Interesting Site - Spurrier and the "Mills" play

[ChiefGator]

I found this link on a rival site, it has some insight related to SOS. I thought some would enjoy.

http://smartfootball.com/

Comment as you desire.

 

[g8r.tom]

Thanks for the link.

 

[rogdochar]

Chiefly, I can't think who to thank for these nostalgic films? A glare on my screen prevented me from seeing the #s. What pleasantly startled me was that I recognized each TD-receiver by his running strides. Nostalgia.

BTW, my description of nostalgia is that "it's the only process where you can make your past better."

 

[InstiGATOR1]

The Spurrier play made sense to me. You run a receiver under so that the post guy is more open.

I was a bit surprised when the St. Louis Rams "Greatest Show on Turf" team in the Super Bowl did it one better and ran a double post on the same side. So rather than the under receiver running a square in, both the under and over receiver ran post patterns putting great pressure on the safety.

And of course those were the days back when UF did not hired run first coaches. Alas that is where UF is again.

 

[jdh5484]

Set up the run with the pass. Those were the days.

 

[ChiefGator]

The Spurrier play made sense to me. You run a receiver under so that the post guy is more open.

I was a bit surprised when the St. Louis Rams "Greatest Show on Turf" team in the Super Bowl did it one better and ran a double post on the same side. So rather than the under receiver running a square in, both the under and over receiver ran post patterns putting great pressure on the safety.

And of course those were the days back when UF did not hired run first coaches. Alas that is where UF is again.

And if we can find and understand the concepts that are appropriate why can't every professional coach do the same? It is not as I would say "sub atomic physics" because "rocket science" is really not that difficult.

 

[InstiGATOR1]

And if we can find and understand the concepts that are appropriate why can't every professional coach do the same? It is not as I would say "sub atomic physics" because "rocket science" is really not that difficult.

Sadly since the mid 1990s UF has had senior athletic administrators who believed the Spurrier approach was the wrong approach despite his record at UF. They believe the old coaching bromides that defense wins championships. My own view based on the Spurrier years is that defense keeps losses close and keeps coaches from being fired quickly, but UF's senior athletic administrators know or knew better.

Thus when Spurrier left, they hired a defensive coordinator from the NFL. Then when the defensive coordinator from the NFL did not work out, they were forced to hire the coach from prior school of UF's at the time new president. When that coach left, they hired the DC and head coach in waiting from the Big 12. When finally forced not to hire a defensive coordinator they went and hired a former offensive coordinator from a defense and special teams first program.

So it is not a matter of not figuring it out. The senior administrator has rejected the approach you mention at every opportunity.

 

[GatorStud]

Hmm, it's true... there was a time when we could actually throw the football for Touchdowns

 

[stephenPE]

great find, Chief

 

[Theologator]

Sadly since the mid 1990s UF has had senior athletic administrators who believed the Spurrier approach was the wrong approach despite his record at UF. They believe the old coaching bromides that defense wins championships. My own view based on the Spurrier years is that defense keeps losses close and keeps coaches from being fired quickly, but UF's senior athletic administrators know or knew better.

Thus when Spurrier left, they hired a defensive coordinator from the NFL. Then when the defensive coordinator from the NFL did not work out, they were forced to hire the coach from prior school of UF's at the time new president. When that coach left, they hired the DC and head coach in waiting from the Big 12. When finally forced not to hire a defensive coordinator they went and hired a former offensive coordinator from a defense and special teams first program.

So it is not a matter of not figuring it out. The senior administrator has rejected the approach you mention at every opportunity.

That's a rather dour bit of selective history. Who was Foley's first choice after SOS left? Shanahan, one of the brilliant offensive minds of our era and who Foley has seen held back by Pell. ((He went 5 wide, empty backfield in the early 80's.) Second was Stoops, a DC at heart but who fostered great offenses at OU. Zook was a desperate lunge after missing on those two.

Meyer was the hottest coach at the time and led UF to explosive offensive production and the Tebow era. "Forced to hire"? C'mon, man. That was a huge win and got us two NC's and the greatest player in UF and maybe NCAA history.

Foley thought Muschamp could be the next Stoops and only went that direction after Stoops wasn't willing to leave one of the most storied programs. Muschamp hired a 2-time Super Bowl champion OC. Yes, that all collapsed offensively and Mac wasn't the right person to fix it, but Charlie Cheeseburger was supposed to develop a great offense. That's failure but not lack of trying "at every opportunity."

 

[ChiefGator]

Sadly since the mid 1990s UF has had senior athletic administrators who believed the Spurrier approach was the wrong approach despite his record at UF. They believe the old coaching bromides that defense wins championships. My own view based on the Spurrier years is that defense keeps losses close and keeps coaches from being fired quickly, but UF's senior athletic administrators know or knew better.

Thus when Spurrier left, they hired a defensive coordinator from the NFL. Then when the defensive coordinator from the NFL did not work out, they were forced to hire the coach from prior school of UF's at the time new president. When that coach left, they hired the DC and head coach in waiting from the Big 12. When finally forced not to hire a defensive coordinator they went and hired a former offensive coordinator from a defense and special teams first program.

So it is not a matter of not figuring it out. The senior administrator has rejected the approach you mention at every opportunity.

Perhaps I missed the point, the coach is hired to win football games and do so within the restraints that our ethics and rules require. He is to develop students into good adults.

I don't care that management hires, I believe that coaches if they want to win will do those things that are effective. Not only on offense, but in every aspect of their jobs. And when some things or people don't work out they will change those things. Several of our previous coaches were not doing these things thus they are gone. You and I could figure this out, why would they not and thus get fired?

 

[InstiGATOR1]

That's a rather dour bit of selective history. Who was Foley's first choice after SOS left? Shanahan, one of the brilliant offensive minds of our era and who Foley has seen held back by Pell. ((He went 5 wide, empty backfield in the early 80's.) Second was Stoops, a DC at heart but who fostered great offenses at OU. Zook was a desperate lunge after missing on those two.

Meyer was the hottest coach at the time and led UF to explosive offensive production and the Tebow era. "Forced to hire"? C'mon, man. That was a huge win and got us two NC's and the greatest player in UF and maybe NCAA history.

Foley thought Muschamp could be the next Stoops and only went that direction after Stoops wasn't willing to leave one of the most storied programs. Muschamp hired a 2-time Super Bowl champion OC. Yes, that all collapsed offensively and Mac wasn't the right person to fix it, but Charlie Cheeseburger was supposed to develop a great offense. That's failure but not lack of trying "at every opportunity."

I am not at all selective in my memory nor do I just take things on the word of participants:

1. Foley claimed he wanted Zook all along, but as I said above I do not just take what is publicly said. I will say Shanahan was a stretch the field horizontally type offensive guy so don't confuse him with SOS or coaches like him. So it is not like a single coach in the first search was anything like SOS. And the bottom line is UF's athletic administrators got the kind of coach they wanted in that search.

2. You can believe that UF was right to snub Spurrier and hire Meyer in December 2004 if you want. You can not force other people to believe it. You can also believe that Foley had the right to hire whomever he wanted and he only wanted to interview Spurrier and Meyer if you choose, but you can not forces others to believe that either. I certainly remember all of those 2004-05 etc arguments that Spurrier was too old and Meyer would be coaching at UF long after Spurrier was retired. Ha! What the evidence shows is that UF hired the president of Utah first and then shortly after hired the Utah football coach when Spurrier was available.

3. I don't really care what Foley thought Muschamp would be. I am the first to say that all coaching hires are crap shoots. There is no guarantee Spurrier at UF would have recaptured his magic whether he was hired in 2004, 2010 or 2014 or 2017. Similarly there is no telling for sure if Mullen will be great or a disaster or in between. Heck there is no way to know if Meyer could recapture his magic if he came back to UF. No matter what Foley thought Muschamp would be he was still yet another DC just as McElwain was an OC who came from a school of deferring to defense and special teams.

Still to me the bottom line is this sentence I wrote above, "There is no guarantee Spurrier at UF would have recaptured his magic whether he was hired in 2004, 2010 or 2014 or 2017." This athletic administration hired a football coach in 2004, 2010, 2014 and 2017. Each of those times there was out there a UF alum, who was a hall of fame coach, who had his greatest success at UF and they failed to hire him each time. That to me is an unforgivable sin on the part of the upper administrators in the UFUAA. Their heads should all role and UF should get a group of athletic administrators who recognize what their important contribution is and also recognize what the contribution of the coaches are.

 

[EuroGator]

Great article! Thanks for sharing.

 

[InstiGATOR1]

Perhaps I missed the point, the coach is hired to win football games and do so within the restraints that our ethics and rules require. He is to develop students into good adults.

I don't care that management hires, I believe that coaches if they want to win will do those things that are effective. Not only on offense, but in every aspect of their jobs. And when some things or people don't work out they will change those things. Several of our previous coaches were not doing these things thus they are gone. You and I could figure this out, why would they not and thus get fired?

Clearly you apparently did miss the point of why Muschamp was fired and why McElwain had so little fan support after winning the east his first two seasons. UF football coaches now are hired to both win games and put a decent product on the field particularly on offense.

Some coaches, Muschamp for sure and McElwain probably, and the administrators at UF have a philosophy of football that does not agree with you that they should put a creditable offense on the field. They believe with defense and special teams can break the spirit of opponents and maybe you can pile up points late in the game. That is not the philosophy that fans of UF who grew up on Graves and as adults lived trough the Spurrier years grew to want.

 

[Frozen Gator]

Where would you put Charley Pell ( not the cheating) in this equation?

 

[Theologator]

I am not at all selective in my memory nor do I just take things on the word of participants:

1. Foley claimed he wanted Zook all along, but as I said above I do not just take what is publicly said. I will say Shanahan was a stretch the field horizontally type offensive guy so don't confuse him with SOS or coaches like him. So it is not like a single coach in the first search was anything like SOS. And the bottom line is UF's athletic administrators got the kind of coach they wanted in that search.

2. You can believe that UF was right to snub Spurrier and hire Meyer in December 2004 if you want. You can not force other people to believe it. You can also believe that Foley had the right to hire whomever he wanted and he only wanted to interview Spurrier and Meyer if you choose, but you can not forces others to believe that either. I certainly remember all of those 2004-05 etc arguments that Spurrier was too old and Meyer would be coaching at UF long after Spurrier was retired. Ha! What the evidence shows is that UF hired the president of Utah first and then shortly after hired the Utah football coach when Spurrier was available.

3. I don't really care what Foley thought Muschamp would be. I am the first to say that all coaching hires are crap shoots. There is no guarantee Spurrier at UF would have recaptured his magic whether he was hired in 2004, 2010 or 2014 or 2017. Similarly there is no telling for sure if Mullen will be great or a disaster or in between. Heck there is no way to know if Meyer could recapture his magic if he came back to UF. No matter what Foley thought Muschamp would be he was still yet another DC just as McElwain was an OC who came from a school of deferring to defense and special teams.

Still to me the bottom line is this sentence I wrote above, "There is no guarantee Spurrier at UF would have recaptured his magic whether he was hired in 2004, 2010 or 2014 or 2017." This athletic administration hired a football coach in 2004, 2010, 2014 and 2017. Each of those times there was out there a UF alum, who was a hall of fame coach, who had his greatest success at UF and they failed to hire him each time. That to me is an unforgivable sin on the part of the upper administrators in the UFUAA. Their heads should all role and UF should get a group of athletic administrators who recognize what their important contribution is and also recognize what the contribution of the coaches are.

1. Every AD announces that whoever was hired was the first choice all along. But we all watched the drama unfold and the flight logs. I don’t think any coach anywhere was like SOS. That was kind of the point of his particular greatness. Others past first but, as you note, most pass-first offenses are horizontal stretches. Who in January 2002 would have continued SOS’s philosophy? Who in 2010, 2014 or 2017?

2. We’ve had that discussion before, no need to rehash. I’m not forcing anything and I don’t think they should have snubbed SOS. But I don’t think Foley was “forced” by Machen to hire the hottest coach in the country. I think he capitalized on that relationship. Meyer’s biggest question mark was his durability and you are quite right that it ended prematurely (and badly.)

After that, I’m not sure SOS would have considered the job in 2010, 2014 or 2017. You may have reason to think he would have, I’m listening.

But we should also acknowledge that Spurrier’s best years came when his high octane offense was complemented by Stoops’ ball-hawking and bone-crushing defenses.

I’m one who values SEC titles maybe more than NC’s. The rise in the 90’s was the most exciting time and whipping F$U in the revenge game sent me screaming into the street (and I was not alone in my neighborhood doing that!) You wish we’d tried another lap around that track. I get that and I know it’s a studied opinion.