FORT LAUDERDALE — It’s only a press conference but Vitamin Addazio has already slap shifted from fourth to fifth gear and you know from the way the words whiz by like the dotted line in the center of the highway that he’s got at least a couple more gears before he redlines. There is energy in his words, intensity on his face and a purpose in everything he says. Bundle it all up and you might think you’ve got a China Syndrome on your hands, a white hot core of energy that won’t stop burning until it reaches the far side of the earth somewhere in China.
Such is the world of Steve Addazio, whose calling cards are energy, intensity and physical, dominating offensive line play. He added the title offensive coordinator to his resume in the last week but not a whole lot else has changed in the four years he’s been at Florida, arriving with Urban Meyer in December of 2004. Since he made his way to Gainesville he’s been preaching the gospel of no nonsense, no excuses, in your face, let’s get physical and turn that guy across from you into a dead roach.
All you have to do is look at the progression of Florida’s offensive numbers over the past four years to know that Addazio has been successful building an offensive line that might be the best the Gators have put on the field since the days when Lomas Brown and the Great Wall of 1984 was routinely pounding people into submission and doing it with what could only be described as a rather nasty disposition. The telling stats are points per game and rushing yards per game.
In 2005, the Gators averaged 28.6 points and 146.8 rushing yards per game. In the 2006 national championship season, there was modest improvement to 29.6 points and 160 rushing yards per game. The Gators leapt to 42.5 points and 200.2 rushing yards a game in 2007 and they topped that with 45.2 points and 229.8 rushing yards in 2008.
The big, powerful offensive line that put up those impressive numbers in 2008 has plenty to do with Florida playing Oklahoma for the national championship Thursday night in the FedEX BCS National Championship Game at Dolphins Stadium and it explains why Meyer says it was a no-brainer to promote Addazio to offensive coordinator when Dan Mullen accepted the head coaching job at Mississippi State.
“As far as a decision [to promote him as offensive coordinator], there was none,” said Meyer. “It was just a matter of making sure we keep it going.”
Translation: Just because Mullen is gone doesn’t mean the offense is broken and since it isn’t broken it doesn’t need fixing.
Addazio isn’t a quick fix for a broken offense but a link in an ongoing chain. Greg Brandon was Urban Meyer’s first offensive coordinator and he became the head coach at Bowling Green when Meyer became the head coach at Utah. Next was Mike Sanford and he left Utah to become head coach at UNLV when Meyer took the Florida job. Now Mullen has gone on the head coaching pastures and Addazio is the next in line to elevate an offense that continues to evolve.
Sunday morning, when Addazio met the press in his official capacity as Florida’s offensive coordinator, he said all the right things and made darn sure that he kept the emphasis on the Florida football program and the kids that will play the game. What he couldn’t do was hide the enthusiasm. Every word he spoke rolled off his tongue like a snowball picking up speed as it tumbles down a mountain. There was an edge of enthusiasm as he spoke and by the time he finished, he sounded like a coach that makes players want to run through brick walls to please him.
Right guard Mike Pouncey, who gets a rush from his daily dose of Vitamin A, recalled how Addazio got Florida’s offensive line ready for The Citadel. The big, bad Gators could have mailed it in and still hammered the Division I-AA team but it was Senior Day at The Swamp and three of Addazio’s best pupils — tackles Phil Trautwein and Jason Watkins and guard Jim Tartt — were saying good bye to the Gator Nation.
Addazio knew the crowd of 90,000 in The Swamp would do their part to make his three linemen feel appreciated. What he wanted was the kind of effort from their peers that would give them something to remember for a lifetime.
So he gave a passionate speech about accountability, responsibility and giving your best to the Florida Gators.
“He made me want to cry,” said Pouncey.
Florida’s offensive line gave anything but a mail it in, half-hearted effort that day. They played like a championship was on the line as the Gators rushed for a season high 394 yards.
Addazio wore his passion on his sleeve and on his face Sunday morning. He explained how the play calling process will stay the same, which means plenty of input from all the offensive coaches and Meyer. Mullen coached from the booth. Addazio will stay on the sideline because he likes to look players in the eye when he’s sending them out and he likes the input he gets from players and units that tell him who they’re beating and why when they come off the field.
He talked about how he gathers information during the course of a game and how he evaluates it to decide what adjustments need to be made and when. He talked about what he’s seen of Oklahoma on film and how he thinks the Sooners are a very good defensive team. He talked about how the Gators need to come out ready to play a very physical game, particularly up front in the trenches.
Addazio touched on a variety of subjects and the intensity seemed to build with every sentence spiking when he began talking about that point in the middle of the season when the Florida offensive line started to assert itself as a dominant unit. The Gators struggled in the trenches in the first four games and much of that can be attributed to injuries that kept the same five guys from practicing as a unit for as little as three consecutive days in August. It wasn’t until game five when Carl Johnson entered the starting lineup that the Florida offensive line really took off.
As he talked about his offensive line, you could feel the intensity rising to a new level both in his physical demeanor and in the tone of his voice. He was excited and there was so much energy in his voice that it seemed like a volcano was erupting.
“I think early on that chemistry had to come together with those guys,” he said. “I knew we had a special group here. I really did.”
This is when the words picked up speed.
“They love football,” he said. “They can’t get enough of it. The guys up front love it. They can’t practice enough. They love to practice. They love the grind of the practice. They love fundamentals. They want to come in and see on the tape how can we get better every day? When you’ve got those kind of things going on you’ve got a pretty good deal. And obviously matched up with talent. They’re talented. They’re big, strong physical and talented. When you match that with a great desire to be a great football player you’ve got a pretty good combination. I couldn’t be prouder of those guys. I think they’ve developed into a really strong unit.”
This was pure Vitamin Addazio. At that moment, it was abundantly clear why Meyer thought he was the perfect fit to take over as offensive coordinator. This is the kind of coach that players want to play for.
You can have the greatest scheme in the world. You can draw up all X’s and O’s you want on a blackboard but if the kids aren’t excited and don’t want to play for you, it won’t work. It takes great players to win consistently at the highest levels of college football and you better have a scheme that fits the talents of your players.
The final part of the equation is you better have coaches that can inspire and energize your players to give more than they ever dreamed they were capable of giving on the playing field. When Urban Meyer needed to choose a new offensive coordinator, he only had to see what a good dose of Vitamin A had done to his linemen to know he had made the right choice.