My Post-FSU Reaction: Let’s Blow This Up

The Urban Meyer fan club is dwindling.

“Obviously, we’re down a little bit. I didn’t believe we’d be that far down, but we are.” – Urban Meyer

Florida State 31, Florida 7.

I’d say that’s pretty far down no matter how you look at it. Any small inch of honor and pride that Florida Gator football once had is momentarily dead and there are more fingers to point than anyone can fathom.

It used to feel like a birthright to beat FSU. Like Florida was so far ahead of the rest of the state that dominance was a given for years to come. Yeah, that was 12 months ago.

The laundry list is too long to tame, so I’m going to simplify it.

There is not a single assistant coach on this staff that can justify keeping their job after Saturday night. A mass-firing would be far less surprising than the blowout loss to FSU. Honestly, the loss to FSU surprised no one except Meyer and Steve Addazio.

And if you’re wondering if this is just another “Fire Addazio” blog post, then you are completely correct.

After the disaster that was the South Carolina game, Meyer addressed everybody’s question. Addazio has to go, right?

The answer was no because Urban “doesn’t make excuses.” It was just as bone-headed and stubborn as everything else Meyer has uttered this season. The worst season in Gator football since B.S. is all because of player execution, not horrendous coaching. I’m sure that makes high school kids get all tingly inside about coming to Gainesville to play football.

Uh, no thanks. I’ll take the school with the fireworks and the blonde in the sexy indian costume, please.

Addazio has to go and it’s not even an option. If we’ve learned anything in the past two years, it’s that Meyer really has no say over this offense. How else do you explain the offensive game plan doing a 180 from 2008 to 2009?

That revolutionary spread offense that Meyer was touted for. The one that got him the Florida job. Was it really him, or was it actually Dan Mullen?

And with the reins, Addazio has driven Florida football so low that Ron Zook is laughing. Let’s look at some examples:

• At one point early in the fourth quarter while trailing by 24 points, the Gators ran the ball 11 times in a row. All of those came with Trey Burton at QB. You know, our QB that apparently has no passing ability which FSU figured out pretty quick and started loading the box whenever he took the snap.
• The Gators had 64 yards passing against FSU. Now John Brantley hasn’t exactly thrilled anyone this season, but at times it was difficult to remember that he was even on the team Saturday night. The three-QB rotation is nothing more than an excuse for Addazio and Meyer to rid themselves of a player they’ve viewed as a burden all year without completely cutting ties with a guy who has deep UF roots. Either change QBs permanently or try actually fitting your offense to Brantley. Watching him try to awkwardly run the Addazio plan brings back painful memories of 2005 Chris Leak.
• Speaking of the three-QB rotation, it’s ridiculous. It makes the offense even more of a jumbled mess than it already is. For some odd reason, Addazio thought that its success against Vanderbilt and Appalachian State would mean victories against South Carolina and Florida State. This is an idiotic thought by an idiotic man.
• The Gators continue to try to run the rapid Oregon offense even though it is painfully obvious that they have no business doing it. Playing that fast is something that you condition and prepare for over long periods of time, not something you implement at the end of October.
• Down 24 with under nine minutes left in the fourth, the Gators punted on fourth down from midfield. Did they have a chance to win? No, but the sign was clear that the coaching staff had given up. After the game, Meyer made it clear that the season is over. Not if the Liberty Bowl has anything to say about it!

So Addazio needs to at the very least be demoted back to offensive line coach. And the rest of the staff shouldn’t be safe either. This team is undisciplined and unprepared and, to cite Pat Dooley, makes you wonder if they are actually practicing behind those gates.

Yeah, they still have that gator head.

The Gators will tell you that they can fix these problems with recruits. As if the players they have now wern’t once the best recruits in the country. As if a real quarterback wants to come to a school where the offense is patterned after Army. As if a running back wants to come to a place where he might average nine carries per game if he’s lucky. As if anyone wants to play for a team whose coaches give up in a rivalry game.

Saturday night was nothing shy of a program embarrassment. Nothing can be over-exaggerated. It was the kind of night that has to end in firings if for no other reason than to make a statement.

Meyer looked as humble as he probably ever has and swears that he will re-build this program with “tough-ass players and tough-ass coaches.” Hopefully the second part of that line is especially true.

The Meyer tenure has given us some of the best seasons in Gator history, but it has also provided us with its fair share of arduous moments. As far as I’m concerned, this mess could be much more Urban than it is anyone else’s if big changes aren’t made before next spring.

In other words, make cuts or join them in the firing line.

-Bryan