Where were you on Jan 5th 2002?

[Wuerffel4Pres]

I was at home in Connecticut at the time. I remember being stunned and then actually tearing up when it hit me. LOVED his press conference though. Summed up why I'll always love that dude. I was going to a concert that night that I had been so excited about and while I still went, I remember being so downtrodden the whole time.

I'll always blame Darnell Docket and Jeremy Foley for his leaving us. SOS ... Always.

 

[soflagator]

Was in my office in WPB for the 2002 announcement. Pretty sure someone called me. As bad as it was to hear, I remember my first thought was how in classic Spurrier form, he completely stole the spotlight from miami after their NC win.

I'll say this, when I got the text in Dec 2009, I was much more worried than I was in 2002. It has nothing to do with comparing coaches, or what they've meant to UF. That goes withou saying. But the sinking feeling after that news, still fresh off the loss in Atl, was much greater. My gut instinct was right.

 

[GatorTruth133]

I was in my bed enjoying the end of Winter Break for my freshman year of high school.

 

[Double Gator Dad]

Was in my office in WPB for the 2002 announcement. Pretty sure someone called me. As bad as it was to hear, I remember my first thought was how in classic Spurrier form, he completely stole the spotlight from miami after their NC win.

I'll say this, when I got the text in Dec 2009, I was much more worried than I was in 2002. It has nothing to do with comparing coaches, or what they've meant to UF. That goes withou saying. But the sinking feeling after that news, still fresh off the loss in Atl, was much greater. My gut instinct was right.

I agree with you, I felt the same way.
I think it had something to do with the fact that I knew that Foley had screwed this up once (hiring Zook) and I feared that he would fumble again and of course, he did. And then he did it again.......

 

[gingerlover]

My dad (a UT fan since he had to pay for my sister to go there) came in bragging like crazy. Have never seen this man watch college football once in my life. Herd him constantly yell at the Braves and falcons though.

 

[DeltaGlamma]

Remember it like it was yesterday :(

I was at work listening to sports radio like I did every day and they came on with breaking news, I was stunned shocked and dismayed beyond belief. I shouted NO really loud as a gut reaction which brought my boss aross the hall into my office to see if all was okay. Boss, a Vols fan, was quite pleased when I conveyed the news.

I just had this sinking feeling that nothing would ever be the same again for Fla Football. I felt so betrayed.

 

[KronoGator]

Read it on ESPN.com, still have the link saved
http://static.espn.go.com/ncf/news/2002/0104/1305688.html

I called my Mom to see if she had heard, she was already on the phone breaking the news to my Grandmother.

 

[Durty's Toe]

I was at work in the basement of Dauer Hall. It was near the end of that winter day and the sun was low in the sky. I looked out my office window to see the lights on at BHG. A friend called and I asked why the lights were on at the stadium. That was why he was calling, to let me know there was about to be a press conference about SOS retiring. Shocker.

 

[Zambo]

It was near the end of that winter day and the sun was low in the sky.

Off in the distance, a dog barked.

 

[GatorJ]

Although overall I am very happy today because we are moving forward, a part of me is very sad because the end result is that we have another failed coaching tenure and millions of wasted dollars being spent to fix problems versus address opportunities.
In addition, we are all happy because we assume that the administration will select the right person even though history says they probably will not.

I get what you’re saying – but here is a little optimism for you –

When Spurrier left We got Zook. And we knew that Zook had no chance and was merely meant to be there because following a legend was virtually impossible. Everybody knew that he was not a long-term solution even when he was hired.

Chump was actually a hot commodity.

Mac was a complete disaster from day one.

Stricklin seems to be more about finding the best fit. Not stroking his ego like Foley.

I feel really good about this and this hasn’t been the case for almost a decade.

 

[TheDouglas78]

Following GatorJ and the future Mrs. GatorJ to the movies, stopped at 34th and University, J jumped out of the car, ran back to mine, saying did I hear that (we were both listening to it on 850 AM)

 

[78]

I'm not sure what Zook was meant to be. Avoiding strike three? Anyone with half a brain knew the guy wasn't competent to lead a major D1 program. Hell, SOS demoted him from DC to special teams. What was Foley thinking?

Then again, maybe that was a problem. He had jet lag.

 

[GatorJ]

Following GatorJ and the future Mrs. GatorJ to the movies, stopped at 34th and University, J jumped out of the car, ran back to mine, saying did I hear that (we were both listening to it on 850 AM)

That’s pretty funny. I don’t even remember seeing a movie that day. Probably because I was distraught. What was the movie? I don’t even recall.

 

[GatorJ]

I'm not sure what Zook was meant to be. Avoiding strike three? Anyone with half a brain knew the guy wasn't competent to lead a major D1 program. Hell, SOS demoted him from DC to special teams. What was Foley thinking?

Then again, maybe that was a problem. He had jet lag.

I remember when it happened. And everyone was discussing that he was just meant to be a placeholder. To keep recruiting going until we found a superstar. Because nobody wanted to follow Spurrier.

 

[TheDouglas78]

I'm not sure what Zook was meant to be. Avoiding strike three? Anyone with half a brain knew the guy wasn't competent to lead a major D1 program. Hell, SOS demoted him from DC to special teams. What was Foley thinking?

Then again, maybe that was a problem. He had jet lag.

I think it was more like strike 7 or 8, and national signing day was approaching... I think it was to save the recruiting class... but the news around Gainesville was he was a placeholder.

 

[78]

I remember when it happened. And everyone was discussing that he was just meant to be a placeholder. To keep recruiting going until we found a superstar. Because nobody wanted to follow Spurrier.

Foley assumed a lot of things. Most of them were wrong. He went after two of the biggest names possible, both of whom seriously considered the offer, then settled on a special teams doofus. Yeah, that's a real indictment of no one wanting to lead the Florida football program.

No one can conceivably say Foley did his due diligence. He should have been placed on strict supervision right then and there for lack of fiduciary responsibility.

 

[TheDouglas78]

That’s pretty funny. I don’t even remember seeing a movie that day. Probably because I was distraught. What was the movie? I don’t even recall.

I don't remember, I remember where we were going. That I was following you and Mrs. J was driving, and you jumping out and hoping my passenger side... us going to Royal Park. But not the movie at all.

 

[Windy City Gator]

I had just finished playing golf at Disney's Osprey Ridge with a Nole friend of mine from out of town....he got a call from a buddy and told me that SOS was taking the Skins job....I told him he was f'ing lying....turns out it was true. That was a dark day.