LOLOL
Hilarious:
I woke up in wee hours for a moment, then for good very early (espec for a Sunday) to the very same two questions...
Coffee now in hand, cinnamon roll before me, I will soon proceed to dig for the latest news in this rapidly developing "change in direction" (to say the least) for our program. Time for somewhat of a (potentially premature?) "Leap of Faith":
First...
Now that it's here, can we all agree that it was/is necessary, however we got here? I'll certainly concede that I didn't see it coming so soon--nor that it would be so sudden and strong. If it proceeds apace, now even gathers momentum (we'll know THAT if and when the annoucement comes today, Mon. morning at the latest), that change and quick turn-around will soon be in full swing, as it MUST BE. In any other scenario, for sure the kind of "bleed for years, then start over AGAIN the same old way", a by-then-hollow remnant of what we once were, filled only by our own regime's hype and predictably upbeat-but-empty claims, it would have been at BEST a very LOOOOONG, difficult road back--with no guarantee it'd go any better than the last 2 efforts. One thing is certain, this was something that was clearly brewing, alternatives planned for--and most of all, the preferred "NEXT Coach" already targeted and at least preliminarily approached...IF this does continue in the way it has so quickly developed thus far, this time there's at least a CHANCE that we can rebound as quickly, our recovery and return to elite status COULD be more along the lines of the one post-Zook, as opposed to post-"everything post-Meyer" (granting of course that like everyone and everything following his "practice-quit" after the '09 debacle in the SEC Championship against the Tide, even MEYER--really "defacto-Addazio"--fell into the category referred to above as "everything post-Meyer"!). It will all depend on who the the next Coach is (see "PS" below). NOT just whom they have targeted (though "best case scenario" is that they had not only already marked their "RIGHT GUY", but that ideally that one TAKES it: Fate has a way of steering things differently than one's ideas about "ideal", after all). But given where we are and seem headed now, versus where we were and seemed to be headed just 24 hrs ago, I think we can say that there's a plan, and relatively speaking, we have considerably more cause for HOPE this morn than we had any right to expect before Mr. MacEllwaine did everyone but himself a favor and shot his mouth off again.
(PS: As I've noted elsewhere, among the first somewhat guard-down, pre-clamp-down "party line" reactions blurted out by the "insiders" I sometimes hit for this sort of insight, there were snippets of not-so-hidden "hints" that I may or may not be reading right even now--but if they mean what I think they might mean (admittedly a pretty damn thin "line of reasoning"), then it may well be that the "target" for next Coach, the supposed "guy we always had our eye on" was/is Charlie Strong.
I won't say that I had him at the TOP of MY "list" (I guess up til now I admittedly leaned towards more of a "gamble for a big payoff", someone like Chip Kelly, who is a great PRO coach but has little recent experience with the college game, let alone coaching and RUNNING a college program, which is clearly a whole diff deal in every way)--BUT: STRONG has been ON my "list" among those current college coaches at the top of said list. Up til now I assumed that between Mac's contract and Charlie's sense of honor (unlike Mac, it seems, Strong really does have one, and listens to it)--after his stint at Texas, not wanting to be the guy that undermined another coach's already troubled situation, AND having himself made a commitment by contract and implication to USF, its administration, the players there AND the recruits HE brought in, that he would "turn around, rebuild and bring a new standard of discipline and success" to them--altogether meaning it seemed that the EARLIEST he'd entertain offers from anyone, even UF (reportedly the one job he had/STILL has a yearning for), until after NEXT season...But I have now been told (and can see for myself is the case to varying degrees) that all of the above and more has either "already been fulfilled" OR been subsequently "rendered moot by circumstances".
We can get him if we want him NOW, it seems.
No Einstein needed to know: we GOTTA get it RIGHT this time. SO true, SO much the case, that maybe it is that alone that gives pause to ANYONE taking the job. Always a high-profile, high-pressure position, perhaps Charlie doesn't want or NEED that much stress after all. After his experiences at Texas, I for one could understand him "settling" for longterm support, trust, and gratitude for what he's already accomplished, the very standards he has already set and can continue at USF. There's the money-gap, but in the final analysis I doubt that will be the thing that decides the question: One reason he probably DOES stand apart from most others is his own standards, the ones I think he sets for himself, his life and goals and those around him. If he goes after something, he expects himself AND everyone who joins him to GO FOR IT, ALL THE WAY--fully and together. Hard NOT to follow someone like that--and if he's "the ONE", and they DO make good that commitment, we'll be the potential beneficiaries:
Gator football ultimately once again flying high.
