It doesn't strike me as a Top 20 spot to be in. VA as a state now has ODU and Liberty, and soon JMU, pulling the kids that VT used to get.
Seems like Beamer built them on a ST/D philosophy, and Michael Vick got them to their apex, but they're not going to see the likes of him for some time.
firings of coaches. Not even close.
[Eyes rolling]
At the Power 5 level alone, there's now USC, LSU, Texas Tech, TCU, Washington State, Washington and Virginia Tech. And chances are pretty good that I'm forgetting something.
Though there is a LOT of clamoring for it down here in Gator country.
Spurrier was the returning hero whose coaching record clearly showed he was ready to come home, and they were ready to dump Hall, anyhow. The then UF president had been at Utah w/ Meyer, and the Zooker had run his course (while leaving behind vastly more talent than TW left at ND).
They had 2 home run hires in which happenstance played a significant role. The other 7 hires since 1969 ALL ended badly. Spurrier (12 years) was their only hire to last a decade. ND's hiring record, relatively speaking, looks better when you compare it to UF's.
ND's last 7-8 were Faust, Holtz, Davie, O'Leary, Willingham, Baer (interim), Weiss and Kelly. I think the success of Meyer and Spurrier matches up very favorably with Holtz and Kelly. And the rest of them......
you compare it to UF. Plus, you're forgetting Devine, who was .764 at ND and who posted a 3-1 bowl record (plus as many NC's in 6 years at ND as Spurrier had in 12 at UF).
Florida was not an elite program in 1969. It had gone to one Sugar Bowl in program history as a 3-loss unranked team and one Orange Bowl as an 11th ranked 2-loss team. Otherwise, it went to a handful of Gator Bowls as a decent but not elite team.
It's first conference championship was 1991. Up until the Spurrier hire, the coaches you would consider to be failures basically performed about as expected for the program's history. Spurrier greatly elevated the program's standing. It wasn't just a successful hire. It was a grand slam. I agree that it ought to be able to do better than it is now. But it basically followed the same formula Georgia did with Smart. Georgia just got lucky. And Florida got guys who started off okay and flamed out.
I do, so I hope they keep Mullen.
He is dead man walking.
Recruiting has taken a hit and if he stays it will fall off even more. Mullen is a PR disaster with his personality.In the conference they are in they can't afford to lose that much ground in talent.
He has a small class rated 22 by 247, yes. But the last three classes were 12, 9, and 9, and the 2023 class has 3 early commits to put it at 9. So it’s not like he’s entering the Ty Willingham lazy zone.
Yes, the team went from being snakebite to basically quitting after the Georgia game.
If they have reason to think they have the inside track on some up and comer, I won’t categorically blast a decision to go for it. But I don’t see that being the case. It’s very likely that he will return UF to being a top ten team within the next two years. So it just comes down to whether they think there’s a champion out there. My guess is they’d end up testing out someone like Aranda who has some promise but has his own question marks in experience as a head man.
esp. when the in-state competition shouldn't be that fierce. Going 21-5 your first 2 years followed by 12-9 at a program where expectations tend to not reflect reality presumably makes my fellow Gators even more restless.
Since 2009, they've won 4 titles in what is clearly the weaker of the SEC's 2 divisions (after winning 11 from 1992-2009). They haven't won a conference title since 2008 (after winning 6 from 1991-2008). The alma mater I care about is more willing to accept relative mediocrity than the alma mater that I don't care about is.
They brought in the Rivals No. 1 class in '18, '19, and '20. They signed the No. 5 class in '21, and have the No. 1 class in '22 and No. 2 class so far in '23. That has more to do with them being hot than UF being bad. The '21 and '22 class has only three Florida kids each, almost all from Bradenton interestingly. Meanwhile, Georgia high schools keep churning out more kids.
Sure, you will have to keep your Florida kids to win a title. And it's doubtful that Mullen will be able to bring in No. 1 classes based on what he's done so far. It's possible he could hit a stride like Dabo and then sell success on the field to turn up recruiting. But it's not the typical path.
I don't know much about the AD. But I'd be surprised if he is ready to can his boy Mullen. And it's not like he has experience around elite programs. If you had someone who was respected and who you know coaches would listen to when he called, I'd feel better about making a move.
But I don't see an obvious path toward championship football. Aranda and Tucker I guess are the best bet with initial (though limited) head coaching success and big time coordinator experience. Then Fickell is the star of the small schools, and he may not leave the Midwest and I don't know what his relationship is with Urban these days to see if he'd have any influence. If you can beat USC to these guys, then I could see a move.
If you had an elite AD, then sure, you could beat SC for either of those guys. Or you could go up and snatch Cristobal. Maybe you could get him with an average AD. But I'm not confident that any of these guys are upgrades, though it's possible. But I could also easily see Florida having to hire Mark Stoops, who is basically a poor man's Mullen, or Dave Clawson who is a solid coach with no big-time experience.
I’d have to assume Manny Diaz and probably Mike Norvell are hanging in by a thread at this point. With Dan Mullen almost solidifying his departure with his teams performance last week, the Sunshine State May also have 3 vacant Head Coach positions available before the month is over.
I’m with you though, Marine Domer, I can’t recall so many firings/resignations before the completion of a season ever.
on CFB talk radio indicating it may be due to the early signing period. Teams don't want to be left out in the cold with recruiting if there's uncertainty about who the coach will be.
I think it’s a matter of time before a coach leaves for his dream job mid season and takes over immediately.
Officially takes over next year, but joined this year's staff so he can start recruiting now.
(Though I realize he didn't leave another job to do so. But he strikes me as the kind of guy who would have.)
same thing...left Baylor immediately and is in Lubbock. I think he's on the staff , so like Mora, he can recruit and evaluate, takes over as HC after the season.
That look on his face when ND took the lead late in the 4th quarter was that of a man who knows his time is up. His press conference after the game was like watching a hostage video.
Had VT just hung on, it would have been a huge win for Fuente and their program. But a loss, and a gut-punch loss at that, meant that he was doomed.
His buyout was the only reason he wasn't fired last year.
He negotiated an 8.75M buyout. Had they waited until Dec 16th, VT would have owed $7.5M.
Unless there is a booster coming up with those funds, that is a wild waste of money for a public university.
as long as the kids can't make any money; that I would have HUGE problems with.
I'd assume the VT administration felt that there were other comparable vacancies (Washington as an example) which may fill their positions before VT would have opened and/or there would be other vacancies in the future opening which may be difficult to compete against (Miami or potentially Penn St if Franklin leaves as two examples).
They presumably didn't want to be stuck waiting until December to fire Fuente and end up hating all of the available options.
coaching vacancies? We're only in mid-November too, more to come.
Much experience!
confined to one university's football team. In that solitary setting, it may become combustible. We don't want that to happen.
Do we?
***crickets***
can’t wait for the day it actually becomes true.
With the exceptions of the damn apologists, those too young to remember, and the lace curtain wannabe(e)s.
You make post after post complaining about people who complain post after post. How much time in the day do you have?
eternally humorous, and infinitely correct; as in True for many, if not most, Fighting Irish fans. He needs to retire or go elsewhere, and even that will not satisfy many older fans.
and I think he's fabulous.
She's a TV weather lady in NYC.
these!