It's not my opinion. It's the facts.
The NFL data speaks for itself. The gap keeps getting larger, both statewide and in the cities. You take shots at South Florida players all the time because of a Georgia inferiority complex. I can only respond with the numbers.
Georgia's flagship program has not won a championship since 1980. Florida teams have won 11 titles since then. 12 if you count UCF, of course.
Our problem is college coaching. We have hired three guys who had no career after they got fired from Miami. The market confirmed they are bums. Compare that to Will Muschamp, who failed at Florida and bounced back with an SEC job. Richt is the first quality coach we hired and he is on the decline. If he fails here, he's done.
It's very simple. Our saving grace is that we are located in football heaven. But that won't matter without a coach.
2 points,
First, as to your discussion with Andrew, you are both making good points but not engaging each other effectively. His argument is not refuted by your data. There are other obvious reasons why your data and his argument can coexist fine, talent being the simplest one and you both agree on it. The simple question he is posing is whether Hs coaching matters, and if so, whether So Fla kids get the same degree of coaching as top kids in other areas. The obvious response is yes, it matters, and ‘some do, sone don’t’ in So Fla. Enough said.
Second, you keep trying to contend our shortcomings are as simple as bad coaching hires. I think you are confusing symptom and disease to an extent. Yes, we have hired awful coaches. Richt included. (You should ask why we did so.) but we do not have the resources or culture or institutional or booster or fan support to compete with top programs. Frankly, the U doesn’t give a ****. It wants a football program that is above average and doesn’t embarrass it. Unfortunately, it’s seeking a unicorn in that regard, given its history and location and community interest in the sport.
The outflow of top tallent from So Fla has gone from the exception to the rule. People talk about FSU plucking guys forever, but we would get most of who we wanted. We get almost none of our top priorities any longer. In our own dang backyard.
Seriously, what responsible parent would send his son to play football at the U if he could choose to go to a better program instead? He’ll get better coaching and S&C training elsewhere, more better coeds to bed, better facilities, dorms, locker rooms, rec rooms, etc., better competition on the roster to make him better, better gameday atmosphere, and if he makes a mistake, he’ll have a better chance that it’s dealt with effectively and he isn’t tossed to the curb. At the U, he’ll get hyped by a bunch of old guys who remember watching Bernie Kosar play college football.
All you need to know about our program at this point is that first rounders choose to return to Clemson for their senior years, while 7th rounders choose to gtfo of UM before their senior years. The message is clear from our local Hs kids and our college players. Our program is a mess.
