What made SOS a great Florida coach?

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Was it his offensive mindset, esp at the time he became UF's coach?

Was it his ability to coach and mold young guys into something they otherwise might not have been?

Was it his ability to recruit and attract top high school and coaching talent?

Or was it his ability to script plays that no one else could duplicate?
 

Gator Fever

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Offensive mindset for the time in the SEC and good recruiting. Watching that 2018 KY replay he even made a comment that UF would need to get to that top 5 area in recruiting for championships.
 

SeabeeGator

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Everything. Favorite son. Offensive innovator. Dominance of the SEC. Hatred of rivals. Arrogance that only his fans could love. Demeanor in general - just had a magnetic personality.
 

Thick&ThinG8r

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All of these things with an emphasis on ability to coach the passing game. From the timing, route running and even the receivers not putting there hands up until the last second, all had to be perfect.
There are stories of former SOS players watching a butters and nuss practice and the plays never working, against air, and they would move on to the next play. I couldn't imagine Spurrier doing that.
 

InstiGATOR1

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I have always thought that Spurrier taught me a number of things that unfortunately some UF fans failed to either learn or retain. Among them in no particular order were:

1. If you are the better team, you want to play fast. You want as many possessions as possible so that there are more chances for you being better to show up on the score board.

2. Gators should not be fighting with Gators particularly in practice. He was never amused with fights in practice and never saw them as a good sign as some coaches do.

3. Expect the next guy up to be ready to play. Spurrier trusted his players more than any coach I have ever seen anywhere. He expected you to do well and often times the confidence seemed to rub off on players who had to play due to injury or the player in front of them having an off day.

4. If you only play 12 or so games a year, for UF there is no excuse for not being ready to play each of those opportunities.

5. The best team usually wins in bad weather. Until Spurrier, UF fans and maybe the team was maybe an excues program. But under Spurrier his teams were so good they blew out SoCar in really cold weather, the beat UGa in fields that were basically soaked in rain. If you are better adverse condition magnify that.

These among many other things like fit for the school and the fan base made Spurrier the ideal coach for UF. That UF failed to hire him to try to recapture that magic in 2005, 2011, 2015 and 2018 has been criminal mismanagement of the program in my view.
 

SeabeeGator

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I have always thought that Spurrier taught me a number of things that unfortunately some UF fans failed to either learn or retain. Among them in no particular order were:

1. If you are the better team, you want to play fast. You want as many possessions as possible so that there are more chances for you being better to show up on the score board.

2. Gators should not be fighting with Gators particularly in practice. He was never amused with fights in practice and never saw them as a good sign as some coaches do.

3. Expect the next guy up to be ready to play. Spurrier trusted his players more than any coach I have ever seen anywhere. He expected you to do well and often times the confidence seemed to rub off on players who had to play due to injury or the player in front of them having an off day.

4. If you only play 12 or so games a year, for UF there is no excuse for not being ready to play each of those opportunities.

5. The best team usually wins in bad weather. Until Spurrier, UF fans and maybe the team was maybe an excues program. But under Spurrier his teams were so good they blew out SoCar in really cold weather, the beat UGa in fields that were basically soaked in rain. If you are better adverse condition magnify that.

These among many other things like fit for the school and the fan base made Spurrier the ideal coach for UF. That UF failed to hire him to try to recapture that magic in 2005, 2011, 2015 and 2018 has been criminal mismanagement of the program in my view.
Which of these things do you believe fans have forgotten?
 

InstiGATOR1

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Which of these things do you believe fans have forgotten?

Most most of them at least by some fans as I said. Few expect the next guy up to be ready ala Spurrier. They seem to be more certain players are irreplaceable ala the anti-Spurrier. I also see much more excuse making in bad weather rather than expecting the better team to win. I have certainly heard about UF not being up for some teams even last year and that leads to losing to unranked teams something Spurrer never or very very rarely did. I do think some fans are encourage by practice fights etc.

I will agree that most fans probably want to play fast, though there is a grind it out and keep the other team in the game faction. Unfortunately some of them seem to be in the UAA.
 

88drgator

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To the OP:

Why are you posting an off-season topic just before an "important" game?

Bored? Scared we lose to UK and have an uplifting topic to assuage the pain?

Asking for a friend...

BTW...JK
 
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SeabeeGator

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Most most of them at least by some fans as I said. Few expect the next guy up to be ready ala Spurrier. They seem to be more certain players are irreplaceable ala the anti-Spurrier. I also see much more excuse making in bad weather rather than expecting the better team to win. I have certainly heard about UF not being up for some teams even last year and that leads to losing to unranked teams something Spurrer never or very very rarely did. I do think some fans are encourage by practice fights etc.

I will agree that most fans probably want to play fast, though there is a grind it out and keep the other team in the game faction. Unfortunately some of them seem to be in the UAA.
None that I know of. I think #1 is desired by 99% of fans. Don’t hear much about #2 but I don’t like it. I expect #3 to happen but no one expects that person to be as good - they’d being pushing for snaps if they were equal or better. I’ve seen your point on #4 - especially with Mizzou last year - but that was driven as much by the players as it was the fans. I always assumed we’d have an advantage in #5 - our guys practice in some of the worst weather in the country.

TL;DR - only one I’ve seen any fans consistently engage in is #4 but that was also driven by the players themselves.
 

GatorsRGrt

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He instantly turned the series with Georgia around. The dawgs totally owned us until his arrival in 1990. I think he was 11-1 against Georgia. The dominance lasted even after he left until recently.
 

rogdochar

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Hope I communicate this worthy of Spurrier.
For a good while, Steve came in as "the surprise" ... at Duke he overachieved, so they thought. ... at UF, mainly he was "home".

I think Steve's revolutionizing trait was how he took over "risk" to transform that into "honed opportunity". By that I mean he "stretch-extended" throwing your receiver clear. His QBs were hyper-trained into throwing to that spot that no one was at, "yet"... Then low and behold, WR & ball wound up in that spot with the DB chasing. It was art for us to look at. .... I think this was discovered because he ruminated, meditated as only this Heisman QB could. ... From youth, I bet he daydreamed visualizing successful pass-plays.

P.S. >> It's terrible that vindictive pettiness deflected him to USCe.
 

Theologator

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SOS has/had an uncanny ability to see holes in defenses and an absolute hatred of losing. That inspired and ignited players’ imaginations, fueling confidence and swagger. It worked at Duke and Tampa, but ignited in the right place (home) at the right time. It attracted great talent on both sides of the ball and fulfilled Bear Bryant’s(?) “sleeping giant” prediction. Also helped that the state was growing rapidly. (Which is why his genius only translated so far at SC.)

His deep love for UF and passion for making US great undergirded all of it.

To me, it’s all of those things plus some others that make him uniquely special.
 

G8trwood

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No nonsense. He didn’t put up with BS from anyone, media, coaches or players. Demanded excellence with great schemes. He benched more “starters” for not executing or shenanigans than any coach we have had.
 

Gulfstream

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Was it his offensive mindset, esp at the time he became UF's coach?

Was it his ability to coach and mold young guys into something they otherwise might not have been?

Was it his ability to recruit and attract top high school and coaching talent?

Or was it his ability to script plays that no one else could duplicate?

Nice try , but I dont think Donk's coming back for a while.

FTR.. All of the above.
 

LagoonGator68

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Orr is an offensive genius. He had plenty of time to study it all as Brody’s back up for all those years.

Not rehiring him in 2005 was a crime against nature. Machen was a fcking Mormon zealot idiot.
 

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