Program Turnaround Question

[78]

Look at the percents from the year before until the end of year three.

They scream Pell.

 

[YLGator]

Gotta go with Meyer on this one. He already did it once. Two titles in 4 years coming off the Zook debacle. His track record speaks for itself.

 

[LagoonGator68]

Look at the percents from the year before until the end of year three.

They scream Pell.

Pell damn near got us the death penalty which let Blobby run wild...

 

[78]

Pell damn near got us the death penalty which let Blobby run wild...

Didn't say he was a saint. Asked that you look past the NCAA.

He got us the South end zone enclosed. He got us money. We were the best team in America in '84 and maybe '85, too.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

Spurrier
Self-explanatory

Not sure why this is even being debated. As much as Meyer accomplished, Spurrier was a GOAT. Had he inherited the talent Meyer did (Zook was not HC material but he did bring in some talent) Spurrier prolly would have his first natty sooner. That he made USCe competitive speaks for itself.

 

[soflagator]

Wraparound five-year look.

Too young to remember Pell, so I’ll only comment on the two eras/coaches I witnessed first hand.

As Rex pointed out, the trophy case is much fuller as a result of Spurrier. That said, I really think the two eras, despite being only a decade or so apart, are two completely different animals. The SEC Spurrier ran was not the same one that Meyer faced. Remember, in all but Meyer’s first season(5 out of 6)the SEC winner won the whole thing. The conference only won it all 3 times in Spurrier’s 12 seasons. So it was a better league Meyer faced.

By the same token, Meyer never faced a single nole team that would’ve stayed within 3 scores of the worst fsu squad Spurrier ever faced. He also never faced teams the caliber of ‘95 Nebraska or even ‘00 miami.

So I honestly think if you switched the two coaches, Meyer would have more SEC titles, but wouldn’t have won 2 NCs in 6 seasons. Not with what fsu, miami and Nebraska were at the time. And Spurrier wouldn’t have had a run like ‘91-96 in terms of SEC rings, but almost certainly would’ve won a national title more than just once.

Both great. Just wildly different settings.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Not sure why this is even being debated. As much as Meyer accomplished, Spurrier was a GOAT. Had he inherited the talent Meyer did (Zook was not HC material but he did bring in some talent) Spurrier prolly would have his first natty sooner. That he made USCe competitive speaks for itself.

Mehhh... it was different then. All the big networks will still sucking off Meatchicken, ND, Ohio State, USC, even trash teams like BC.

The SEC got no respect really until bowls starting signing the conference tie-ins and the SEC wiped our azzes with the Big 12 year after year after year. Still before the Bowl Coalition, AP and Coaches were letting a Big 12 school play a Pac 10 joke or scUM play a home game in the Orange Bowl vs. a 2 or 3 loss Big 12 team and declaring a NC.

Even with the Bowl Coalition, at first the SEC didn't get respect and an undefeated Va Tech or Clown Town got nods after playing joke schedules but going undefeated.

It took a while, but we began it all in 1996. Yes, we accelerated it in 2006, but it began with 1996.

HOWEVER, Zook and Bobby Pruitt were good for 2 or 3 dumb losses per year. If SOS had hired an elite DC early on, we would have won more NCs. Of course, if we didn't basically luck into Stoops, we may have had zero.

 

[LagoonGator68]

Mehhh... it was different then. All the big networks will still sucking off Meatchicken, ND, Ohio State, USC, even trash teams like BC.

The SEC got no respect really until bowls starting signing the conference tie-ins and the SEC wiped our azzes with the Big 12 year after year after year. Still before the Bowl Coalition, AP and Coaches were letting a Big 12 school play a Pac 10 joke or scUM play a home game in the Orange Bowl vs. a 2 or 3 loss Big 12 team and declaring a NC.

Even with the Bowl Coalition, at first the SEC didn't get respect and an undefeated Va Tech or Clown Town got nods after playing joke schedules but going undefeated.

It took a while, but we began it all in 1996. Yes, we accelerated it in 2006, but it began with 1996.

HOWEVER, Zook and Bobby Pruitt were good for 2 or 3 dumb losses per year. If SOS had hired an elite DC early on, we would have won more NCs. Of course, if we didn't basically luck into Stoops, we may have had zero.

Damn, don’t you hate giving 78 all this action on his weak ass thread?

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Damn, don’t you hate giving 78 all this action on his weak ass thread?

What else are we going to do.

WE NEED FOOTBALL!!!!!

 

[NVGator]

SOS. No 2nd guessing.

 

[InstiGATOR1]

Spurrier. He may not win as many national championships as Meyer, but he'd usually field a respectable top 10 team, he'll be here for the long haul, and there would be fewer scandals involving players or coaches.

Had Spurrier inherited Meyers program and Meyer inherited the probation racked team Spurrier inherited, or ifad Spurrier played the FSU teams Meyer faced in the declining years of Bowden and Meyer faced the peak FSU under Bowden teams that Spurrier faced, no one would suggest Meyer might win more national championships. Meyer had the program that still had some of the Spurrier mystique. Spurrier received the program the NCAA left for dead.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

Well Pell is dead so...
I realize for most of you your balls hadn't dropped yet but he did give us our first SEC title in 75+ years. And another title and MNC in at least one poll with his recruits so there's that. And boosters, he brought us money. I mean, if you're ignoring the NCAA it's Pell is who took the Gators from a winless program to champions and made us a national power.
What was the question?

 

[Gatorraid81]

Didn’t Pell lose to UGAy every year?

 

[InstiGATOR1]

it's Pell is who took the Gators from a winless program to champions and made us a national power.

I recognize the good Pell did at UF. On the other hand you are stretching when you credit a coach who coached UF to a winless season for turning UF around from that. That winless seasons is one of the biggest strikes against Pell in this argument.

I had considered responding to 78 that looking at only one season is like pretending that Mullen inherited a 4 win team rather than a roster that had won the SEC East two of the last three seasons. Similarly, Pell inherited a program that had some discipline problems, but was 18-15-1 or a tad under 53% winning percentage in the prior 3 seasons and had won 8 games the 3rd season back. UF stuck with Dickey too long, but it was not like Dickey did not get UF to a decent level in the mid 1970s. Spurrier inherited an NCAA depleted program that had gone 20-16 or a bit under 56% winning percentage the prior 3 season, but won immediately without a winless seasons. Meyer inherited a program that had gone 23-15 or a bit under 61% winning percentage and of course the mystique of UF from the 1990s.

 

[LagoonGator68]

Well Pell is dead so...
I realize for most of you your balls hadn't dropped yet but he did give us our first SEC title in 75+ years. And another title and MNC in at least one poll with his recruits so there's that. And boosters, he brought us money. I mean, if you're ignoring the NCAA it's Pell is who took the Gators from a winless program to champions and made us a national power.
What was the question?

You’re on crack. Pell was fired in 1984 with a record of 1-1-1....Galen Hall coached us to the vacated SEC title. Pell took us to the nearest thing to a death penalty that has been seen since SMU actually got it. Pell was the best coach FSU ever had.

 

[g8tr72]

SOS hands down, mostly because of his master motivational techniques.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

Damn, don’t you hate giving 78 all this action on his weak ass thread?

What else are we going to do.

WE NEED FOOTBALL!!!!!

Right now, someone could start a thread simply entitled “Football” and in the first post write “discuss” and it would get a lot of action.

 

[gator1946]

SOS.

None of the other "candidates" had the combination of winning,swagger, entertainment value, humor, and the feeling that we were winning because we were smarter than the other guys. I especially liked the feeling that if we played a team with equal talent we'd use brainpower to take them to the woodshed. Isn't higher education about being smarter?

 

[soflagator]

You’re on crack. Pell was fired in 1984 with a record of 1-1-1....Galen Hall coached us to the vacated SEC title. Pell took us to the nearest thing to a death penalty that has been seen since SMU actually got it. Pell was the best coach FSU ever had.

The way he finished his post, I’m thinking weed. But you know, tomato tomahto.

 

[78]

Damn, don’t you hate giving 78 all this action on his weak ass thread?

You think this is good? You should see me whip up Hamburger Helper at home.