Nomad Hunter

Miles may be on thin ice but that don't mean it's right for him to be there. LSU will probably fire the man within the next couple years and it will be the biggest mistake the school has ever made. You can't just buy coaches anymore. One major program can't offer anything that another major program can't. So you end up having to reach down and roll the dice on some young promising coach. And that coach's hopes and dreams will be to have about as much success as say... Les Miles.

The deep ball has to be at least be a threat to win in this league. If the safeties aren't forced to be honest and respect the deep ball, they'll stack the box and take away the inside run game and just spy some safeties on Dobbs. His feet can't win a championship. And D's like Florida and Bama will prove that.

It can be said that "insufficient energy" was the reason for nearly all his losses at Florida. How many times has a Will Muschamp team been outplayed by a team with far less talent across the board. I don't know why Florida hired him in the first place since his D at Texas was on decline for years before they offered. I don't know why Auburn hired him since he proved he could not motivate a team to give the effort to win and he proved time and time again at Florida that he cannot control himself (proved it again on the sidelines at the Auburn Bama game where he earned some personal fouls from the sideline). And I have no earthly idea why USC would hire him as a head coach after what he has shown over the past 6 years. I wouldn't hire him to carry a clip board. Muschamp is not a smart coach. He's a brilliant business man. Never have I seen someone make so much profit selling such an inferior product for so long.

Another graphic that I've seen showed the most loved teams by county. Strangely the florida gators ranked either #1 or #2 most loved team in all of the New England states north of Pennsylvania. If u look at both maps together it shows that where most teams are loved they're also hated. That could explain the Hampshire hate and why most states hate their own team. I'm sure the hate in the state of florida shifts depending on whose strong at the moment since they have the "big 3"... Well historically they're the big 3. Presently... not so much.

That's what I'm sayin RealisticVol. Coach searching is very difficult. Especially in the current market. If programs like Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and that other USC are having problems with it, everyone else should do their best to avoid it.

What's different?

Oh yeah.... Thank you for posting the letter. The posters here do not reflect the majority of sec fans or gator nation. Unfortunately it seems to almost be a law of physics that foolishness is louder than reason. Most sane football fans here on earth appreciate the letter.

Thank you Oldflyer both for your service to this country and your support for a kid pursuing his dreams. I can't understand why the previous posters on this page have degraded this letter and deluded the message so much just to boast about their team or talk down others. It's pure foolishness. If you want to talk crap, there's other articles to choose from. Have at it! That's part of football. But this ain't the place. From all that I have seen, Jeff is a good young man that handles himself with class, has never been in any kind of trouble, and has the courage to stand and fight for his dreams while fans who are supposed to be his supporters are booing and gator greats who are his heroes are on Twitter calling for his replacement. I'd much rather have Jeff as my teammate and my qb than that heisman winning criminole at that non-sec school in Florida. Fans have booed him in his own stadium. That's inexcusable. You can boo your coach all you want. That's part of his job. His salary compensates him for your brutality. Jeff Driskel's doesn't. Oldflyer, you have stated that you wanted to demonstrate how one person felt about this young man. Well you're not alone. It's not just ONE person that feels this way. If I were to speak to Jeff I'd say: Dont get down on yourself, don't let this setback define you, and don't take crap from anybody. Very few people can say they were the starting qb of the Gators and even fewer can say they led that team to an 11 win season. In fact, I believe there is only a handful of QB's in UF history can say that. God bless you and I hope the best for your future, whether it's football, baseball, or whatever.

Couldn't have said it better. I hope Leon succeeds in the future but its time for he and the university of florida part ways. You can't give a coach an ultimatum. How could he possibly think that would work?

This happens about once every series in college football. Nothing new to see here.

I think he said it all. None Of you Gamecock fans had better even think about uttering words about firing or forced retirement for Spurrier. He's one of the best in the game. He brought your team to unprecedented heights and he will not settle for this. The Head Ball coach is only a year removed from 3 straight 11 win seasons. If you want to see what it looks like trying to fill the void left behind from forcing your program builder into retirement than look no further than the team that just beat you. Tennessee has gone through a revolving door of unsuccessful coaches and miserable seasons since retiring Fulmer. It wouldn't be any easier for South Carolina to replace spurrier. You guys shouldn't push for him to retire. Instead you should be encouraging him to come back. Mark my words: it will take years to replace him.

There's nothing new about the national championship team being placed under the microscope for off-field activity. What is new is the amount of whining that team does. I've never seen a coach and fan base throw so much blame to other parties that have absolutely nothing to do with the actions of their players. ESPN didn't beat up Williams' baby's momma. The SEC didn't steal crab legs then constantly lie about even after being notified of video evidence. ESPN didn't hold a BB gun war in downtown Tallahassee and cause thousands in property damage. Nor did they shout out demeaning slurs to college girls minding their own business just trying to get a quality education (ok quality may be a stretch, it is FSU after all). I'll tell you what has been talked about in the sec BY espn. They highlighted Gurly's situation. UGA dealt with it quickly, precisely, made the appropriate punishment, and announced it themselves. They didn't try to hide it or defend the kid's actions before they actually knew anything. Florida QB Treon Harris was accused of sexual assault (talked about by ESPN for an entire week). UF immediately suspended Treon and UFPD launched the investigation as soon as it was reported. They didn't try to hide it. They didn't make blanket statements about his innocence before they actually knew anything. They didn't stall the investigation for over a year. The fans didn't start a smart ass #blametreon or a #blamegurly movement. They didn't mercilessly defend a man they didn't know all for the sake of wins. They said, "alright, put the next guy in." You can look at these cases side by side with Winston's cases and its classic what to do/what not to do. In the end players do stupid stuff. It can't always be stopped by the coach or the program. What matters is what they do after the violation. These SEC schools and most other universities around the country deal with it immediately and transparently. They don't try to hide it or stall punishment or go out blaming others for what their players do. That's a Florida State thing and their fans have jumped right on board with it. That's why I can't stand FSU.

But FSU should be on that list. The Tallahassee PD has consistently swept players' law breaking under the rug. New York Times did a story on it as well as other news sources. They've done it for years and few times they've even been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

I agree YardCock, it's a generational thing. The wussification of America has turned these kids into a bunch of pansies. I had a high school buddy that played for spurrier in the mid 90s. He messed up a play during a game one day and the Head Ball Coach called him over, put his arm around him and said, "that's alright son. It's not your fault. It's MY fault... For puttin your dumbass in the game!!!" I asked my buddy what he did after that and he said, "I got it right!" He wouldn't let somebody breakin him down destroy his "confidence". He used it for motivation to prove to the HBC that he could be better. Erictt Rhett said that if you believe in Spurrier and do as you're coached he'll take you places you never imagined. I believe.

Thats what UF fans have been saying. Typically Florida has performed brilliantly on defense and in special teams. But 2 facets of the game aren't enough to build success. Even a good team has bad special team nights like UF did Saturday. And when the offense is non-existent, boy does it get ugly... in a hurry. And the strange thing about UF is like you say of Mizzou, the talent is there. UF's recruiting class on average has ranked 6th for the past 10 years. But they can't get it done under Muschamp. In order to be a great team, you have to be good on both sides of the ball. Neither UF nor Mizzou is. Just be happy Mizzou is worlds better than UF. Your offense doesn't help much but at least it doesn't kill you like Florida's. Your guys did a great job at making another team pay dearly for their mistakes. Kick return TD, int return TD, fumble return TD, punt return TD. I doubt that's been done very many times in history.

If you guys think Miss St can match UF as far as a coach's paycheck is concerned, you don't know what you're talking about. UF is in the top 5 wealthiest football programs. Miss St is about 50th. And there is a major dollar difference between 5 and 50. UF has shown they will break the bank for a top coach. People have forgotten that Spurrier took a pay cut when he went to the NFL. He was the highest paid coach in college at the time and was really the first coach to earn monstrous type salaries that are now the norm for big programs. With that being said, I still doubt Dan leaves for UF. I think UF may have to double his salary to an even $6 million for him to even consider it. The mindset of coaches, how they were raised and what makes them tick ain't money. Coaches go where they think they can have the most success. Where they think they can build the type of team they've always dreamed of. Year in and year out UF has proven to be a better place for building championships. It's in the riches recruiting hotbed in the country and has money and prestige that most schools (even miss st) can't match. But coaches also consider something else, building and what they've already built. Dan Mullen isn't done at Miss St. If he wins the title he'll say, let's do it again next year. If he doesn't, it's just proof to him that he's not finished. Either way, I believe he'll still be in Starkville next year. It'll take several years of mediocrity or worse to make him leave or perhaps a feeling that there's a ceiling there he just can't break or a corner he just can't turn. I highly doubt that'll be the case while Dak Prescott is there.

Haha! For years I've cringed when I saw the sec game of the week on cbs. Verne and Gary are the two worst broadcasters in college football history. They don't even pay attention to the game half the time (giving the wrong players credit for plays and talking about something off the wall during the game). Gary has to over analyze every other dang play no matter how insignificant it is. If a key player is on the ground for than a couple seconds he'll harp about how he's injured and how it will hurt his team for the rest of the game even if he's showing no signs of an injury. And it's remarkable how Gary can tell you what the dang coach is thinking!!! They're too busy making the broadcast about themselves trying to show their brilliance of the game rather than allowing it to be about the guys on the field.

Muschamp has actually been very successful on the recruiting trail. He's reeled in top talent at each position of need every year he's been there. His problem is obviously developing those players into top college talent. The one successful year he had at UF he was still using players developed by Meyer. He has the top qb out of hs who looks like the worst qb in the country. A top 5 rb and two top 5 wr's all of whom are non-factors each week. He has the talent. Like you said, if you can't win at UF after 4 years with what that program has got goin for it then you ain't a head coach. He needs to go back to a coordinator position and UF needs to find a new coach. Their hope is to steal a guy like Art Briles. They may be able to buy Dan Mullen but with what he's done at Ms St and who he's got coming back makes that a long shot.

Florida needs to launch an ad of their own. Of course they've had a couple good ones that were passed up for the guy behind center now that I guess is by definition a qb but his actions don't support it.

You don't know what the attitude in that in locker room is or has been this season. When spurrier speaks to the media he knows his players are listening. What he says is in part designed toward his players. That's why he exudes uber confidence during the "talking season". He's boosting his players confidence by bragging about them and talking smack. That's college kid language and no coach speaks it better than the HBC. You don't know what was goin on behind the scenes with the team when he made his comments about them not being very good. That's sounds more like him challenging his team to get better than it does giving up on them. As he himself always says when his teams are down, "keep playin". And you keep saying that he doesn't like to run the ball. If you actually pay attention to the fun n gun style of play you'd notice that it's actually about the most balanced attack in football. It is usually about 50-50 run-pass. Why he didn't run the ball more? I don't know, neither do you. But the stats show that spurrier teams win the rushing battle 90% of the time when they win. So I'd say he likes to run it. He may have seen something you didn't, an adjustment by the defense maybe. They do do that you know. Did he make some bad calls? Sure. Does he need to retire? Hell no! Keep playin coach!

This entire article is absolutely ridiculous. If you think you can watch a few games and analyze a coach psyche and pick apart the play-calling and personnel decisions of one of the best coaches in college football history then you sir are a fool. You talk about the downward trend of SC but you neglect to mention that SC is literally the House that Spurrier Built. He took this program that never had any success and turned it into an annual major college football contender. He has one bad year (that is only half over and could end quite well) and you're actually talking about his job security? That's just stupid. Should Les Miles at Lsu retire as well? He's been embarrassed the last couple weeks. I guess Richt should have left UGA a few years ago when his team was a major disappointment. Or what about fisher at FSU who's team was picked by many to win the NC for about 3 straight years when they ended with 4 to 5 losses in each of those seasons? He did come back to win it all last year but according to your philosophy he should have thrown in the towel a couple years ago. The HBC will be back. He's built and rebuilt programs his entire career so he can definitely bounce back from a sub-par season.

That's absolutely ridiculous! Anyone who would put a kid through such an emotional roller coaster when he's being faced with biggest decision of his young life is piece of crap. It's not a joke. No one is laughing you scum. I hope Gaines does earn a scholarship to The school of his choice and has a great college career wherever he goes.... of course I cannot pull for him if that school ends up being Miami or Florida St. Lol

Yeah. That fan chant is something you expect to hear from yankees at an NFL game up in New England somewhere. It's not acceptable down here in the South.

It was more than just the student section chanting. But let's say it wasn't. Let's say it was just students being dumb college kids. I know what it's like to be a college student on game day so I understand. But the funny thing is: flipping around I kept up with probably 10 or so college football games on Saturday as I have always done for years. Never have I heard such a dispicable chant from a stadium. And ALL OF THESE STADIUMS HAVE A STUDENT SECTION. So pointing the finger at students is not a valid arugument. It was YOUR students and ONLY your students that stooped to such a level. And MANY more fans packed in that 100,000+ stadium joined in. What Muscrat said is common coaching rhetoric and it is in no way inflammatory, insulting or derogatory language like F U Florida.

I guess he should have said, "That was a good win for us but I wish all of these volunteer fans were happy and cheerful about it. It sure does break my heart that I disappointed them." Give me a break! Muschamp didn't make that up. It's a widely used phrase that you hope to go into another stadium and upset their fan base. Because that means that you won. Coaches and players alike have said that for years. That is your goal. To make sure the fans of the other team are not happy when the game is over. If Jones would have said that in the swamp after a win you'd be laughing and cheering him on. Tennessee lost. Suck it up and get ready for next week.

Im a Gator fan and as avid against the rival fan base as any sane person. But this guy crossed the line. Big time! Pranks are only pranks if they cause no injury at very minimal to no monetary cost and without destroying a vital school tradition. If I was the university of Alabama I'd set an example to my fan base and show the rest of college football how we in the SEC can beat each other up on Saturday and be friendly and courteous on Sunday... okay maybe not til Monday or Tuesday. If I were U of A I'd replace Auburn's trees. If I were Saban I'd plant a young tree there myself and make a big deal about it. Set it up as a monument about how we take care of each other's traditions in the SEC. It's us against every other conference. We beat each other up enough on the field. Let's protect the other things off of it. As this tree got bigger it would remain as a giant reminder of that for a century.