--This is another good article on Coach Boom!Does anyone on this list doubt we got the right man now?
Oliver Barry, CRS, GRIReal Estate Broker
Begin forwarded message:From: Shane Ford <goufgators@bellsouth.net>
Date: December 28, 2012 9:08:22 AM CST
To: GatorNews <gatornews@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [gatornews] [Gainesville SUN]: UF success comes from staying course
Reply-To: gatornews+owners@googlegroups.com
--UF success comes from staying course
Florida coach Will Muschamp's team this season was frustrating at times and hard to explain at others. But it won 11 games. And on Thursday, it arrived in New Orleans to play in a BCS bowl game.
Matt Stamey/Staff photographerBy Pat Dooley
Gainesville SUN ColumnistPublished: Friday, December 28, 2012 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, December 28, 2012 at 12:06 a.m.
NEW ORLEANS — There were those moments. Every coach has them, especially when things are going the wrong way. Will Muschamp knew his first team at Florida had problems, but it didn't make the six losses any easier to stomach.
His lofty expectations for the 2011 season (play in the SEC Championship Game) were tempered by a realistic look at his roster. He knew some good things had to happen for that team to be successful.
They didn't.
"I knew where we were and we needed some fortunate things to happen," he said. "I may be emotional on the sidelines, but I try to be pretty analytical the rest of the week. So I knew where we were."
Nobody thought they were 6-6 bad. Sure, there were some holes. There was a lack of depth on both lines of scrimmage. But 6-6 at Florida?
That's why they were moments, those points where a coach struggles to accept what is happening.
"To know what it takes to be successful and not be able to do it is frustrating," Muschamp said. "Probably the FSU game was (the low point). There were a bunch of them. I felt like we gave away the Auburn game. Our inability to run the ball …
"But I knew if these guys could use the setbacks in a positive way, if they could use them as learning blocks we'd be OK. I've seen it go the other way."
There was a lot of noise in the system a year ago. Even when he was hired, the Gator Nation arched an eyebrow and wondered if UF Athletic Director Jeremy Foley knew what he was doing.
After all, the last time he tried to replace a national-championship winning coach with a defensive coordinator with no head coaching experience it hadn't ended well.
The Ron Zook comparisons were obvious. But Zook never lost six games.
"I guess I heard it early on," Muschamp told me. "But when the season goes on I have blinders on. You hear that noise before the season. But once the season starts, you don't hear anything. I learned that my first year as the defensive coordinator at LSU. Don't worry about what you can't control."
That first season was a tough one. Not only were there losses on the field, there were losses in personnel as Muschamp weeded through the players to find out which ones were going to buy in. It left Florida with numbers, as he said, like an NFL team.
Then two things happened. Neither had a big affect on this year's team, but it did change the perception of Will Muschamp. First, Urban Meyer took the Ohio State job. Whether it is fair or not, the perception shifted on the personnel left behind for Muschamp. And then, his Florida team won the Gator Bowl.
To go 7-6 is light years ahead of 6-7. Muschamp doesn't believe in momentum jumping from one year to the next, but he got something out of his team during Gator Bowl practices that would help them in 2012.
They started to toughen up. And he saw more of it during the spring. He felt more comfortable with his refurbished coaching staff. He felt more comfortable with his players. He was even comfortable with a schedule that was punitive.
"I saw us having a good football team this year," he said.
And it was. It was frustrating at times and hard to explain at others. But it won 11 games. And on Thursday, it arrived in New Orleans to play in a BCS bowl game.
Muschamp has to feel vindication and satisfaction. He told you this would work and it did.
"I don't feel anything for myself," he said. "I'm happy for the fans and for the coaches and the players. That's where having a staff that believes in what you believe in pays off. It's guys like Jeremy Foley who saw what was happening when times were tough.
"I have strong convictions about the way to do things. And it's funny because (UF defensive coordinator) Dan Quinn came up to me after the season and said he understood now how important it is to stay the course. Don't waver from the course. Stay with your core values."
It wasn't easy during 2011. It paid off in 2012.
The chirping turned into cheering. The grousing to growling. The team that couldn't beat anybody any good last year beat a lot of teams who were really good this year. After a season of erasing DVR tapings as soon as you got home, this was a year of rewind and play.
"It's a lonely chair," Muschamp said. "I have 90,000 assistant coaches in The Swamp on Saturdays who want to give me great advice. But it's Sunday through Friday in the office with this coaching staff and a bunch of guys who understand me and what I want to do.
"Those are the guys I lean on."
Sent From Shane's iPhoneGo Gators! & Skol Vikes!
GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
--
GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
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