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State of Florida Football - The Rise

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ShlomoShekelberg

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Question for the college football historians:

Between 1983 and 2013, the state of Florida claimed 11 college football national championships, a staggering total when, in the hundred years prior to that, the state of Florida claimed 0 national championships. So my question is, what were the key factors behind this turnabout? Was it purely a product of a change in demographics? Was it a product of a concerted focus on youth and high school football throughout the state in the 1970s, increasing the quality of players being produced? Or was it more a product of the three big schools all finally hiring strong head coaches who could recruit (Schnellenberger, Bowden, Pell) and lock down the state against the poachers from up north?

I am not old enough to have witnessed this evolution with my own eyes, so I am wondering if any of the older posters can provide insight as to how this occurred? Looking for hard answers as opposed to just theory or baseless speculation. Thanks.
 
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I think it was mostly quality coaches...If you look at the historical records, you can see that Miami became really good in Schnellenberger's 2nd year (1980) and Florida State went into their upturn in Bowden's 2nd year (1977) and Florida got out of the dumps in Spurrier's 1st year (1990)....Nothing really changed in the demographics during that small time frame....It was mostly hall of fame level coaches, though there were other factors in play, imo....

Honestly, Schnellenberger, Bowden and Spurrier in their primes, like they were when they took over at Miami, FSU and UF, would still kick butt in the modern college football landscape....

I was around for the rise (and fall) of college football in the State of Florida and the lift off in the late 70s and early 80s was as exciting as the downturn has been demoralizing....
 
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Alabama or Auburn has won 6 of the last 10 National Championships. Teams come alive for periods of time. What sets the big boys apart is they have multiple runs. Schools like Notre Dame, Alabama, Oklahoma, and USC have set themselves apart as powers over multiple decades.
 
The rules of football changed in the 80’s.

Back in the 70’s there was no pass interference, no holding penalties, and you could just maul anyone you wanted.

Teams would just run the ball up the middle every down, and that favored big, tough teams.

The 80’s rule changes favored quicker athletes and so the Florida schools shined
 
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In addition to the 11 championships, teams from Florida (mostly Miami) competed for the title 8 more times but came up short:

1985: Miami could have had an argument for the title had they beaten Tennessee in the Sugar because they would have had an 11-1 record with a win over the eventual champ Oklahoma.

1986: Miami played in the title game and lost a game they dominated.

1988: Miami was denied a chance at a title by an outrageously bad call in a 31-30 "loss" to eventual champ Notre Dame.

1992: Miami played in the title game but lost.

1994: Miami played in the title game but lost after leading the entire game until late in the 4th quarter.

1995: Florida played in the title game but lost

2000: FSU played in the title game but lost. (UM had beaten FSU that year and was also 11-1 but was snubbed by the BCS)

2002: Miami played in the title game (and any honest person will admit, won it.)
 
I’ll add that traditional powerhouses were slow to adapt to the rule changes. So Oklahoma and Nebraska were still running the wishbone and we took advantage.

Now we’re the team that’s stuck in the past as the rest of football has moved to a spread.

Full circle
 
You also saw a lot more focus on identifying and developing talented players at a younger age. When Schnellenberger would go scout kids in bad neighborhoods, he'd be the only one there doing so.
 
@ShlomoShekelberg there really weren’t that many poachers up north during that time period. How would they know about talent in Florida? They were likely focused on their own regions and visiting nearby high-schools. The internet didn’t exist before the 1990s and even then, streaming video did not become common until 2005.
 
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RightSaidFred said:
The rules of football changed in the 80’s.

Back in the 70’s there was no pass interference, no holding penalties, and you could just maul anyone you wanted.

Teams would just run the ball up the middle every down, and that favored big, tough teams.

The 80’s rule changes favored quicker athletes and so the Florida schools shined
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of this. Rules changes.

Any idea what prompted them in the first place? Who complained?
 
RightSaidFred said:
I’ll add that traditional powerhouses were slow to adapt to the rule changes. So Oklahoma and Nebraska were still running the wishbone and we took advantage.

Now we’re the team that’s stuck in the past as the rest of football has moved to a spread.

Full circle
Click to expand...

Rules changes were not overly significant. The only one I can think of was severely limiting the chop block. That did hamper the option teams for a while but they easily adjusted, as Switzer and many others have detailed.

The NFL had sweeping rules changes to open up the passing game in 1974 and especially in 1978. The college game adopted some of them a year or two delayed. Offensive linemen were allowed to use hands open during pass protection. That one I remember specifically because I saw John Robinson teaching the new technique to USC's linemen. He would have them run the play again and again until they got it right.

So I guess you are correct that switch might have aided the Florida teams. I don't think it was a huge factor compared to simply taking advantage of relatively primitive recruiting rankings and being able to swoop up talent that others were ignoring.

Oklahoma and Nebraska did perfectly fine with the option offense. The Sooners won the title in 1985 and had to play the title game on the opponent's home field in 1987. Nebraska was relentlessly ridiculed by Canes fans after the 1988 and 1991 season Orange Bowls for sticking with such an archaic offense. Tom Osborne was not pathetically devoted to fear. He never would have won anything if he had subscribed to conventional wisdom. Instead he realized his methodology was sound so he merely fortified around the edges. Nebraska should have won the 1993 title if not for the referees disgracefully slanting the game to Florida State, they did win the title in 1994 on the opponent's home field, then annihilated Florida in the 1995 championship game, and shared the title with Michigan in 1997.

That may not combine for what the Florida teams managed but not too bad. Oklahoma obviously added a non-option championship under Stoops in 2000.
 
Echtcane said:
In addition to the 11 championships, teams from Florida (mostly Miami) competed for the title 8 more times but came up short:

1985: Miami could have had an argument for the title had they beaten Tennessee in the Sugar because they would have had an 11-1 record with a win over the eventual champ Oklahoma.

1986: Miami played in the title game and lost a game they dominated.

1988: Miami was denied a chance at a title by an outrageously bad call in a 31-30 "loss" to eventual champ Notre Dame.

1992: Miami played in the title game but lost.

1994: Miami played in the title game but lost after leading the entire game until late in the 4th quarter.

1995: Florida played in the title game but lost

2000: FSU played in the title game but lost. (UM had beaten FSU that year and was also 11-1 but was snubbed by the BCS)

2002: Miami played in the title game (and any honest person will admit, won it.)
Click to expand...

85, 86, 88, 00, 03

Heart break yrs
 
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South FL HS football was great even years before the turnaround, but the best players tended to go to OOS schools until Schnellenberger put an end to it. Now, we all know the top kids don't want to stay home. I no longer live down there, but I have to imagine SoFL HS football is still pretty dang good in spite of the off year the teams had on the national stage this year. I need @Liberty City El to keep assuring me that South FL is still very talent rich.
 
Echtcane said:
In addition to the 11 championships, teams from Florida (mostly Miami) competed for the title 8 more times but came up short:

1985: Miami could have had an argument for the title had they beaten Tennessee in the Sugar because they would have had an 11-1 record with a win over the eventual champ Oklahoma.

1986: Miami played in the title game and lost a game they dominated.

1988: Miami was denied a chance at a title by an outrageously bad call in a 31-30 "loss" to eventual champ Notre Dame.

1992: Miami played in the title game but lost.

1994: Miami played in the title game but lost after leading the entire game until late in the 4th quarter.

1995: Florida played in the title game but lost

2000: FSU played in the title game but lost. (UM had beaten FSU that year and was also 11-1 but was snubbed by the BCS)

2002: Miami played in the title game (and any honest person will admit, won it.)
Click to expand...

So much pain and heartache in this post. We should have 3 more titles than we do.
 
Echtcane said:
In addition to the 11 championships, teams from Florida (mostly Miami) competed for the title 8 more times but came up short:

1985: Miami could have had an argument for the title had they beaten Tennessee in the Sugar because they would have had an 11-1 record with a win over the eventual champ Oklahoma.

1986: Miami played in the title game and lost a game they dominated.

1988: Miami was denied a chance at a title by an outrageously bad call in a 31-30 "loss" to eventual champ Notre Dame.

1992: Miami played in the title game but lost.

1994: Miami played in the title game but lost after leading the entire game until late in the 4th quarter.

1995: Florida played in the title game but lost

2000: FSU played in the title game but lost. (UM had beaten FSU that year and was also 11-1 but was snubbed by the BCS)

2002: Miami played in the title game (and any honest person will admit, won it.)
Click to expand...
1986 Vinny picked the wrong game to play horrible in and 2002 Miami flat out won if not for a bs call if there ever was one. 1988 against ND sucked cause Gary had a 1st down and the refs gave ND the ball on downs, not a fumble/Turnover so it should have been 1st down Miami at the 1 yard line with 7 minutes in the 4th. I had to read up on that game again, it was epic. If you get to the championship game enough times you're going to lose some.
 
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RightSaidFred said:
The rules of football changed in the 80’s.

Back in the 70’s there was no pass interference, no holding penalties, and you could just maul anyone you wanted.

Teams would just run the ball up the middle every down, and that favored big, tough teams.

The 80’s rule changes favored quicker athletes and so the Florida schools shined
Click to expand...
Miami owned the wishbone with speed at LB. That changed the offenses for most college teams. Not many good teams threw the ball because of the mugging of receivers.
 
Zombie-Cane said:
So much pain and heartache in this post. We should have 3 more titles than we do.
Click to expand...

At least;

88, 00, 03 Fa Sho! Like no question about these years. Ref ***** job, Computer ***** job, Ref ***** job

But 86, man......I wasn’t a Canes fan at this time (too young), but I’ve watched that game like, maybe 10x in hopes of a different result and don’t understand how we lost that game or Vinny’s ints. WRs were open and he was throwing it straight in to bread basket of PSU defenders. And if it’s true that Vinny kept throwing when Jimmy called for runs, then I’m fa sho convinced he threw that game (some poster alluded to this, can’t remember who)
 
Rellyrell said:
At least;

88, 00, 03 Fa Sho! Like no question about these years. Ref ***** job, Computer ***** job, Ref ***** job

But 86, man......I wasn’t a Canes fan at this time (too young), but I’ve watched that game like, maybe 10x in hopes of a different result and don’t understand how we lost that game or Vinny’s ints. WRs were open and he was throwing it straight in to bread basket of PSU defenders. And if it’s true that Vinny kept throwing when Jimmy called for runs, then I’m fa sho convinced he threw that game (some poster alluded to this, can’t remember who)
Click to expand...

I unfortunately lived in PA for about 18 years of my life, and actually worked about 25 minutes from State College. Of course every Friday during CFB season, the whole plant would be decked out in blue and white, and I was always in Orange and Green, and those guys would always rag on me about that game. Still baffled how we outplayed them so much and managed to lose.
But what got me the most, was when those mountain, inbred idiots would say "Miami isn't relevant anymore, they haven't won a title since 2001", this was in 2011. I would respond with "then what does that mean for you?"...............................they could never answer that. As we say in the south, bless their hearts.
 
Zombie-Cane said:
I unfortunately lived in PA for about 18 years of my life, and actually worked about 25 minutes from State College. Of course every Friday during CFB season, the whole plant would be decked out in blue and white, and I was always in Orange and Green, and those guys would always rag on me about that game. Still baffled how we outplayed them so much and managed to lose.
But what got me the most, was when those mountain, inbred idiots would say "Miami isn't relevant anymore, they haven't won a title since 2001", this was in 2011. I would respond with "then what does that mean for you?"...............................they could never answer that. As we say in the south, bless their hearts.
Click to expand...

Bro; them, UGA, and ND fans say that chit! I just had to tell a UGA fan that since I wasn’t born for your last Nat’l title, I gotta take ur word for it, just like everything else in the history books. Lol.
 
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