What would it take for them to fire or demote Addazio?

[Leakfan12]

The answer all of us liked to have answered?

 

[Escambia94]

The Zooker said in an earlier post that Addazzio was "demoted" for the sake of play calling after the Bama loss. Who would Urb demote after today? We had the trifecta of suckiness--Offense, defense, special teams. I guess Urb made a deal with Foley and said he would come out of his one-day retirement if the Board got off his back about winning all the time and let him collect his ridiculous paycheck as long as he wins more than half his games. I don't know what's going on. Does Addazzio know how much he sucks? I hesitate to call for Urban Meyer's head, so I won't, but I would hope he figures out *something* needs to change. Something. Anything.

 

[DRU2012]

What would it take? Uh, about the same as it will take for Urban Meyer to "plug back in", get angry and actually reassert control over HIS TEAM--and actually DO something about it!
(Trouble is, if it doesn't happen now, ya gotta begin to wonder if it will happen at all, or if the next "big move" is "farewell"...)

 

[Escambia94]

I'm guessing Urb's plan to balance health with coaching isn't working out so well. Is he damaged goods, or has he relinquished too much control for the sake of his health? I'm not calling for his head, just wondering if he needs to better manage his health and his job. Whether that means risking more health issues by taking more control or moving staff around to implement his Plan to Win better, or maybe hire new people something needs to change.

 

[DRU2012]

Exactly, Escambia94. I'd forgotten what it was like to feel this way about a Gator team--losing HOPE.
From the moment Urban Meyer took over, you KNEW we were on our way up and BACK. Now, Urban Meyer's team needs an Urban Meyer themselves.
Is URBAN up to it?

 

[gatorsare#1]

Exactly, Escambia94. I'd forgotten what it was like to feel this way about a Gator team--losing HOPE.
From the moment Urban Meyer took over, you KNEW we were on our way up and BACK. Now, Urban Meyer's team needs an Urban Meyer themselves.
Is URBAN up to it?

Who knows if this is even a true Meyer team? His health situation has forced him to delegate a lot of work to people like Addazio.

At this point, I think it's becoming more and more clear that he's not the same coach as he was before.

 

[Ufgatorfan]

I don't know how much i buy into this whole health thing. i know he had a health scare. the doctors found out what it was and he on medication to help it. it was never life threatening though it appeared too him it was so i understand why he would of thought about retiring. now that the problem is fixed why would he give up responsibilities to coaches who in my opinion don't live up to his expectations? I'm not gonna bash Meyer for worrying about his health but he is a grown man and hundreds of other head coaches balance things yet still keep full control of there teams. i think he has lost his ways not to say he cant get it back, but it is not looking good. last years was stressful cause of the returning upper class-man we had and we were expected to repeat. That didn't happened. do i dare say Meyer forgot how to coach? I wont go that far but every game its looking like that might be the case. young players making mistakes is one thing but lackluster coaching and game preparation is another. we have been out coached again for the second constitutively game. This game in all reality should not of been that close. We got bailed out on two calls by the refs and an interception return on another one. I pray Meyer does not come at us with " our offense looked better we got some guys involved" cause that would be a bunch of bull sh%t. He is becoming the master at spin. For the sake of gator football I hope he realizes that his current coaches are under par and makes some changes. Addazio definitely has to go. Keep him as the offensive/ tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator but nothing else. He has no business in a play calling meeting what so ever. I hope Meyer makes changes but i have a feeling he will not so I'm resting my fingers for a long year of complaining on this site. Good luck gators you may well need it.

 

[gatorsare#1]

I don't know how much i buy into this whole health thing. i know he had a health scare. the doctors found out what it was and he on medication to help it. it was never life threatening though it appeared too him it was so i understand why he would of thought about retiring. now that the problem is fixed why would he give up responsibilities to coaches who in my opinion don't live up to his expectations? I'm not gonna bash Meyer for worrying about his health but he is a grown man and hundreds of other head coaches balance things yet still keep full control of there teams. i think he has lost his ways not to say he cant get it back, but it is not looking good. last years was stressful cause of the returning upper class-man we had and we were expected to repeat. That didn't happened. do i dare say Meyer forgot how to coach? I wont go that far but every game its looking like that might be the case. young players making mistakes is one thing but lackluster coaching and game preparation is another. we have been out coached again for the second constitutively game. This game in all reality should not of been that close. We got bailed out on two calls by the refs and an interception return on another one. I pray Meyer does not come at us with " our offense looked better we got some guys involved" cause that would be a bunch of bull sh%t. He is becoming the master at spin. For the sake of gator football I hope he realizes that his current coaches are under par and makes some changes. Addazio definitely has to go. Keep him as the offensive/ tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator but nothing else. He has no business in a play calling meeting what so ever. I hope Meyer makes changes but i have a feeling he will not so I'm resting my fingers for a long year of complaining on this site. Good luck gators you may well need it.

He was forced to change his entire coaching style. The Urban Meyer from 2005-2008 seems entirely different than the Urban Meyer in 2010. He's been forced to give his responsibilities to assistants. In 2005-2008, that wouldn't have been a problem because we had two good coordinators in Dan Mullen and Charlie Strong as our assistant coaches. Now, we have Addazio. The loss of those two, especially Mullen, has impacted this program more than most want to admit.

 

[Escambia94]

No coach can do it alone. Urban Meyer built his winning empire with many coaches who have since moved on. Such is the cost of success--a meteoric rise and possibly meteoric fall. Even Bear Bryant, one of the Gold Standards of Coaching had many great assistants who went on to win big elsewhere--Gene Stallings ('92 Natl Champs w/ Alabama), Danny Ford ('81 NC w/ Clemson), Howard Schellenberger ('83 NC w/ Miami, part of great Miami Dolphin and B'more Colts coaching staff), and a few others.

Now what? If he really is one of the great coaching minds of recent history, he will need to figure this out or make way for someone else to figure out if his bazillion dollar salary is not worth risking his health, sanity, or place in history. That's his call. I BELIEVE he can do it, but he is hesitant to make the big calls to get there. He has created a lot of animosity with former assistants, and Addazzio has been there the whole time not complaining but not sucking enough to fire. Maybe he needs to make the tough call that might hurt someone's feelings--promote someone else or hire someone new. Maybe he needs to risk his health just a little bit just as hundreds of other coaches around the league if he wants to do what it takes to keep his place in history.

History has a short memory, and the Gator Nation absolutely fears being average. Admit it. I do. In the long run I am okay with "repeating" 2007 and calling this a rebuilding year, but I am not okay with doing it so poorly that we make the blooper reels and get laughed at everywhere we go. We lost quite a few games by our standards in 2007, but most of our losses were pretty close and not too embarrassing: 20-17 Auburn, 28-24 LSU. 42-30 Georgia hurt because it was the Damn Dawgs. Michigan did not matter--we could claim the "don't care because it's a loser Bowl game" excuse.

This year, I knew we were going to lose in Tuscaloosa, but that bad? That ugly? I did not think we would lose against LSU, but by halftime I came to expect it and even if someone overturned the field goal call we still did not deserve that win. What are we doing waiting until 4th quarter to play like a 6th week team? We all saw this coming through our constant b!tching the past few weeks. The week 1,2, and 3 Gators looked like preseason Gators. Then we got our hopes up over essentially one player stepping up and beating up Kentucky. Come on, guys. We are screwing Trey Burton. He stepped up and was not rewarded with more plays. Urban Meyer almost makes it look like he is happy with Burton but does not care to modify much more of the 2-sentence playbook to maximize his potential. What's Brantley's excuse? I don't want to hear any more of his "deer in the headlights look because he is young". What's <insert uber-athlete here>'s excuse? We have no more excuses. If we can't win, at least lose respectably. The LSU loss was respectable in the context that both teams sucked for 3 quarters, but LSU found a way to win and beat us. The Alabama loss, well, yeah. We've beat that horse to death for two weeks.

In summary: demoting Addazzio is only part of the solution. It's on Urban Meyer to determine what history will say about the 2010 season, his legacy, and his ability to coach.

 

[Ufgatorfan]

Again I don't buy the health risk at this point. I know he had a scare but from everything I have read it was not a heart condition or a life threatening. it was some kind of muscle contracting in his chest, which no doubt hurts and would scare the hell out of anyone. I don't understand why he can be the same coach. The only reason I can come up with is that he really don't wanna be a coach anymore and wants to be a family man. I can understand that completely but if thats what he wants to do then fine step down and allow us to get back on track. I am not calling for his firing but like other people I have noticed his monotoned interviews and lack of any real emotions. I love Meyer and everything he has done but if your heart is not into it do yourself a favor and step away. I hope he sees that perhaps he is not having fun this year is due to this offense not being a Urban like offense. I want Meyer to stay but only if he wants to and not to keep coaches employed.

 

[DRU2012]

I agree with both of the above posts: Once he found out it WASN'T life-threatening that should have been (and according to Meyer himself in explaining his relatively short "sabbatical" WAS) the end of that chapter of "Drama In Gator Nation"--yet somehow it was not.
Yes, he seems a different coach, one that cannot or WILL not make the tough calls; it pains me to say it, but "this guy" doesn't appear to even recognize them as such. As I've said elsewhere, it's as if we're all waiting for the old Urban Meyer to come in and fix the mess this staff has made of things.
thing is, HE could do it. Or is it "could HAVE"?

 

[The Zooker]

I posted this in another thread but since this is the official "change when" thread I'll put it here too:

Since Meyer is never honest with the press you have to decipher what he is really saying. And he is now starting to throw out little clues that he is not happy with Addazio. I think one more loss and Loeffler will be calling the plays. Meyer is too soft to demote Addazio so he'll let him remain but have Loeffler call the plays. And since Meyer loves to play games he'll set it up to where he tells Addazio that he needs to spend more time helping the O-line come along, especially since we will lose a lot of talent after this season and the younger players really need to get up to par before next season starts. That will be his excuse for giving Loeffler the opportunity to "handle a little bit of his load."

 

[DRU2012]

Man, I really hope you're right...I 'm now thinking it may be past that point as far as how much things have to change, but that would at least show awareness that there is a problem , one everyone else can see. Right now, there seems to be full-on denial. That's what is so frustrating and scary.
(I have come to certain conclusions that may offer a working hypothesis explaining this seeming madness at the heart of our program. I will post this at the appropriate time and place; I want to be sure it has evidence and logic at its core rather than just that frustration and fear I mentioned above...)

 

[The Zooker]

It really boils down to South Carolina in my opinion. If we lose and don't make it to Atlanta then Meyer will grow a set and put Addazio in his place. But I have a fear that if the team somehow pulls it off we will make it to Atlanta and Meyer will continue to sing his praises. We've reached the point where excuses are not acceptable. The promise to improve is not acceptable. Action has to be taken or I'm afraid Meyer will start to lose credibility.

 

[Escambia94]

Man, I really hope you're right...I 'm now thinking it may be past that point as far as how much things have to change, but that would at least show awareness that there is a problem , one everyone else can see. Right now, there seems to be full-on denial. That's what is so frustrating and scary.
(I have come to certain conclusions that may offer a working hypothesis explaining this seeming madness at the heart of our program. I will post this at the appropriate time and place; I want to be sure it has evidence and logic at its core rather than just that frustration and fear I mentioned above...)

Just share the hypothesis. The only reason a typical forum gets more than two posts per day is when people are complaining and theorizing. Join the club.

I have a couple theories:
- UM hates losing, but is trying one year of laying low to appease the wife and kids and has to suffer this pain of losing for one year.

- UM has run out of dependable OCs, and Loeffler is too new to promote. Note: three of his past OCs are HCs now at UNLV, Virginia, and Mississippi State. He could be scared to promote a new guy over his friend, or he could be afraid of creating a rift like he did with Billy Gonzales.

- UM has run out of mojo. A brush with death took all his mojo and he depends on Addazio to try to keep it going.

- The spread-option has run its course and no matter what UM or SA does, the defense is not giving the reads that tell them to do anything but dive.

 

[The Zooker]

It's a good sign that media outlets all over the country are blasting Addazio right now. Up until now, nobody was really mentioning it. But of course, the lone holdout is the Gainesville Sun. They will never bash Addazio because of their fear of Meyer. The pressure is mounting and maybe Addazio will even excuse himself before Meyer is forced to do something.

 

[DRU2012]

What Explains The Sudden Crisis In The Gator Program?

OK. At the risk of going off half-cocked and looking like a damn fool, I hereby propose my working hypothesis:
Perhaps it was a slow process leading up to it, or maybe it was just the sudden collapse at home a few days after the SEC Championship debacle (I tend to think it was SOME combination of set-up then sudden shock, though the exact how-and-when doesn't really matter), but a kind of "final break" occurred inside of Urban Meyer at some point last year. Before that "Break", what we'll refer to as "Old" Urban was our Head Coach. THAT man put the health and perfection of his team above all else. He KNEW in his heart and SOUL that that was what it took to win championships. THAT man COULDN'T turn the day-to-day details of the continued growth and future of that program over to ANYONE...we all watched and supported the efforts to help him do just that, thinking it was the only way to keep our great coach.
Little did we realize he was already "gone". After the "break", "New" Urban was in charge. THAT man lets another much less knowledgeable and competent individual run his team. That man puts his gratitude at Addazio's loyalty and friendship ahead of all else, even as the man repeatedly demonstrates his various ineptitudes. It is an admirable set of philosophical priorities--it is just not what he is paid millions per year to do. Neither is it acceptable to Gator Nation.
Clearly I could apply and extend this hypothesis to explain much of what has occurred since last year--go ahead and give it some consideration. Depending on where/when/how one assumes it may have occurred, it can extend further back into last season, the whole strange "unfulfilled greatness" of that team. What do y'all think?

 

[The Zooker]

I think the perfect storm of crap has hit the program. Yes, Addazio is incompetent but that doesn't explain all our problems. We also have no legitimate leadership on the team. Brantley can't lead our offense because it's just not in his personality. Pouncey can't lead because he feels unable to criticize others given the fact that he has struggled as a center. Those were the only two shots we had at having a leader in the huddle. Nobody else on the offense had the clout/resume/personality to get the job done. Then we had issues with execution. Bad snaps, bad handoffs, turnovers, failed third/fourth down conversions, et cetera. Part of that is the players fault and part of that is the coaching staff misusing personnel. Then you have Brantley who was uncomfortable and scared to be a starting quarterback for the Gators. He put too much focus on the snaps and exchanges because of the earlier issues. He would constantly check down to the short routes and refuse to throw downfield even when the play called for it. When he did throw downfield his accuracy was crap. He's just cracked under the pressure. He has all the talent in the world but no heart. When you throw this whole mess together you get an embarrassing performance out of an offense that is riddled with four and five star players with amazing athletic talent. Then you have a coaching staff who refuses to bench the older guys in favor of playing the young guys. Guys like Moody get more snaps than they deserve because they are seniors and are great people off the field. They use the excuse of the younger guys not learning the playbook quick enough. We all know that's BS. Sure, our athletes aren't exactly Rhodes Scholars. But if they are legally retarded we shouldn't have been recruiting them in the first place. Practically every team in the nation uses young players these days with great results. Look at what Julio Jones did his freshman year. Look at what Marcus Latimore is doing at South Carolina right now. Every team out there has standout Freshmen doing great things year in and year out. Are you honestly going to tell me that every other coaching staff in the country can get a young playmaker on the field but the Florida coaching staff can't? If these young guys are really that stupid then we still have to put the blame on the coaching staff for recruiting these guys. So at the end of the day you combine all these factors and you get what we see on Saturday. It's an embarrassment to the institution. If you can't get production out of the caliber of athletes we have then you don't need to be coaching. The fastest team in America is also one of the worst teams in America statistically speaking. That's unacceptable.

 

[Escambia94]

What's funny about this is that we all seem to agree on the crux of the issue, and that the rest of the blogosphere seems to agree as well. I hate that this is happening, because it appears to be an irreversible course. It's not the end of the world, but it could mark the end of the Urban Meyer era this year or sometime soon. At 4-1/2 years, this is his longest head coaching stint. I really don't want to lose Urban Meyer, but it may be difficult to cut out Addazio or promote someone else without ruining the whole thing.

It's probably too early to get to tell, but this feels less like 2007 and more like 2004--the end of an era as opposed to a down year.

 

[GainesvillebornNraised]

criticism of addazio is getting louder on tv20 and in the gainesville sun i think we'll get our wish in the next few months but who knows