- Aug 28, 2014
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What has he done lately? Football 8 years ago, Basketball 9 years. Baseball never. The other stuff is nice but has as much to do with demographics as it has to do with him. He's past his prime.
Foley: Best in the business
- Thread starter ATXGator
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Scott512
Senior Member
- Sep 1, 2014
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Kind of harsh. You may be right though.
- Jul 20, 2014
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It is always "what have you done for me lately" with some of you. Jesusfckn Christ. The sun dont shine one one dogs behind all the time. THere a dozens of other big time athletic programs shooting for the exact same hardware we aim for. 99% would give a left gonad for the hardware we have accumulated n the new millennium. When you have coaching changes sh#t happens. It is a crap shoot much like the NFL draft. We play in the hardest conference of all regarding football and many other sports. Football pays the bills but there are other games to play. Foley has a record even in major sports that is envied. We aint bama, we aint North Carolina or Duke but we have done some amazing things in those sports. If this baseball guy can finish the deal we are the ONLY major college to do it in the big three. I know much of the butt hurt is because half assss U has done better the last few year but sh#T happens. Would you have rather been a success with that asshat who played QB up there?
- Jun 11, 2014
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Founding Member
Didn't the hoops go to three straight elite eights and a final four just two years ago?
- Sep 8, 2014
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Again, the "argument" is among the: he's the "best" or "among the best". Those who think he's "the best" have lost....and it's because of 2 reasons: Ron Zook & Will Muschamp. That really happened in real life....no one can erase it. Foley has done a good job....so have other AD's.
- Jun 11, 2014
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Founding Member
I lost money on that Series but I'm still not sold on Billy being a Great or even Good NBA Coach. Time will tell, and My track record on picking winners and losers is nothing to brag about. Matter of record, my choices usually suck!
- Jun 14, 2014
- 7,417
- 9,097
Founding Member
I wouldn't say he's the best ever AD, but hard to ignore the accomplishments over his tenure. He's made some decisions that really want to make you question his ability and effectiveness. He's perhaps worthy of a top five as one of the best, but he has a bit of work to do to earn the the title of best.
- Feb 13, 2016
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You're not alone. There is a bronze bust of me in the Picking Losers Hall of Fame.
- Jun 13, 2014
- 25,242
- 10,084
Founding Member
I think we were top 5 area in overall sports in some listings before Foley was even hired. He gets a big plus for Donovan but considering he didn't hire Spurrier and Meyer was getting hired 100% because of the new President anyway he probably does need Mac to succeed to cement his legacy or Football will be a big question mark on him.
- Jun 24, 2014
- 10,107
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Founding Member
This has been proven wrong. There was no affiliation between the hiring of Meyer and UF hiring Utah's president. It is pure coincidence. I doubt that Utah's president even talked to Foley.
- Jun 9, 2014
- 19,758
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Founding Member
You're kidding yourself if you don't think Machen's influence and friendship with Meyer contributed to the hire.
- Oct 5, 2014
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Foley is one of the best in the business. He may be the best in the business. I am as proud of anyone at UF's accomplishments in the so-called non major sports. But an SEC athletic director is only as good as his last football coach hire -- exceptions being Vanderbilt and Kentucky. When Spurrier was here Foley's stock was sky high, but when Zook was nose-diving Foley had to fire him after the debacle at Starkville to keep from hitting rock bottom. With Meyer, Foley rebounded big time, but went into a recession when Meyer started having anxiety issues and lost control of the team. With Muschamp things went from a recession to a full blown depression.
And as the stock of the head football coach goes so goes the stock of the athletic director. This is the SEC. That's the way it is. If it isn't the SEC can you really call it football? Now we are in the era of Jim McElwain and it looks like a bull market is developing. Foley may be one of the best in the business. He may be the best. But this is the SEC. This is Florida. An athletic director at Florida and the other big SEC schools is judged rightly or wrongly on their last football hire. The other stuff is just icing on a big cake.
And as the stock of the head football coach goes so goes the stock of the athletic director. This is the SEC. That's the way it is. If it isn't the SEC can you really call it football? Now we are in the era of Jim McElwain and it looks like a bull market is developing. Foley may be one of the best in the business. He may be the best. But this is the SEC. This is Florida. An athletic director at Florida and the other big SEC schools is judged rightly or wrongly on their last football hire. The other stuff is just icing on a big cake.
- Jun 13, 2014
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Founding Member
The President (Machen) dissed Spurrier in public well before the hire saying he could apply like anyone else. Meyer was 100% being hired because of Machen and not Spurrier.
https://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2..._spurrier-s-decision-spurrier-s-answer-machen
"Steve Spurrier was asked this question outright Friday morning:
"Were you turned off that Jeremy [Foley] and President [Bernie] Machen wanted you to go through the interview process and a national search to become the next coach at the University of Florida?"
Spurrier's answer was short but telling.
"Well, Jeremy knows me and knows what I can do, and the president knows who I am ... or maybe he doesn't. I guess he doesn't remember meeting me."
I guess he doesn't remember meeting me.
That will be the parting shot heard 'round the Gator world over the next -- oh, I don't know -- two decades as fans gnash their teeth about Spurrier's decision not to return to coach at his beloved U of F. Spurrier's off-the-cuff remark during a 10-minute phone interview was his indirect way of saying he wasn't going to jump through Machen's hoops.Specifically, Spurrier was referring to a comment Machen made at a news conference 12 days ago, when Ron Zook was fired. Machen was asked if he had ever had any contact with Spurrier.
Machen shook his head no and said he had only seen Spurrier's picture.
Except there was one problem: Machen had met Spurrier a few months earlier at the SEC basketball tournament in Atlanta, where Spurrier and his wife, Jerri, sat near Machen at one of the games. When he was reminded of this at the Zook news conference, Machen acknowledged that he had met Spurrier at the basketball tournament and that they had even shaken hands. It was peculiar Machen didn't remember meeting the most legendary figure in his school's athletic history. Spurrier obviously thought it was curious, too. Was it a memory lapse, or Machen telling Gator Nation that Steve Spurrier is no big deal to him?
And if Florida was serious about hiring Spurrier, don't you think Machen might have called Spurrier and expressed that sentiment? If Spurrier had immediately been offered the job at UF, he would have taken it in a Micanopy minute.
Spurrier hemmed and hawed before answering: "Let's just say we never got a chance to cross that bridge, OK?"
I asked the question another way:
"But, Steve, what if they had said, `It's your job if you want it.' Would you have taken it or not?"
"We just never got a chance to cross the bridge," Spurrier said again. "I'm not going to say anything bad about the University of Florida. I think this is the best thing for everybody. I just think with me hanging around, it hindered Jeremy and the president's search process. Now that I'm out of the picture, they can go interview the coaches they have on their list." Twice, Spurrier had a chance to say, "No, I wouldn't have accepted the job even if it had been offered." Twice, he wouldn't say it."
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- Jun 9, 2014
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Founding Member
Yes, Machen dissed Spurrier, but Foley really wanted Meyer in spite of it being perceived at the time as a risky proposition compared to just re-hiring Spurrier. In Meyer, Foley saw someone who could potentially give him something he desperately wanted, the chance to put his own stamp on the football program even if it meant rolling the dice. I mean, who amounted to the surer bet at the time -- the guy who'd guided Florida to six SEC titles and a natty or the hot up-and-comer from the nothing school out west who had zilch roots in the SEC? The answer should be obvious.
It turned out to be the right hire.
If Foley goes down as anything, it's as the calculated risk taker who was willing to take great chances with UF capital to get the tremendous value hire. He won some and he lost some, too.
It turned out to be the right hire.
If Foley goes down as anything, it's as the calculated risk taker who was willing to take great chances with UF capital to get the tremendous value hire. He won some and he lost some, too.
- Oct 5, 2014
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Interesting posts from Fever and '78. I don't think Spurrier would have done as good the second time around as Florida. I don't think he could have bagged two more national titles as Meyer did. I don't know. I might be mistaken. It is one of those hypotheticals that no one can answer.
Meyer was fresh. He was an upcoming superstar. He was hungry. Spurrier while far from over the hill had reached the pinnacle of success. Winning the national title is something only a few can do. Once you are at the top it is hard to maintain that level particularly if you take a break from things and try to return to your previous position.
We don't know all the stresses that Spurrier faced at UF towards the end. There were some things he wanted the backing on from the athletic director and administration that he didn't get. As with anybody at the top of a competitive field there are going to be big egos. Spurrier wanted to leave, he said he wanted to go try the NFL. If he was going to come back to UF it was going to be under his terms.
This reminds somewhat of Bobby Bowden and Alabama. Bowden's dream job that he said he wanted all his life was to return to his native state and become the head coach of the Crimson Tide. When the Alabama job came open, Bowden thought Tuscaloosa would come calling. They told him to take an application and get in line for an interview. Bobby told them he liked Tallahassee just fine.
Meyer was fresh. He was an upcoming superstar. He was hungry. Spurrier while far from over the hill had reached the pinnacle of success. Winning the national title is something only a few can do. Once you are at the top it is hard to maintain that level particularly if you take a break from things and try to return to your previous position.
We don't know all the stresses that Spurrier faced at UF towards the end. There were some things he wanted the backing on from the athletic director and administration that he didn't get. As with anybody at the top of a competitive field there are going to be big egos. Spurrier wanted to leave, he said he wanted to go try the NFL. If he was going to come back to UF it was going to be under his terms.
This reminds somewhat of Bobby Bowden and Alabama. Bowden's dream job that he said he wanted all his life was to return to his native state and become the head coach of the Crimson Tide. When the Alabama job came open, Bowden thought Tuscaloosa would come calling. They told him to take an application and get in line for an interview. Bobby told them he liked Tallahassee just fine.
- Jun 12, 2014
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Founding Member
Only our fan base can act as if 26 total national championships is absolutely nothing 
- Jun 24, 2014
- 10,107
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Founding Member
Only our fan base can act as if 26 total national championships is absolutely nothing
No one said anything close to that. Just out of morbid curiosity. How many non-football non-basketball title Gator gear do you have? How many women's track national championship t shirts do you own? How many on this board own anything that talks about a Gator national title in other than football or basketball?
- Jun 13, 2014
- 25,242
- 10,084
Founding Member
Meyer was a great hire its just he was 100% getting hired because of Machen regardless of what Foley wanted. I cant remember a UF President being that talkative about a coaching hire before. Foley may have wanted him also as his top pick (I assume most ADs in the country would have at that time) but you never know. I assume the only real choice at the very beginning would be to hire Spurrier back or to hire Meyer due to his great success. The 2 open ended picks with no clear cut choices is where Foley has failed and the 3rd one is up in the air for a few more years. I hope he got it right this time and think he probably did.
