us, none that were better. Again, it starts with the line.

I view football players the same way I view soldiers. On the front line, I want the meanest nastiest guys you can find. I want killers! LOL Not nice guys. I want MARINES! I want Wilbur Marshall types! Really scary guys, the kind that other teams actually fear. We need them most of all on the D-Line.

And, please, Santa, we want a really big, beefy, bruising tailback, ala Errict Rhett, for Christmas. He doesn't have to be fast, but he has to be a monster!

 

[Escambia94]

All the great QBs at Florida have had one thing in common....a great offensive line. Great receivers will always rise to the top, it's up to the coaches to realize that player's potential and use him correctly. But that's not necessarilky the case in a great line. It was the very first indication this year that something was wrong...moving Pouncey to center. No cohesion, no unity, no protection. Then throw into that mix, a QB not suited for the spread offense.

Geez, did no one on the coaching staff realize that you change your offense according to their strengths and weaknesses? When Tebow graduated, and knowing the type of QB Brantley is, why didn't the offense change to reflect his strength? If SOS had been the coach this year, does anyone really think that Brantley would have remained the starter for very long? Shane Matthews was not the starting QB in 1990, but SOS knew Shane could run his style of offense. Same with Terry Dean and Danny W. Matthews replace a starter that was never heard from again. Danny replaced Dean, who was never heard from again. Just because Brantley can throw, does not mean he is the best fit. Make the change!

Besides, there's a whole plethora of problems on both sides of the ball. Let's not forget about the defense. The only teams we could stop, were those that were worse than us, none that were better. Again, it starts with the line.

I view football players the same way I view soldiers. On the front line, I want the meanest nastiest guys you can find. I want killers! LOL Not nice guys. I want MARINES! I want Wilbur Marshall types! Really scary guys, the kind that other teams actually fear. We need them most of all on the D-Line.

And, please, Santa, we want a really big, beefy, bruising tailback, ala Errict Rhett, for Christmas. He doesn't have to be fast, but he has to be a monster!

Good point. Meyer wants speed, but we cannot have all 11 players run the 40 in 4.4. We need receivers and RBs that run a 4.4, but an o-line that can move a school bus. Same with the defense. There needs to be a mix of nasty, angry athletes that like to eat quarterbacks for breakfast, plus some speedsters to intercept passes and hawk down runners.

I'm in the Air Force, so I want fast jet Airmen at WR and RB, plus some Marines and Soldiers on the o-line and d-line. Throw in a 3rd down running back that can also be used against teams that are dominating the line of scrimmage. Face it, with this offense, we cannot rely solely on a bruiser back. We do need a mix. Meyer prefers the scatback for 1st and 2nd down, but if we need to call on a bruiser for 3rd and 4th down, we need to have him ready. Moooody was not the answer.

 

[DRU2012]

I agree with (and have really ENJOYED) the back-and-forth between Escambia94 and G8RB8R here. In fact, all I've had to do was sit back and follow it; things I thought of adding one of y'all have covered.
My time at UF came in between yours (though it would have likely overlapped the last couple of years of G8RB8R's if not for my joining up for a DIFFERENT "education"--as it is, I had to suffer Dickey's last season and Pell's first: Q: "What was your record this past season?" A: "Oh, 10 and 1..."), so I follow and greatly appreciate the perspective of our long , rough climb and what it has to tell us about today's team, and its future.
I LOVE the idea of applying our various service specialties to on-field position and performance, so I hope you'll indulge me in suggesting one more. Granted I'm a bit biased in this regard, but I think it is in the spirit of your comments regarding the quarterback position when I recommend a Special Force-type individual in that role. He needs to be both a leader and a team-player, a young man with multiple skills who leads by example and thinks on his feet. Intelligent, inventive and determined, he has to be able to execute a plan, yet independent and adaptive enough to deal with suddenly changed circumstances. He must be able to inspire even while remaining cool under pressure. There are a lot of young men who are great athletes, but without the rest, will never be great QBs.

 

[Escambia94]

That. Is. Brilliant. In this offense, the quarterback is a special forces operative. Capable of multiple tasks, independent thinker, and special capabilities. Very astute observation. I'm not special forces, but I have worked with them. Tebow was a Navy SEAL or Marine Force Recon. Chris Leak was a Delta Force--much quieter, blending into the environment. Brantley is regular Air Force--quiet, precise (so we are told), but rather "corporate".

 

[DRU2012]

You got it. Now, we KNOW that isn't Brantley...there ARE some promising "candidates", already here AND on the way, no?

 

[G8RB8R]

LOL Brantley reminds me of von Paulus at Stalingrad. ie-Paulus was a brain at organization, highly efficient and very good. But he was not a field general, no combat experience at all. He attained the position simply because he was in the right place at the right time. It wasn't that Paulus was a bad general, just a general that was suited for a different role, not combat. And we all know what happened at Stalingrad.

When SOS was at UF, he was not only the Chief of Staff, he WAS the Field General. Which I guess made the QB the brigadier. Spurrier's mind was actually on the field for every offensive play.

With Tebow, he really was the field general, as he could read the defenses and adapt to what was thrown at him.....successfully. So true..."Capable of multiple tasks, independent thinker, and special capabilities." I haven't seen that ability in Brantley at all. Not to run the John into the ground, but the most outstanding thing I can say about him, is that he is the nephew of Scott Brantley, another ogre of the defense.

And, Chris Leak proved that you did not have to have Tebow's size & strength to win. Just a good cool head on your shoulders. I loved the guy. I still have his Gator poster up in my office.

As to new recruits who will be coming aboard, I think I will wait until signing day to see if we get those guys that we really need for the positions that, IMHO, have the greatest urgency.

 

[Escambia94]

LOL Brantley reminds me of von Paulus at Stalingrad. ie-Paulus was a brain at organization, highly efficient and very good. But he was not a field general, no combat experience at all. He attained the position simply because he was in the right place at the right time. It wasn't that Paulus was a bad general, just a general that was suited for a different role, not combat. And we all know what happened at Stalingrad.

When SOS was at UF, he was not only the Chief of Staff, he WAS the Field General. Which I guess made the QB the brigadier. Spurrier's mind was actually on the field for every offensive play.

With Tebow, he really was the field general, as he could read the defenses and adapt to what was thrown at him.....successfully. So true..."Capable of multiple tasks, independent thinker, and special capabilities." I haven't seen that ability in Brantley at all. Not to run the John into the ground, but the most outstanding thing I can say about him, is that he is the nephew of Scott Brantley, another ogre of the defense.

And, Chris Leak proved that you did not have to have Tebow's size & strength to win. Just a good cool head on your shoulders. I loved the guy. I still have his Gator poster up in my office.

As to new recruits who will be coming aboard, I think I will wait until signing day to see if we get those guys that we really need for the positions that, IMHO, have the greatest urgency.

I love Chris Leak. He served us well under three separate offenses, two head coaches. He did everything that was asked of him and more. He is positive proof that a pure passer like Brantley can survive in this offense. We can argue all day long that Brantley did not have a DeShawn Wynne running back or a better offensive line, to which I would argue that you can look at the video and see that Leak had to scramble. Leak did not like doing so, but he did it. Brantley cannot scramble, move in the pocket, make a new pocket, or even roll out. These are all skills he would need in any modern offense.

 

[G8RB8R]

I guess I should respond directly to the title of this thread, EMBARRASSED.

Embarrassed is what Nebraska did to the 1995 team in our very first National Championship game. And they could have embarrassed us even more, if they had wanted to.

Embarrassed is what our Gators did to f$u the following year in the Sugar Bowl.

Embarrassed is what our Gators did to Maryland back in the 2001 Orange Bowl.

Embarrassed is what our Gators did to West Virginia in the 1992 Sugar Bowl.

Embarrassed is what our Gators did to "mighty" Cinncinatti in the Sugar Bowl last year.

Embarrassed in not how I view our season at all. My term is DISGUSTING.

To watch week after week of the same thing every game, knowing what the problems appeared to be, and with little done to correct them, with Meyer's affirmation that he will not make any changes, well, that is.... DISGUSTING!

Those who are not of age to remember the Doug Dickey years....this is what it was like. I remember everyone in the stands screaming at Dickey for the same things. Wait til next year, was just more of the same mediocrity from the year before. Still, some really great players came from those years. But I don't ever remember being embarrassed.....I just remember how disgusted I was at the time!

 

[DRU2012]

Yes. You're right. "Disgusted" is the proper description. "Embarrassed" requires a personal emotional stake that wasn't there. Those were our players out there, but that was NEVER "our" offense. Like those "bad old days" you point to, that was just one guy's stubborn flogging of an unimaginative, transparently feeble and long-since-discredited offense. This time it's Addazio in the Dickey-role--and the question remains: Why has Urban Meyer continued to allow this to play out for so long?
Until his "breakdown"/flip-flop/midlife crisis (choose one), Meyer was every bit the "hands on" Field General as SOS, in his own way (more Bellesarius, or even Frederick the Great in his combination of free-wheeling innovation and personal power-to-inspire). However, where he can be forgiven for being reticent to tinker with Addazio's otherwise ham-fisted use of Tebow during '09 as long as it brought victory, his abject shock at it's all coming apart in the SEC Championship, along with everything that's happened since, has left us with some serious questions, to say the least.
As for Tebow, BTW, I see him more as Hans Guderian, a Blitzkrieg tank commander who "wrote the book" on mobile tactics, hitting hard, bashing through and making a dash for the open...
And if Brantley is Van Paulus, who then do we put down as Hitler, his Fuhrer who keeps ordering him into the maelstrom, neither providing what he needs to compete nor permitting any retreat, in the process blindly, stubbornly sealing his doom? Addazio? Perhaps, but in this case of course there was someone who could "end the madness" at any time--still can, but will he?