roygu, Now you know why there has been a QB shuffle, and it isn't because Spurrier is there. BengalB, The Florida O-Line isn't exactly full of a bunch of slouches, it's deep and experienced. We have the best stable of running backs in the country, 2/3's of which are freshmen. We also have the best group of WR's. We have 9 Parade All-Americans on scholly. Don't underestimate our talent because the offensive coaching sucks. If we had a competent OC this talent would be scary. Don't forget those kids hung with All-World #2 ranked Miami for 3 quarters, if they were as average as you make them out to be, UM would have beat us 52-0. Ya'll are gonna beat us but you won't push us around like last year, don't forget we split the 1-2 recruiting class rankings in most polls. All but one of UF's recruits/signees qualified academically. If your coaches and players disrespect our talent they will be in for a surprise. I also don't think Zook or Fedroa, with their ground based ball control offense, are going to put Leak in a position to throw 4 game killing INT's like Grossman did last year. Grossman was a cowboy in that game throwing all those INT's. If Leak tosses more than 1 INT against ya'll he will be on the bench and Martin will come in to hand off and scramble, and not throw the ball. It's going to be an interesting game, that's for sure. We will know a lot more in 2 weeks after we have played UK and Ole Miss. It will also help that Grossman won't be there to throw 4 game killing INT's against Ole Miss either.
Thanks for that insight, Soviet. I have been wondering what the hell was up with the "identity" of the UF offense. I fully expected Zaunbrecher would come in and pick up not far behind where Spurrier left off. I havent, for the life of me, been able to understand why the UF offense hasnt resembled that explosive offense he had at Marshall. What is the general feeling toward Zaunbrecher in Gator country? Is it common knowledge that he is not the one causing the problems on offense? From the beginning, I thought the Zook/Zaun/Strong coaching combo would be very formidable, but not if there is a power struggle like you're describing. Would there be any possibility of the coordinators staying if Zook got the boot? On to the discussion about our game. I think we all know that Florida has tons of talent. I think we have more, but Im a homer, too. Remember, though, last year wasnt our first top 3 recruiting class. We have had three years of consistent power classes. The difference between our freshman talent and yours is that UF doesnt have better talent with more experience (at the positions in question). We do. Most of our freshmen wont be asked to play because there are better guys ahead of them (not necessarily more talented, but with a combination of talent, maturity, and experience). Im not going to make any prediction at this point, though. Additionally, I thought Leak and Wynn should have been starting from the beginning. I think Wynn needs a little more conditioning before he is ready to carry the full load, but being the starter doesnt necessarily mean you have to carry the ball 30 times. If Leak had started every game and played them in their entirety, I think UF would be 4-0 right now. Thats a different discussion for another day.
Mobile, Excellent post. Now you know what is really going on with UF's offense and coaching staff. To answer your question, no, the vast majority of the UF fans have no idea this is all going on. Most of them want Zaunbrecher fired. The only people outside the UAA that know what is really going on behind the scenes are certain powerful Boosters and people that have connections in the UAA. The media is starting to put two and two together, Zook has been lambasted this week. The fans, wearing Orange & Blue glasses have buried their collective heads in the sand blaming all our woes on Zaunbrecher, when it is Zook that is ruining everything. Any fan with a bit of football knowledge can see this is not Zaunbrecher's offense, if they had access to taped games they could see this offense is 100% Larry Fedora's old MTSU offense. The UF UAA is desperately trying to keep all this quiet as all hell is going to break loose if the BullGator Boosters, fans, and media get wind of this clusterf%$k. UF fans and the media have no idea Fedora is Zook's right hand man and running the offense. As I said in my earlier post, Zaun was hired by our AD Jeremy Foley for reasons previously stated, Zook had NOTHING to do with his hire. So when Zook picked his best friend Fedora (Zook is loyal to a fault with players and coaches) to be his OC Foley had already hired Zaun. When Zook was informed of this he told Fedora. Fedora balked and made a u-turn for MTSU, that was when Foley had to appease all three. Zaun was shafted and used as a pawn while Fedora was hired to appease Zook and told he would be OC. Zaun basically does nothing but work with the QB's while Fedora runs his pathetic Sun Belt Conference offense and calls all the plays. Zaun's hands have been tied since last season. To further show you more of Zook's micromanagement, our ex-WR coach Dwayne Dixon, the best WR coach in ALL of football, NCAA or NFL, had the WR responsibilities taken away from him by Zook. That right there is a total f*&k up personnel move. The reason it was made was Dixon was kept by Jeremy Foley and Zook was told he had to keep him on his staff. Once again this was a move by our AD to sell tickets/suites and appease fans with Dixon being retained. A bit of Spurrier still around to contribute to the Zaunbrecher wide open passing attack so to say. Zook didn't like this so he removed Dixon from coaching the WR's. Guess who has control of the WR's? Larry Fedora, a glorified Sun Belt Conference running back coach. Fedora is no more qualified to coach an SEC WR than Jimmie Kimmel. Zook is hoping Dixon and Zaun will quit. Now with Leak FINALLY being named the starter word is Foley met with Zook and laid it on the line. Hopefully meaning Zaun and Leak won out over Fedora and Martin. The heat has been turned up on Foley big-time by Boosters since the UM and UT losses, games we should have won had there been competent game time coaching, decisions, and time management. The next three games will say a lot, as will the rest of the season. If we all of a sudden open it up with Zaun's wide open offense with Chris Leak being the starter all season it will mean Zook was over ruled and Zaun won with Foley's backing. If we continue to see more of the same inept offense it will mean Fedora won with Zook's backing. Either way Zaun and Foley's jobs both hang in the balance. If Zook will or was told to hand over the reigns to Zaun and Leak along with Strong's defense, we will be a formidable opponent the rest of the season, and a Championship contender in 04' and 05'. UF is without a President right now, when a new one is hired he may want to bring in his own Athletic Director so Foley's job hangs in the balance. If there are pi$$ed off influential Boosters screaming and threatening to withhold donations and contributions because of the way the football team is being handled it won't look good on Foley in the eyes of the new President. Foley's salary is ultimately paid for by the Boosters so he better fix the problem if he hopes to keep his job. Word is there is also some dissention on the team, the older Spurrier players want Ingle Martin as QB because they resent all the limelight that is being put on Zook's recruits. The young guys want Leak as QB and they are all seing playing time and player shuffling so Zook can placate everyone. Zook is simply in over his head and Fedora is a cancer on the team. For now, I would be happy with Zook as Head Coach, Dixon as Asst. Head Coach, Zaun as OC, and Strong as DC and Fedora can be given walking papers. Give them the remainder of this season and next season and then assess Zook and the program after that. Zook ultimately needs to go as I don't think he is qualified to be a HC in the SEC. Finding a replacement will be the fun part. I agree with your assessment of LSU's and UF's talent. Even though UF's talent is poorly coached at times and is young and inexperienced, they can hang with ANYBODY for 3 quarters. You're right about Leak and Wynn, we should be 4-0 right now as well. Zook will pay for those mistakes. :cuss:
Soveit brought up a point about UF's running game. It seems like this year, UF ran the ball when they should have passed, and passed when they should have run. Here I've been listening to the Gator's sports talk shows and everyone is complaining about the superconservative playcalling from Zook and co. They are literally calling for his head! What's the deal with totally abandoning the run on 2nd/3rd and short? Also Zook was quoted Monday saying: "I don't know what it means to 'throw the ball down the field'".
Texas, Yep. He never should have been hired as Head Coach, when Stoops and Shanahan turned Foley down, Foley shot from the hip and hired his friend and ex-employee Ron Zook. Zook doesn't have the qualifications or resume to be HC at UF. I'll take him as Head Recruiting Coordinator and Motivator, I'll give him all the credit in the world there. As individual assistants or coordinators Zook, Stong, Dixon, and Zaunbrecher are a great group, but none of them are qualified to be a Head Coach at UF in my opinion. I think Strong will leave after this season to take a HC position. Fightin, Okay, I'll give LSU's WR's the edge, and we can take a close second. Zook came in and tried to do it his way because he wanted to show he could win without doing things Spurrier's way and make everyone forget Spurrier, a big mistake. He thought he could come in and blaze his own path. You are supposed to emulate success, not try to erase it. I am poor mouthing the coaching of this team. If the pitiful unorganized Fedora offense stays in place, LSU and many others will whip us. If Zaun was finally given the reins to the offense by the AD and Leak is allowed to be his guy and run that offense, the SEC better lookout. Because that offense combined with Charlie Strong's defense will be a potent combo. Spurrier had a balanced attack believe it or not, it was 50/50 pass and run. Zaunbrecher was supposed to come in with the same type of offense, it was a quick-strike deep-threat offense like Spurrier's. Their numbers were identical while Zaun was at Marshall. I don't want to see Zook standing on our sidelines looking lost much longer. I'm also tired of him making the same excuses, quoting Zookism's, and blaming players after every loss.
llahsram, Zook was trying to be a smart ass, he wants to do things his way and erase anything that resembles Spurrier. Don't forget Spurrier demoted him from his DC position when he coached under Spurrier in the 90's. Zook was going to quit when that happened but his friend Jeremy Foley (Our AD) talked Zook into staying. If you had ever seen a MTSU game while Fedora was the OC there you would understand why Florida has been doing what it has concerning it's play calling. Fedora's gimmicky running game offense worked wonders in the Sun Belt Conference where the talent level is comparable to most High Schools. The idiot can't figure out why that offense isn't working in the SEC all of a sudden. Gee, maybe the SEC caliber of talent is so fast and well coached it can shut that type of offense down. Fightin, Yeah, if all the members of GatorCountry discussed the state of Florida Football in person it would be a brawl. They are calling for everybody's head but the guy that started all this, Jeremy Foley. He ran Spurrier out of town and hired an underqualified incompetent buffoon in Ron Zook.
Now, whats the best Gator board? I went to GC for a little while but left because everything seemed a bit cynical. This reinforces that idea I guess. Are they just freakin out?
There are a lot of different camps, the fire Zaunbrecher camp, fire Zook camp, and the fire Zook and Zaun camp. The majority have no idea none of this is Zaun's fault, that it is Fedora causing all the problems with the help of Zook. Hopefully the AD stepped in and fixed it this week, if so the truth won't matter to most of the UF fans. The majority of the fans think if they don't know the real truth then it isn't the truth at all. The fans that count (BullGator Boosters) know the truth and that is all that matters as they have the money and money talks...
