Whether some want to admit it or it, we lost our way on a cold night in Atlanta in December 2009, when we sheepishly decided that we weren't going to be the Florida Gators any more, but rather, just another team looking up in admiration at the top.
All my life, we were different. Despite being a southern state and charter member of the conference, we were never the prototypical SEC school or fanbase, nor did we want to be. We were the Florida Gators, a team that always displayed a cavalier attitude and sense of ultimate confidence, warranted or not.
Spurrier embodied that as a player, and then took it to an entirely different level as a coach. When conventional wisdom was to run the ball on 1st and goal from the 4, we threw. When other teams let off the gas at 24-10, we ran it up. When programs wanted so badly to fit inside the predetermined box, we happily and confidently scoffed at the notion. He knew what he wanted to do, and knew he had the athletes locally that could see his vision through. It worked.
While Zook's years were a disappointment, even he didn't try to completely abandon that mindset. Much of our success in '05-'08 was due to his staying with the vision.
And of course, Meyer built upon that foundation, introducing his own variation of offense that--once fully manned--wowed and excited, keeping in tradition with what UF had always been. Once again, we were the team that broke molds and did it our own way.
And then one fateful night, just like that, it was over. And not because it had to be. But because we decided--based on one game--that we simply couldn't go on being UF, but needed to conform to someone else's identity. And so it ended. No longer the UF team loaded with speed and athleticism that did things a little differently(winning a ton of games in the process), we tried to become like other programs, insistent that it was the only way to win going forward.
Fans railed at the staff, and predicted we'd never see another player like Tebow who could effectively run a spread/RPO offense. We purged players that didn't fit, hired coaches that were a complete opposite of what UF had always done well, and tried to be something we aren't. It's that simple.
Even under more of an offensive guy, we are bland, obvious and without anything that entices players to want to join. Our best play last year was a buttonhook, one of the most basic plays you learn at the age of 5. Meanwhile, in the ultimate troll job, Alabama and Saban have liberally adapted their approach and are one of the more entertaining teams to watch.
We lost ourselves that night, and have wandered the wilderness of mediocrity ever since. It will likely take a serious shift in staff and overall program mindset to recover and, unfortunately, I don't see it on the immediate horizon.
