I am very curious on what it would take for people to define Mac as being on a track toward success. What say you?
Well, I for one was already on board the "Mac Train" since I actually place a lot of significance on winning the East 2 years in a row regardless of how the quality of the East may have been at the time. This is still the SEC after all and those teams had a significant number of NFL players on their rosters. I actually got on board the first year when he took a quarterback who'd been mostly ignored by the previous coach and turned him into a solid player and showed what our offense could possibly become with a competent QB. Then, when that QB was suddenly (stupidly) out of the mix, he found a way to sneak into the SECCG despite having to use our only other QB on the roster, who wasn't really a QB skill wise at all, and to work around our kicker who couldn't hardly be depended on to make an extra point, much less a field goal. He then followed that up with a repeat SECCG appearance despite using marginal QB transfers and having to navigate a list of injuries that were off the chart. (It should be noted that the previous coach allowed a total melt down when faced with a similar injury plague culminating in a loss to Ga. Southern.) He even delivered a blow out bowl win over a good Iowa team in spite of having to use freshmen and walk-ons to play key roles on a defense that was the crucial factor to the team's success all year. He has also delivered increasingly effective recruiting classes each year and, more importantly, has shown an ability to develop many of those players into real contributors and, in some cases, even game breakers. He has also been highly effective in identifying 3 stars with high upsides and has actually been able to develop several of them from role players into potential NFL level contributors. Perhaps most important of all, he has established a new administrative support culture, as evidenced by the recent infrastructure improvements, and a new team culture that, combined with the improved facilities, is apparently creating a pretty compelling environment given the recent trends in recruiting.
Overall, I think Mac has shown a real ability to adapt and overcome through his first 2 years which was an essential success factor toward UF's attempt to regain its former position on the national landscape. This is especially impressive given the quantity and levels of the dumpster fires he inherited. Though I fully admit that there is still a great deal to prove on the field at this point, I am very optimistic as to our ability to make tremendous strides in that direction simply because we now have a full roster of players across the team with appropriate depth at almost every position (with linebacker as an unfortunate exception). This year we should be able to finally once again be able to match up on the field with almost any team we'll face (including FSU). It definitely remains to be seen how big of a jump we've made overall, but I will be extremely surprised if our team's offense in any way resembles the train wreck waiting to happen we've become so accustomed to since Meyer's last year.
In all honesty, given the uniquely messed up situation Muschamp left in his wake, I am surprised that anyone still has a significant beef with Coach Mac at this point given that:
- he has been able to win back to back East titles with very flawed QB's, sub-par offensive talent in general, severe depth issues in key defensive positions, and significant injuries to critical positions for key games that by all rights should have derailed us given how thin our margin for error has been.
- he has been able to convince the Administration to make large investments in much needed infrastructure enhancements to make us competitive with other elite programs
- he has developed an appealing team culture which is clearly starting to pay large dividends in recruiting
- he has developed his in state network within the state high schools which is also paying huge dividends in recruiting.
- he has helped elevate numerous players into NFL draft-able prospects
- and he has brought us back into the national conversation as we lead up to this season given him every opportunity to lead this team back into the premier tier of teams that tend to drive college football.
I am not sure what more one could ask a guy to accomplish over a 2 year period given where we started.