Cover, I'd like you to clarify one thing. Why is it that in todays college football environment schools are throwing around tens of millions of dollars (70 plus actually) to people who might not be worthwhile as a janitor in another world. Why are we not able to find some dude who is a decent coach who we can pay Multi-Millions to so that we win more often than we lose. Why is it that here, right here, on this board; is a great writer who rivals Grantland Rice.
Why couldn't we have it the other way around, a great coach and a lousy writer.
My opinion is that we are a society largely driven by two main things: enrichment and notoriety. We do not laud hard work, loyalty, and perseverance as we once did. College football mirrors that. Everybody wants to be the best and the easiest path has become to throw a ton of money at your target. Started with the hot coaches, then a system was implemented to buy the best players. The desired result is super coaches with super teams. The problem is that in reality there are truly only a handful of the really elite coaches, Saban being the top of the heap, but there’s more money out there than ever before (conference and broadcast revenue, big boosters, etc.), so the teams that are searching for an elite coach have a lot of money to throw around. But again, there’s only a handful of truly elite coaches; the money, however, is still thrown at the lesser candidates with the hopes of finding a diamond in the rough, that next rising star.
A big part of the elite coach procurement plan has come to include the long-term contract with huge buyouts. The plus side for the schools is that if they find that elite coach, they lock him in for what’s hoped to be a long term run. But in the majority of cases, the coach fizzles after 2-3 seasons, maybe more, maybe less, and unless he’s a crook or of poor morals, the school is on the hook for the remainder of contract or a negotiated settlement. Either way, there’s as much incentive to fail as there is to succeed! This model, on the surface if not deeper, appears to have attracted far more Charlatans than revealed and promoted elite coaches. As long as the money is available in the amounts that it is, it’s hard to see us getting away from this system.
We were blessed to have had Steve Spurrier, a UF alum who proudly bled Orange and Blue and an ultra-competitor, to coach our team and pave the road for future successes. I hold on to the hope that we’ll eventually find somebody in that same mold, not necessarily an old player, but one who’s driven more by the quest to win and be the best and has the experience and connections to make it happen and isn’t looking primarily to sign up for a golden parachute. But I know these guys are beyond rare these days. Rarer still are the ADs and administrators that are actually able to vet and hire the best. Too often their egos exceed proper judgement when it comes to selecting the man and offering a contract. The need to be the guy or school who makes the big splash hire or finds the next coaching superstar gets ahead of things. By and large, it’s more Cowboys and Indians than sound business practices with no signs of changing anytime soon.
@gator1946 I appreciate your kind words. This little article I do is easy for me because I’ve been a lifelong Gator fan, I’m an alum, I love football and all our past successes, and I look forward to returning to greatness. And, I enjoy our band of Gator Chatter members! They give me a lot to think about, laugh about, sometimes cuss about, but most of all, they make this a place to hang out with others who have the Orange and Blue in common. It’s very much like home!
I will say that Billy was better composed post-game than the week before.
Crap! I need to see my doctor ASAP.
