My fear

[GoGators01]

is that were going to be stuck with this brantley/addazio offense next year too. although its pretty much the entire offense thats in disarray. i just hope urban doesnt let this happen 2 years in a row.

 

[GainesvillebornNraised]

yea and to keep doing that stupid 3 QB thing would be horrible

hopefully meyer knows addazio sucks and driskel makes a big impact next yr in practice

 

[Leakfan12]

Just hope that Foley knows what he's doing and talks with Meyer.

 

[DRU2012]

Y'all covered some of the main points above.
I'm seeing a pretty clear consensus growing--and not just here at the "--Envy".
Some blame Meyer and some don't, but we all seem to wonder what he's thinking, and feel he holds ultimate responsibility for what has happened and what comes next. Beyond that, we ALL "hope that Foley knows what he's doing and talks with Meyer"!
We're all in pretty solid agreement that Addazio HAS to go as OC (at LEAST demoted--not everyone wants to see him fired; he IS a solid recruiter), that Brantley shouldn't be the quarterback (he's a good guy, he wasn't given the offense he was promised, he may turn out to be a hell of a pro, but he hasn't seized his chances, hasn't looked good and it clearly just isn't working--if the tales of his angry threats to leave are true, I can't blame him, and believe that his instincts in this are correct and for the best), and our fastest way back to reestablishing our offensive dominance appears to be in bringing in young Driskell and working him into that offense as soon and as quickly as possible (and in the meantime, making Reed the starter while Driskell learns the playbook, gets his feet wet and comes up to speed).
Did I leave anything out?

 

[CaliZona_Gator]

Brantley can improve, give him more comfortable in the pocket and his numbers will be a lot better. But Addazio must go.

 

[Escambia94]

I have given up on the "Addazio must go" line of thinking and have moved on to the "Gators must find a way to win despite Addazio" line of thinking. With the right players we can still win with the Dazzler, but history has shown that the wins will fall short of beating a powerhouse Alabama. That's what worries me. The way things are going it looks as if Addazio and Meyer are a package deal and we need to learn to live with it. Should it be that way? No. That it what it looks like we are stuck with at least through 2012. Repeat for Brantley, except we only need to survive a year with him and hope Driskel is worth the wait.

 

[DunnellonDave]

is that were going to be stuck with this brantley/addazio offense next year too. although its pretty much the entire offense thats in disarray. i just hope urban doesnt let this happen 2 years in a row.

Well if you ask me next year would be 3 horrible years in a row. I couldn't stand to watch the offense last year the only difference is we had Tebow running the ball when the walls came crashing down. Plus alot more of a supporting cast but with what we had we still had to fight week in and week out when we should have been blowing teams out thanks to the play calling by Addazio.

 

[DRU2012]

But Addazio really IS "The Main Problem". I know your "acceptance" is both an attempt at stark realism and a stab at personal equilibrium, your own specific application of the concept, "Making the best of a bad situation", but if it really is true that "Addazio and Meyer are a package deal", then the odds are no better than 50/50 (and some of us would say a lot worse than that) that this could all end very messily next year if/when things go from bad to worse--or merely stay the same, for that matter! Your own excellent statistical and analytical skills should tell that tale, Escambia'94.
(Again, given that I see no sign thus far of Meyer moving him aside, I understand your resignation--and honestly hope I am wrong.)

 

[DRU2012]

whaaaaat?

 

[Escambia94]

But Addazio really IS "The Main Problem". I know your "acceptance" is both an attempt at stark realism and a stab at personal equilibrium, your own specific application of the concept, "Making the best of a bad situation", but if it really is true that "Addazio and Meyer are a package deal", then the odds are no better than 50/50 (and some of us would say a lot worse than that) that this could all end very messily next year if/when things go from bad to worse--or merely stay the same, for that matter! Your own excellent statistical and analytical skills should tell that tale, Escambia'94.
(Again, given that I see no sign thus far of Meyer moving him aside, I understand your resignation--and honestly hope I am wrong.)

Absolutely. EVERYBODY on earth outside of SA and UM knows that Steve "the Dazzler" Addazio is the main problem. One thing that Urban Meyer has shown us is that he is fiercely loyal to his coaches and players. The Pouncey twins could no wrong. Brantley was guaranteed to be the Gator starting QB whether or not Camburglar left UF. Addazio will never have anything negative pinned on him. Those are qualities we both admire and hate about Urban Meyer III. We can all agree that it would be better for the program if Urban Meyer would be "the bad guy" and demote Addazio to offensive line coach. It won't happen without someone like Jeremy Foley intervening. What I don't know is what Foley's breaking point will be. I can only guess that Foley will intervene if profit from the football program takes a significant two-year dip. Foley is the chief financial officer of the Florida sports programs, so if 2010 is not a financial loss he may not rock the boat. Keep in mind that it took three successive bad seasons for Foley to fire his friend Ron Zook. Even though many of us would call 2009 a bad season, the wins and the dollars say 2009 was a good season that fell one win short with no financial impact. Today we will be able to draw a good conclusion on 2010. If we win, 2010 was disappointing but we will probably win the recruiting battle. If we lose and recruits switch to FSU then we have one bad season--Urban Meyer and Dazzler get at least one more, maybe two more years.

How can we get a new offensive coordinator? That is what we need to figure out. Do we hire some strippers to get caught with the Dazzler in a compromising situation? Does Foley intervene and hire an offensive co-coordinator to "alleviate the stress from Addazio"? Does Urban Meyer hire an old friend? There are not many Meyer assistants left who know his Plan to Win that are not currently head coaches or who we would want in that position.

 

[DunnellonDave]

whaaaaat?

Thank gawd I thought it was me!

 

[Escambia94]

I reported post #9 as SPAM. The link takes you to a French (?) shopping site. I wouldn't trust it.

 

[DRU2012]

I really like your "LA Confidential"-sleazy-doublecross idea--I myself have imagined a more straight forward "gesture", for eg. hiring a creampie-hitman. Just daydreams, of course ("uh-huh, right, just kidding, wasn't me!"), but SOME kind of "in your face" embarrassment using humor (that one a bit literal, I guess) and widepread publicity DOES seem warranted, even NECESSARY. Can you imagine how far and wide images of that sort of stunt would spread now? Talk about forcing the door to dialogue open...THAT would blow it off its hinges!

 

[Escambia94]

I wouldn't want the Addazio downfall to draw too many headlines. Hiring a hit-man would be waaay too suspicious and would force too much negative publicity all year long. Just make it a quick one-and-done scandal. It needs to be something that will only draw headlines for about a month, then let us find a replacement. That also means it needs to happen in December so that Urban Meyer has to act as OC or let Azzanni or Loeffler be the OC in whatever bowl game we get.

As much as we have talked up Loeffler, Azzanni is a better fit if Meyer were to hire and promote from within. Azzanni has history with Meyer at Bowling Green, whereas Loeffler is somewhat new to the Urban Meyer clan.

 

[DRU2012]

I don't know...if ever there was a guy who DESERVED a very public creampie-in-the-face it's our OC.
(sigh) But I suppose you're right...a quiet "moved to other duties" would certainly be preferred. It's just that (as you'll note in my post on another thread here) I am SO pessimistic as to our fate should he remain in that position. I'm trying to "kid my way" out of a deepening sense of frustration and hopelessness at the "bunker mentality", the complete lack of imagination and flexibility that has come to dominate his tenure here. I want so badly to see these heavy clouds lifted.

 

[BrianFL]

In my opinion the biggest problem with the team is the offensive line. Its clear that they have a lot of confusion, which means to me that they need somebody dedicated just to them. I'm not an Adazzio basher but it may be that he can't be off. coord. and also off. line coach.

Don't fire anybody, just hire a dedicated offensive line coach.

Keep Brantley as starting QB. Its simple, he is the best passer. They can keep the 3 headed monster with Burton and Reid, there is nothing wrong with it if the team is not confused.

Offensive scheme.....Adazzio is trying to make up for loss of Tebow and Cam Newton by creating a lot of uncertainty/misdirection. Unfortunately, our players are getting confused and there have been offensive line problems. Adazzio probably really does know his X's and O's or I don't think Urban would have made him OC, that would be setting him up to fail.

 

[Escambia94]

I agree somewhat. With the offensive line that was supposed to be our strength with five veterans, we may have won a few more games. We still may not have beaten Alabama or USCe. I'm beginning to think it would not have saved us against SOW. This is assuming JB had a dependable running back to make up for his lack of mobility.

We can't fire anybody, because there are no more top-tier coaches left! By bringing in a hot shot outsider from a small school we gained a coach that lacks tie-ins to big name assistants. None of the remaining assistants helped Meyer develop his plan to win or were primary developers of championship teams. Not only was the loss of Mullen a big deal, but also Strong. Both poached our pool of talented assistants. Meyer cannot afford to lose Addazio--he is all that is left! Azzanni has some history with Meyer, so he is the next most senior that knows the Plan To Win.

Chris Leak proved John Brantley could fit in this scheme. Granted, Leak had a better o-line, a dependable running back, and playmaker receivers. JB has none of that, but there is still no proof that he is as good as Leak if you gave those things to JB. Throw all the excuses you want, but JB's stats place him as one of the bottom three starting Gator QBs.

In conclusion:
- Brantley is over-rated. He fits this offense as well as Chris Leak, but lacks whatever Leak's skills.
- O-line sucks
- No playmakers
- No running back to babysit JB
- No more innovative coaches

 

[DRU2012]

NO.
I'm sorry, but Brantley is ALSO part of the problem.
(In descending order, I would go "Addazio, Brantley, Offensive-line" for offense, whereas a new Defensive Coordinator and 1 good DE is "all" that needs changing on "D".)
You know it's true, Escambia'94; I THINK that in your current "resigned-to-a-bad-situation" state-of-mind you are trying in a way to make the best of it (sort of like trying to mix some optimism in with your pessimism).
Look, there are SO many signs of Brantley's poor fit on this team, along with endless examples of his failures in both the physical and mental aspects of being a quarterback at this level, but it comes down to this: he doesn't have "it". I'm not talking about "likeability"; this isn't a popularity contest. He is not a LEADER. Call it passivity, say he's "lost confidence", but I say it just isn't THERE. The quarterback of the Florida Gators HAS to go out there and seize the moment. The rest of the team MUST believe in him. Has he EVER done even one thing, had one moment on the field that made you go, "Wow! That kid has GOT IT!"? The other two guys HAVE...Hell, Burton apparently can't hardly throw the ball and I'd rather have HIM in there. Reed is clearly the best fit, for now. Make him the starter getting all those extra reps with the first team, a whole spring and summer with attention from the QB Coach and working out with the receivers, and a good OC (believe me, E-, we could get a good one--he'd see it as a possible gateway to becoming the Head Coach, some day) will have PLENTY to work with there. With any luck, he'll provide a serviceable alternative while Driskell comes in, gets up to speed at this talent-level, learns the offense, and eventually makes this team HIS in 2012. Brantley becomes the back-up, if he stays, and we go from there. All-in-all, that doesn't sound like a bad plan to me.

 

[Escambia94]

NO.
I'm sorry, but Brantley is ALSO part of the problem.
(In descending order, I would go "Addazio, Brantley, Offensive-line" for offense, whereas a new Defensive Coordinator and 1 good DE is "all" that needs changing on "D".)
You know it's true, Escambia'94; I THINK that in your current "resigned-to-a-bad-situation" state-of-mind you are trying in a way to make the best of it (sort of like trying to mix some optimism in with your pessimism).
Look, there are SO many signs of Brantley's poor fit on this team, along with endless examples of his failures in both the physical and mental aspects of being a quarterback at this level, but it comes down to this: he doesn't have "it". I'm not talking about "likeability"; this isn't a popularity contest. He is not a LEADER. Call it passivity, say he's "lost confidence", but I say it just isn't THERE. The quarterback of the Florida Gators HAS to go out there and seize the moment. The rest of the team MUST believe in him. Has he EVER done even one thing, had one moment on the field that made you go, "Wow! That kid has GOT IT!"? The other two guys HAVE...Hell, Burton apparently can't hardly throw the ball and I'd rather have HIM in there. Reed is clearly the best fit, for now. Make him the starter getting all those extra reps with the first team, a whole spring and summer with attention from the QB Coach and working out with the receivers, and a good OC (believe me, E-, we could get a good one--he'd see it as a possible gateway to becoming the Head Coach, some day) will have PLENTY to work with there. With any luck, he'll provide a serviceable alternative while Driskell comes in, gets up to speed at this talent-level, learns the offense, and eventually makes this team HIS in 2012. Brantley becomes the back-up, if he stays, and we go from there. All-in-all, that doesn't sound like a bad plan to me.

Absolutely. Brantley failed to earn the job as starting QB for the Gators, but there was nobody left to supplant him. Urban Meyer is not being honest with us on Jordan Reed. If you have a Scout.com IN subscription you can read more here or here at GatorCountry. I will summarize the Scout.com report like this: "Jordan Reed is a team player willing to wait and do whatever it takes to play quarterback for the Gators." Essentially, Jordan Reed was taken because we could not land Denard Richardson (Michigan) or Aaron Murray (Leghumpers). I find it odd that they abandoned the thought of letting Reed be the #2 behind Brantley without developing Burton's passing abilities. On top of that, Reed warmed up with QBs before each game and his passes looked alright. The offense isn't THAT complicated if Addazio can coach it. What gives?

I'm not saying that Jordan Reed is the better quarterback than John Brantley. I am saying that he is a better fit for this offense when our running backs are injured. JB's success is tied to the offensive line and his running backs, as well as a playmaker receiver. Reed's success at QB is tied to his own ability to make plays, as well as average performance by his receivers. (Did you see him uncork that 80-yard laser?!)

 

[DRU2012]

Absolutely. Brantley failed to earn the job as starting QB for the Gators, but there was nobody left to supplant him. Urban Meyer is not being honest with us on Jordan Reed. If you have a Scout.com IN subscription you can read more here or here at GatorCountry. I will summarize the Scout.com report like this: "Jordan Reed is a team player willing to wait and do whatever it takes to play quarterback for the Gators." Essentially, Jordan Reed was taken because we could not land Denard Richardson (Michigan) or Aaron Murray (Leghumpers). I find it odd that they abandoned the thought of letting Reed be the #2 behind Brantley without developing Burton's passing abilities. On top of that, Reed warmed up with QBs before each game and his passes looked alright. The offense isn't THAT complicated if Addazio can coach it. What gives?

I'm not saying that Jordan Reed is the better quarterback than John Brantley. I am saying that he is a better fit for this offense when our running backs are injured. JB's success is tied to the offensive line and his running backs, as well as a playmaker receiver. Reed's success at QB is tied to his own ability to make plays, as well as average performance by his receivers. (Did you see him uncork that 80-yard laser?!)

Right--we're on the same page now.
The coaches (like the folks out there who are still hung up on "the beautiful ball he throws" and how "he tore it up in highschool") need to step back and remember: Brantley has had a whole season now to show what he's got HERE. At this level your performance is judged by your results, and (at QB especially) NONE of it matters if you can't or won't do all the "little" things that raise the play of everyone around you.
In this way, Jordan Reed has shown all the signs an OC should be looking for in a quarterback, while Brantley (with a whole lot more opportunity to do so) has not.

This brings us to what I think of as "The Brink", a "next-step-is-a-doozy" in the logic-chain so fraught with emotional power and potential backlash that I hesitate even bringing it up at all...perhaps that's why I raise it here, rather than giving it it's airing in a separate, brand new thread as I was considering. After all, the topic-title of this thread is "My fear".
Here it is:

Moving John Brantley aside is the proverbial "no-brainer".
What does it say about Steve Addazio that, given the offense he KNEW he was going to run, the offense he himself says is "what we do here at UF", he not only couldn't see that Brantley was a poor fit, it appears he STILL doesn't get it?
Similarly, moving ADDAZIO aside is ALSO a "no-brainer"--probably even a BIGGER one (if that's possible). What does it say about Urban Meyer that, given the fall-off in offensive production already seen in '09 (when the Dazed One had TIM TEBOW, BTW!) AND the OC's failure to adapt that offense to suit the ill-fitting QB he'd already settled on for 2010 without even considering the alternatives, the Head Coach not only refused to consider replacing him, it appears he STILL won't/(can't bring himself to?) do it?
Now we turn the causal-line around (and PLEASE GOD I hope I'm wrong):
I don't think Meyer changes the OC; having painted himself into the "honor and loyalty"-corner, how can he do it AFTER sending his friend, the current OC out there to tell recruits (among other things) "you'll be playing for me", only to immediately thereafter break trust with him AND them?
Moreover, having reread transcripts of comments from his post-game and Sunday TV show, it is clear to me that despite claiming not to make excuses, Meyer REALLY blames "injuries" and "the players" for most of the team's woes this past season. Look for yourself. The rest of his promises and vows are general and vague. He neither takes any specific or direct responsibility for what has happened, nor does he place any on his staff.
With no change at OC, there is no change at QB.
In this, they are COUNTING on a healthier "O"-line and a few "tweaks to the offensive scheme" to show the world that JB is the quarterback they THOUGHT he would be, and (above all) that THEY WERE RIGHT ALL ALONG. We've already covered that: he is not, THEY are not. Meanwhile, we'll be having to weather (among other things) the learning curve for a completely inexperienced center, there are still question marks and confusion in our receiver corps, and help at running back in the person of Mack Brown has yet to be revealed. All in all, a recipe for very little change in overall offensive efficiency or production--and "status quo" will NOT be accepted next season.
No change at QB, little change in performance, outcome or excitement--do not underestimate the importance of passion in young men at the college level, the "feel" engendered in everyone on the field with a leader who inspires them. When there, the crowd catches it too; when it's not, what's missing is felt not just on the field but by the fans as well. They/we are not going to take that for another year; it'll get ugly well before another similar season comes limping to it's end a year from now.
SO. Logic-Chain Yielding Logical Conclusion:
No change at OC=No change at QB=No meaningful change in on-field play OR season's outcome----->CHANGE AT HEAD COACH

(That leaves it to the Defense to improve so much that it can basically hold this team up virtually by itself. We DO have a lot of young talent over there, potentially some of the best in the country. As I say, get a killer DE or two, a Defensive Coordinator who knows the college game and has an aggressive approach to blitz-packages and pressuring the quarterback, and we MAY have something special rounding into form by mid-season. It isn't impossible, but even then it requires that offense to produce more points more consistently than this year's edition, even once that theoretical "Improving Defense of the Future" begins to gel. Meanwhile, getting beat by 3 at home when our "D" does everything it can AND MORE while our offense can't manage even a fieldgoal from the 20 to get us to overtime, was too disappointing and frustrating to bare the FIRST time, let alone going through anything like it again--this offense MUST "improve or ELSE".)

So that's it. Either Addazio and Brantley are moved aside, or too little changes next season and by the time it's over, Meyer is gone...and I don't think either are going anywhere now.
I don't like it, I absolutely dread the reality that we'd have to live through, and above all I HOPE I'M WRONG...but those are the signs I see.
Anyway, that's 'My fear"...go ahead and tear me apart.
Just try to remember I'm a Gator--one who loves our team, school and program forever, and HATES the idea of us all sweating and suffering through decline, turmoil and a long road back that could have been avoided.

(The worst part of this scenario is that if it DOES go down, I see no way to change anything BEFORE it all plays itself out. Only Foley could do that, and I agree with those of you who say he won't--not before going through another season like this one, which merely fills in HIS part in the melodrama described above.)