How do our recent down years (2008-) compare...

[GBO97]

...to what Florida may be entering? I've noticed some similarities, and while I don't think Muschamp is quite Doofus level bad, he clearly seems to be a failed experiment for them. Just would like to hear some thoughts about how our woeful years (that we may just now be ending) compare to what Florida could be beginning.

 

[VolunteerHillbilly]

Florida has much better talent. The right staff could walk into Gainesville in December and have them in the national title race next year.

 

[GoBigOrangeUT]

Florida has much better talent. The right staff could walk into Gainesville in December and have them in the national title race next year.

Yep. Really a testament to how bad you have to be as a coach to not win at Florida. The job is pretty much ready-made to be a winner

 

[GBO97]

Florida has much better talent. The right staff could walk into Gainesville in December and have them in the national title race next year.

I believe that, but I also don't think it helps recruiting-wise that FSU is so good right now and Miami is beginning to get back in the mix.

 

[RiseToTheTop]

This rut we are coming out of is exactly what Texas, Florida and Michigan are getting ready to go through. They already have to an extent but its about to get really rough for them.

 

[Captain Awesome]

I don't think any major university team is going to enter anything like what we've been through. This type of basement dwelling is not normal. Teams can usually get back up in much less than ten years. For us, it's been nightmare after nightmare, bad luck after bad luck, and heartbreak after heartbreak.

 

[KBVol]

...to what Florida may be entering? I've noticed some similarities, and while I don't think Muschamp is quite Doofus level bad, he clearly seems to be a failed experiment for them. Just would like to hear some thoughts about how our woeful years (that we may just now be ending) compare to what Florida could be beginning.

Not even close based on the evidence we currently have. They won 11 games 2 years ago while we haven't won 11 games our last 2 years combined. We just don't have enough data yet.... Gators gotta have a second bad season this year before we can even begin to compare their short comings to the horror that has been the last 6 years of Tennessee football.

 

[FLVOL_79]

I don't see the similarities. UT is in its worst stretch in school history. UF has done way, way worse..

 

[99gator]

Florida has much better talent. The right staff could walk into Gainesville in December and have them in the national title race next year.

I think that'a pretty big stretch.

But, I think it's hard to lose the way Tennessee has since 2008 at Florida because it's hard for the talent to drop off to the levels it was at in Tennessee.

Florida has gotten quality players in the past by accident. That's literally true, too.

A Ron Zook situation is as bad as it should get and Florida would have to really, really strike out on the hire to replace Muschamp to not get a coach who could win at Ron Zook levels.

Especially if either of the two freshman qb's on campus pan out and are good football players.

 

[xfactorutk]

I was listening to Colin Cowherd earlier and he was talking about how he thought Muschamp has similarities to Kiffin. Made some good points. I don't like Muschamp, but he's not as bad as Dooley. Could Cowherd be right in the assessment that Muschamp, like Kiffin, is a good coordinator but not cut out for head coaching? I will hang up and listen.

 

[General Jack]

This rut we are coming out of is exactly what Texas, Florida and Michigan are getting ready to go through. They already have to an extent but its about to get really rough for them.

Florida and Texas have a big advantage with in-state talent though... I would argue their bottom isn't as low as ours (unfortunately for us).

 

[daj2576]

.

 

[volboy81]

I don't see the similarities. UT is in its worst stretch in school history. UF has done way, way worse..

It took fla 58 years in the SEC to win their 1st conference title. It wasn't til Spurrier got there in the late 80s or early 90s before they were any good at all! Of course we never played them much during their 60-year drought!

 

[utvols74]

Florida has much better talent. The right staff could walk into Gainesville in December and have them in the national title race next year.

Most on here remember Florida from the mid to late 90s and 2000s. They had it made in that era due to FSU and Miami being down most years. USCe was a joke - so no competition there either. They had practically the cream of the recruiting crop year-in and year-out. It was sort of like recruiting in Big-10 country - OSU and MI could get whomever they wanted.

Now, its a different story. FSU has (and will continue) to rise and Miami is showing signs of rising (their conference hurts them a bit). This hurts Fla more than anyone really knows. Yes, they've had good classes, but we shall see if it pans out. Football is a team sport which doesn't do well with "individuals".

Any school in Fla who gets a majority of their very top talent will vie every year for the national title assuming there is team chemistry at work. There's just so much talent there.

 

[wmcovol]

too much talent in florida for them to stay down long unless they hire some guy who is worse than wm, which would be hard to do. Miami is also down right now, so the state is f$u's for the taking.

This is the worst 6 yr period in UT history but I am confident things are changing...fast

 

[oregonvol]

Florida won't go through what we have gone through (and actually continue to be going through). No major program's fans would stand for the kind of hires Mike Hamilton made. Hiring a failed mid-major coach and giving them a huge buyout? Only UT fans could possibly excuse that one. Anywhere else, they'd burn down the athletic department.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Most on here remember Florida from the mid to late 90s and 2000s. They had it made in that era due to FSU and Miami being down most years. USCe was a joke - so no competition there either. They had practically the cream of the recruiting crop year-in and year-out. It was sort of like recruiting in Big-10 country - OSU and MI could get whomever they wanted.

Now, its a different story. FSU has (and will continue) to rise and Miami is showing signs of rising (their conference hurts them a bit). This hurts Fla more than anyone really knows. Yes, they've had good classes, but we shall see if it pans out. Football is a team sport which doesn't do well with "individuals".

Any school in Fla who gets a majority of their very top talent will vie every year for the national title assuming there is team chemistry at work. There's just so much talent there.

Having a strong FSU and Miami does benefit us but only to an incremental degree. If you look back at the final polls for the 1990s (College Football Rankings 1990's), for example, you will find several years in which Florida, FSU and Miami all finished in the top ten. Quite simply, there is that much elite-level talent in the Sunshine State. It is, admittedly, dispersed a bit more now with the emergence of Central Florida and South Florida, but probably not to the extent that it couldn't support three top ten programs again if they all had the right caliber coaches in place.

 

[ainge10heisman]

Karmageddon due to CUM.

 

[sjt18]

...to what Florida may be entering? I've noticed some similarities, and while I don't think Muschamp is quite Doofus level bad, he clearly seems to be a failed experiment for them. Just would like to hear some thoughts about how our woeful years (that we may just now be ending) compare to what Florida could be beginning.

Muschamp is probably a worse HC than Dooley but a better recruiter. He inherited a FAR more talented roster and a program with less problems. He's underperformed.

UF will likely always have enough talent to not dip to the depths UT has seen of late. Plus... they've demonstrated that they'll fire a coach if they aren't competing for championships. Zook was 23-14 and tied for the East in his second year. He brought in a lot of talent. They canned him. It may very well take Muschamp winning the East this year for him to be their HC next fall.

 

[LittleCat]

Only difference is that hopefully UF stays there for about 3 decades

 

[Doyle Hargraves]

Not even close based on the evidence we currently have. They won 11 games 2 years ago while we haven't won 11 games our last 2 years combined. We just don't have enough data yet.... Gators gotta have a second bad season this year before we can even begin to compare their short comings to the horror that has been the last 6 years of Tennessee football.

Throw in the fact that for this to be considered a truly devastatingly bad year for Florida would be losing to Tennessee?
Says it all...

 

[JohnMarxism]

We have defined what "down years" are in college football, as sad as it is to admit.

 

[sjt18]

Having a strong FSU and Miami does benefit us but only to an incremental degree. If you look back at the final polls for the 1990s (College Football Rankings 1990's), for example, you will find several years in which Florida, FSU and Miami all finished in the top ten. Quite simply, there is that much elite-level talent in the Sunshine State. It is, admittedly, dispersed a bit more now with the emergence of Central Florida and South Florida, but probably not to the extent that it couldn't support three top ten programs again if they all had the right caliber coaches in place.

You are somewhat right but I think the new era of college football has created more "national" recruits and especially in talent rich states with multiple strong programs like CA, TX, and FL. I think LA, OH, PA, and GA still have significant homerism. TV is a huge factor with so many televised games each week as well.

 

[volbrawler]

I don't think any major university team is going to enter anything like what we've been through. This type of basement dwelling is not normal. Teams can usually get back up in much less than ten years. For us, it's been nightmare after nightmare, bad luck after bad luck, and heartbreak after heartbreak.

Bama post Stallings - Saban

 

[oregonvol]

Bama post Stallings - Saban

Not even close to what we've been through. They had three coaches between Stallings and Saban (DuBose, Franchione, Shula) who each posted at least one double digit winning season. They even won an SEC championship during that time. They had a total of 3(?) losing seasons over that whole time span. We've had 5 in the last 6 years.