Just like that, it’s over.
The most successful era in Florida football has come to an end with Urban Meyer’s departure.
BOOM! (This is a lame nickname, by the way.) And in steps new Gators coach Will Muschamp.
Could athletics director Jeremy Foley have gone farther away from Meyer’s coaching philosophy with this hire? A defensive-minded coach who brings along a pro-style offense with the addition of Charlie Weis, who helped build a Patriots offense that won three Super Bowls in the early 2000s.
At first, most believed Florida would choose the route that featured stability and continuity by picking a coach similar to Meyer, like Urban disciple Dan Mullen. Instead, UF pulled off the unexpected with the selection of Muschamp, who was set to take over for Mack Brown at Texas when Brown retired.
This was the smartest thing Foley could have done.
If you watched the Gators this season, the spread offense’s flaws were evident.
It takes a particular player with a very particular skill set to make the spread go — for examples, look at the work of Percy Harvin and Tim Tebow.
The scheme also deterred top running backs, wide receivers and pocket passers from Gainesville because of its gimmicky nature.
The running game suffered, and the lack of playmakers on this team held the offense back for most of the season. With many of those same players returning, Foley chose to avoid watching another season full of offensive ineptitude.
It’s not like Florida football hasn’t undergone this drastic of a transformation before.
Following Steve Spurrier’s departure to the NFL, Meyer’s spread became Gainesville’s favorite offense to watch since Spurrier’s “Fun ‘n’ Gun” offense ruled the town for 12 years. We can all agree that it is appropriate to ignore Ron Zook’s short stay in between.
The Spurrier-Meyer change is just as pronounced. And it will likely be just as successful.
The only problem Muschamp and Weis could face is that the offense’s personnel was recruited to run the spread. But if this duo is as good as advertised, it will make it work just like Meyer did with only a three-loss season in between his introduction speech and his first national championship.
But a quarterback is obviously critical to the new regime’s success. Meyer recruited Tebow, and now Muschamp must bring in a player who can run UF’s new offense.
Uncertainty currently surrounds the position with Brantley pondering a transfer to another school, while Reed and Burton are made for the spread.
But this massive question mark is partly a blessing for a unit that ranked 74th in total offense this season. It will force Florida to bring in a new wave of signal-callers sooner rather than later.
The switch seems to signal Foley’s desire to move as far away from Meyer as possible. However, Muschamp doesn’t have to look too far to see that isn’t the case.
Meyer is keeping an office on campus and will continue to have a presence within the football program.
But it won’t show on the field next year.
Muschamp’s defensive, no-nonsense, pro-style approach won’t let it.
