Here We Go...

[DRU2012]

I agree completely, but there ARE still dangers: these are young men, after all. On the one hand, there was that great scene of the whole team together in the locker room after the game. Did you see it? (Video avail at GatorVision and/or GatorZone) Gathered around their Head Coach and just enjoying it as a team, chanting together in response to everything he had to say, just gave me a big grin and chills up'n'down my whole body. Then there are the individual fits of bragadocio and penalty-inducing stupidity that cost us big during the game--and in so closely fought a contest COULD have cost us the game itself. We cut it out in the 2nd half again, let THEM do the dumb stuff, but those first halves continue to be a real trial--and I'm not convinced it is anything but SELF-inflicted, something that is part of a deeper danger that needs to be addressed "sooner rather than later" if we want to avoid an unnecessary loss to a team we are actually superior to (which is the general topic I address in the new thread).
All in all, though, this was a big win, a TRUE "signature win" for Muschamp and this whole Gator team, who have now fully crossed the line on their way to becoming a completely different team than before--young, tough, relentlessly hard-nosed, a work still-in-progress but the foundation and a glimpse of the armored juggernaut we are going to be in the years ahead.

 

[Escambia94]

One thing that stuck out with me is that under the Meyer regime, the players surrounded Meyer and celebrated. In that video of Muschamp, he was one of them doing the celebrating. Meyer controlled the team differently, like the disassociated military father that demands discipline while displaying behavior to the contrary. Muschamp is more like a strict dad that knows when to let his guard down and when to enforce discipline. I hope that means the players are more afraid of disappointing the coach at a personal level than they are of being threatened with stadium runs. Meyer's brand of discipline worked well because Ron Zook was just one of the guys. The players respected him as coach, but not as a man. Meyer comes in and takes everything away from the players--the Gator head, the nice pre-game meals, preferential treatment for good performers, etc. He gave it back when players earned it back, and the Gators won a national championship. The problem is that approach does not work if you let the players walk all over you after that championship. In that regard, the 2006 Gators were better than the 2008 Gators. The 2006 Gators were coached to a championship; the 2008 Gators were led to a championship on the field by Timmy Tebow. The 2009 Gators fell short, because Tebow's leadership was not enough to overcome the primadonna attitude of the players in the absence of a formerly strict Urban Meyer. Meyer lost control of the team in 2009 and 2010.

Fast forward to 2012. This team has survived some painful experiences since 2011, and they identify with one another. They respect the coach. This coach will not let anyone walk all over him (at least not until they win the national championship). This coach is part of the team, not above it. This team will go places as long as they maintain that relationship. If this happens, then we should not see any Carlos Dunlap incidents or Chris Rainey stupidity and the Gators should be fine.