Discussion: “The Brand Is Damaged”

Gator Fever

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He had 35 seniors and two of the best backs in the country, and lost. Twice.

Could he be dangerous if he ever learns the importance of offense? Maybe. I suppose the same could be said of Muschamp.

Is any team with Jim Chaney ever going to win? Nope.

You are aware he averaged close to 40 points a game in his SEC schedule including the SECCG.
 

Swamp Donkey

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Jim Chaney is trash. He will always be trash.

Reminds me of you dildos losing your mind over Jimbo Bowdenbastard and the dynasty you claimed he was building. 4 loss coach. Like clockwork.
 

Gator Fever

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Well we could be talking about how shytty Kelly is recruiting. I’ll take Mullin and his energy to work on this project we call Gator football.

UCLA isnt a place where new coaches routinely get top 10 classes in their 2nd recruiting class. If it was USC there might be a good point there.
 

GatorJB

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When people think of recent top 10 football teams, no one thinks about the Gators. So yeah, the brand is damaged but not too bad. The good news is that the brand can easily be fixed with the right coach at the helm. Like others I'm not yet convinced we have the right guy. It's not a good sign that his first recruiting class may be better than his second.
 

alcoholica

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The UF brand is not damaged. That is foolish nonsense. Other sports have carried the load and kept the brand from spiraling down. Now if you are talking about UF Football as its own brand....yes, it has a gaping hole in its hull and they brought in a janitor with a bucket of spackling to fix it.
 

Captain Sasquatch

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broken-record.jpg~c200
 

gatormandan

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At this point, why even play the game. We are screwed and tattooed and will forever be stuck in mediocracy and probably will lose to even the cupcakes on the schedule. We are doomed and will suck forever.
 

deuce

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I would much rather watch some good football than the other option.
I think UF is much more than a Football Team.
The revenue stream does't look too damaged.
 

Alumni Guy

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IMO, which isn't worth much so you get it for free, it's not just our record. It's how we lose.

We don't score points, we don't have explosive/creative plays. For the past decade, it's been run on 1st, nothing play on 2nd and 3&out.

Come play for the Gators: we may not win, but at least we're boring. Also your dorm room sucks.
 

ergator920103

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The Football brand is definitely damaged. That damage was caused by an AD, Foley, who looked for the diamond in the rough when he hired football coaches. He never understood that you have to hire the best... not someone that you think can turn into the best after learning on the job. Now, we're on our third coach since Meyer left and I am hoping Dan Mullen can return us to championship but, his overall losing SEC Record (33 - 39), his 2 - 15 record vs. ranked opponents and the staff he brought in make me think we in for more of the same that we saw from MooseDump and Butters...
 

MADGator

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No. Not Vandy and Kentucky. But middle of the pack. Which makes me want to puke.

Here – let’s put this in perspective for you. My youngest son is 11 years old. And he has never seen us not play like trash.

The new kids we are recruiting this year have never seen what Florida used to be. They were in third grade the last time the Florida gators were relevant.

I'm not sure if I can articulate what I'm thinking but I guess I'm trying to expand on what you said. Does UF have a brand, or was is just a period of success? Florida football has always been middle of the pack until the stretch with the HBC and Meyer. There were good years but nothing sustained. Other teams have also had that flash of relevance that we enjoyed so much but over the past decade the Gators have returned to what they've always been - mediocre. Gator fans think that due to that period of success that UF is one of the elite programs but the litany of bad decisions over the past 10-15 years has doomed the program and taken it back to the pre-HBC days of being irrelevant. That's where we are. I think that's how the program is perceived nationally. It took two HOF coaches to drag UF out of mediocrity and they won't be leading the team out of the tunnel ever again. So sadly, I don't think the brand is broken so much as it has just regressed back to historical levels and the days of being able to capitalize on the period of success have been squandered.
 

Gator Fever

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Here's what Coach Spurrier had to say about our brand after the 1991 season (Head Ball Coach, p. 162):

"We were building a new tradition, a new brand at Florida that we wanted to be unique."

He was the architect of what we so fondly remember and pine for. He was also one of if not our most famous football alumna. Meyer, I believe, would go on to prove that you didn't necessarily have to be "family" to have the impact SOS had, but both were driven to success unlike many of their contemporaries. I just think that the list of coaches with that kind of drive and the intangibles that lead to National Championships is not lengthy. One thing that helped both coaches get off to good starts at the onset of their tenures were the teams they inherited. By comparison, that makes Mullen's job just that much more difficult. He's got time contractually speaking, but not a lot of it in the minds of many fans. In truth, this year may be make or break with regard to W's and L's, recruiting, etc. and the national perception that follows. He's in the nut cracker. I hope he escapes.

Cover2, the problem is none of that is an excuse for Mac's and Mullen's (if he does end up with a Mac level joke # 14 or so 2nd class) recruiting especially with UF being in FL.

I would much rather us have an 8-4 or worse season and a good recruiting class because it would show Mullen doesn't have an issue with recruiting. I am afraid the only way we can be a true contender if Mullen starts off with mediocre recruiting classes following Mac's weak classes is if Jones is really exceptional and its always a crap shoot with these QBs. Mullen's system is also one that can be shut down pretty good if you just have better athletes on the other side of the ball.

I hope he pulls it off but if recruiting doesn't improve quickly I have my doubts.

I am trying to think of a new coach besides Mac that didn't have a pretty good 2nd class at one of these top football schools in the South and I am having a hard time thinking of one. Swinney at Clemson didn't until his 3rd class but Clemson was the definition of mediocre since around 1990 until his arrival.
 

Swamp Donkey

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Does UF have a brand, or was is just a period of success? Florida football has always been middle of the pack until the stretch with the HBC and Meyer.
This is the question.

I see no reason to think that they're concerned about anything other than still being mathematically in the run in October.

Foley and his minions despised every winning coach we've ever had, and loved the losers like Zooker and musChimp.

I still see Zero commitment to football. In fact the attitude is now baseball and softball come first and we'll get around a football if we get around to it. Some time. Maybe. Eventually. If you increase your giving by a lot. Maybe.
 

Gator Fever

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I'm not sure if I can articulate what I'm thinking but I guess I'm trying to expand on what you said. Does UF have a brand, or was is just a period of success? Florida football has always been middle of the pack until the stretch with the HBC and Meyer. There were good years but nothing sustained. Other teams have also had that flash of relevance that we enjoyed so much but over the past decade the Gators have returned to what they've always been - mediocre. Gator fans think that due to that period of success that UF is one of the elite programs but the litany of bad decisions over the past 10-15 years has doomed the program and taken it back to the pre-HBC days of being irrelevant. That's where we are. I think that's how the program is perceived nationally. It took two HOF coaches to drag UF out of mediocrity and they won't be leading the team out of the tunnel ever again. So sadly, I don't think the brand is broken so much as it has just regressed back to historical levels and the days of being able to capitalize on the period of success have been squandered.

FL has had top level recruits since the early 80s - its just we had a couple of poor years due to the NCAA penalties and then went right back to having good recruits even under a guy not known for putting a ton of work into it and then when Zook got here as an assistant it led to those 95 and 96 teams that actually matched FSU in talent level.

Historical levels is not going back 36 years to try to justify some excuse for the current recruiting. Mac and Mullen so far are the exceptions. Muschamp even recruited well off the start he just didn't develop any of the offensive guys hardly.
 

cover2

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Cover2, the problem is none of that is an excuse for Mac's and Mullen's (if he does end up with a Mac level joke # 14 or so 2nd class) recruiting especially with UF being in FL.

I would much rather us have an 8-4 or worse season and a good recruiting class because it would show Mullen doesn't have an issue with recruiting. I am afraid the only way we can be a true contender if Mullen starts off with mediocre recruiting classes following Mac's weak classes is if Jones is really exceptional and its always a crap shoot with these QBs. Mullen's system is also one that can be shut down pretty good if you just have better athletes on the other side of the ball.

I hope he pulls it off but if recruiting doesn't improve quickly I have my doubts.

I am trying to think of a new coach besides Mac that didn't have a pretty good 2nd class at one of these top football schools in the South and I am having a hard time thinking of one. Swinney at Clemson didn't until his 3rd class but Clemson was the definition of mediocre since around 1990 until his arrival.
Good points, Fever. Just to clear up any misunderstandings (if there are any), I'm just taking a look at the program from a historical perspective as it relates to the football brand. What most relate to and see as our brand is tied to the successes of SOS and Meyer in my opinion and, unfortunately, we have been trending downward since that period. Not meant to be an excuse whatsoever for Mullen, but the specter of the failures we endured under Muschamp and McElwain, with Foley's fingerprints, have arguably lessened the appeal of the program to some recruits that we covet.

Thus, Mullen is charged with making the turnaround. His salvage of the first class was good and necessary. It fostered some hope after the recent train wreck. But a slow start recruiting-wise for this cycle has deflated the balloon. Football, like all success-driven businesses, is judged more so on what have you done lately (as in now) than your wall of plaques and past successes. Mullen's got to eat the bear or else it will eat him starting with putting together a stable of highly skilled and coachable players that can be trained to win beyond the ones they are supposed to.
 

gatorplank

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He played Barn, Barn, and Bammer, and lost in spectacular fashion twice.

And he hired a retard for OC.

Those are what we call facts.

You forgot OU. And he lost to the GOAT in overtime with inferior players. But, yeah, keep whistling past the graveyard.
 

MADGator

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I still see Zero commitment to football. In fact the attitude is now baseball and softball come first and we'll get around a football if we get around to it. Some time. Maybe. Eventually. If you increase your giving by a lot. Maybe.

Imagine if you will...

2008 National Championship victory post-game press conference. Fooley steps up to the mike, and says something along the lines of:

Blah, blah, blah... and to recognize the powerhouse program that is University of Florida football, and in order to sustain the success that is being enjoyed by Gatornation, we are going to invest in the future and the continued success of the program by investing $70 million in infrastructure upgrades, dorms, stand-alone football facility, IPF, etc, etc...

Yeah, I know. That still wouldn't have made up for dumbass coaching hires, but, yeah.
 

NovaGator

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Nothing is going to change until recruiting gets back to the level it was under Spurrier and Meyer.
Under those guys, UF was seen as the place to be by the nation's 4 star and 5 star recruits.
Butter's classes all had respectable (but not great) rated classes, but lack of effective coaching
rendered these classes ineffective at the college level. Will Mullen be able to bring back the magic?
Only time will tell. So far, he has been less than impressive. I guess this is what happens when you
have to settle for your third choice as head coach.
 

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