Mr. Muschamp you have my sympathies, understanding and for at least one more year my support; however, I can’t give approval at this time.
Let’s start this out correctly:
Could the guy that was on the prior team that last lost to Vanderbilt raise his hand?”
(Fee, Raises his hand)
Really?
Am I the only guy raising his hand?
Crap!
My sophomore year of 1988 we lost to Vanderbilt in Tennessee, 24-9, under eerily similar circumstances of injuries and offensive ineptitude. Losing to Vanderbilt feels like your dog died in a horrible accident, filmed on YouTube and you’re forced to watch it ad nauseam. Sitting on the bus/plane you’re looking at each other in disbelief, so stunned you’re almost laughing, saying to each other:
“Dawg, we lost to F!@#$%^ Vanderbilt! Vanderbilt Man! Vanderbilt!”
I know, this isn’t yo momma’s Vanderbilt thanks to an outstanding job of coaching by James Franklin. But, it’s still Vanderbilt whose athletic department is run by amateurs and have none of the hardware in the trophy case or the iconic statues out front of the stadium of three Heisman trophy winners. Vanderbilt is that low to mid-tier team that you’re supposed to be able to beat running the ball and playing a single defense the entire time. Yet, that’s not the SEC we live in anymore. It takes a good game plan, execution, desire and discipline.
If we evaluate ourselves while accounting for the devastating injuries we have suffered we find we are lacking in all aforementioned areas needed to win just as we were lacking in 1988. It’s hard to admit that you played on a bad team that had first round NFL Draft picks but the key terms are team and affective leadership. The game plans were uninspired. Execution needed to be followed with executions. We played with little desire and what is this thing called discipline? That was the responsibility of head coach Galen Hall.
If you really put it altogether you find 1988 and 2013 are mirror images. All of the needed items needed to win revolve around discipline or lack thereof. Discipline to consistently evaluate opponents and self-scout tendencies: Failed. Player discipline to do as trained execute and not fall victim to your emotions: Failed.
So who is the discipline coach?
Could it be the guy yelling at fans, screaming at refs and flat out letting his emotions take over in public?
Hmmmmmm. I dunno!
All I know is the Gators have had more bad luck than I have in Atlantic City. It’s so bad our guys can’t even ride their scooters without the injury gremlin wreaking havoc. Can you blame the head ball coach for that? NO! Can you blame the head ball coach for lack of discipline and piss poor game plans? You sure as hell can!
My momma told me like all of yours told you: if you do not have anything good to say you’re better off not saying anything at all. My mom is why I am a Gator, and worse, she went to the game Saturday. I don’t think she would hold me to that. So I’ll simply say history is the best teacher and predictor of what’s to come. Here’s a little reminder for all those that forget. We fired Lynn Amedee and the majority of the 1988 offensive staff that couldn’t function with Emmitt Smith as our running back and focal point of the offense. We hired a staff in 1989 that was beyond poor in utilizing the talent and exacerbated poor player management. The injuries continued followed by TERMINATIONS. I shut up now.
Losing to Vanderbilt is unacceptable with resources of University of Florida
Synopsis: Injuries, turnovers and piss poor tackling. Simple!
Thank you for your time,
Ephesians A. Bartley II
Thanks, Fee. I understand where you’re coming from and agree with everything you say above. It’s hard as a graduate and fan to see how we have struggled so mightily this year – can’t imagine what it is like for a former player. And, yes, the circumstances certainly do appear eerily similar. We’ll see what response we receive from AD Foley and HC Muschamp…