(Sigh)...and who among us saw a thread like
THIS one coming by the USC(e) game? Who anticipated thinking/feeling/saying things like this at
ALL??!
Yeah, we can make our "valiant efforts" too (and yes, @
Escambia94, you've again nailed the mixture of approval and back-to-earth realism regarding Murphy, for eg.), like "trying to be positive" in the face of a complete softening of and steady slide in every facet of our team, its spirit, attitude and play...That's what I'm most disappointed in, and why I ultimately hold Muschamp himself responsible:
He came in with this strident set of "principles", proclaiming "We're gonna be tough, we're gonna be conditioned, we're gonna win the 4th quarter, and
NOWHERE will you find a more determined, more patient or more disciplined
TEAM", and so on--and altho' I reserved judgment at first, he quickly won me over with his hard line, making good on getting rid of the "Me-First"-@$$holes still here from the previous regime, no matter their skill-level or even supposed "importance" to that first season or two's won-loss totals. He seemed to have a real "big picture" view, knew what he wanted and where we were going, and I bought into it. It even appeared to be taking hold, was working, by the evidence on the defensive side of the ball.
Maybe if he'd really made good on his promises regarding how the offense would be developed and run, with "the right person" in there at OC getting similar results---Who am I kidding? Of
COURSE that would have made the difference! But at this point it isn't simply about the offense or who's behind it--though even now a wholesale change and improvement in that area would be a welcome "patch" over what are clearly deeper problems throughout the fabric of the team (and would be an acceptable "fix" if it could work that way--I don't have to "admire" the Head Coach in order to be more than satisfied with his work and its results: I didn't "like" Urban Meyer, but was entirely satisfied with his "regime" and the results they brought us--but once its members started fleeing elsewhere, we all saw those "results" dwindle, and I had no real loyalty to Urban himself
except as our Head Coach--anymore than he had for us, btw, as it turned out--and/or his talentless lap-dog Addazio, once that's what we were essentially left with).
I don't think a relative "come back" of fairly dramatic proportions is impossible going into next season, btw, even if the "half-measures" we've talked about (Muschamp staying, a post-season shake-up at and around the OC) turn out to be the extent of the changes. It has
NOT just been the injuries that have killed us this season, though they likely triggered and revealed many of the things that have. I'm just more and more convinced that the stubbornness and inflexibility that has been revealed in our HC is a fundamental weakness at the heart of his personality, his coaching ability, and therefore the very heart and soul of this team--and in turn flows down to everything else.
That much at
least tho', "Pease OUT!" (laughing...There--been wantin' to say that, in just that context for weeks), a practical change that also sends a signal to everyone in and out of the program that things
are "off", that we need to get back on track, and above all that he (Muschamp)
can "let go", try to bring "the right guy" in and then "hands off", let him do his thing on offense to complement our Head Coach's fine defense. That's all part of being a "Head Coach" too.
Question is, can our Head Coach actually
DO that, overcome his own natural "control-freak" AND accompanying personal inclinations, to learn and grow?
Sorry, E-, that's about as "non-negative" as I can manage, truthfully (
forget "positive", this year anyway--and remember who is posting here too), when all is said and done...and that's what the above is: "The best that I can offer", in terms of assessing our Head Coach, our present and future potential, and my hopes for him, it and us should he remain our Coach going into next year.
