(SEC) The Gators play on a grass field at The Swamp (seats 88,548).
- Will Muschamp is in his first year as head coach at Florida. But before we even get to him, we must first address why he is here. Previous head coach Urban Meyer was not fired. But after his 8-5 season last year, he decided to “retire.” Now he is an Espn analyst. He won two BCS Championships (’06, ’08) in his six years at Florida and finished with a 65-15 record. Understandably, no Florida fans wanted to see him go anywhere and the pressure is going to be on Muschamp to win over the fans that were in love with Meyer.
- So who is Will Muschamp? He comes over from Texas where he
Head Coach Muschamp
was the defensive coordinator and head-coach in waiting. Muschamp has plenty of experience in the SEC, having served as the defensive coordinator of both Auburn and LSU. And knowing that his strength is defense and not offense, he wisely hired Charlie Weis as his offensive coordinator. As a reminder, Weis had a disastrous stint as head coach at Notre Dame. But most recently he was the offensive coordinator in the NFL for the Kansas City Chiefs. He’s great as a coordinator and at coaching quarterbacks—that is where he has had immense success (three super bowl rings with the New England Patriots in four years).
- Charlie Weis is the one expected to get quarterback John Brantley on the right track. I’m not sure what fans possibly expected from this offense last year considering the fact that John Brantley was replacing Tim Tebow. And in fairness to him, he completed over 60% of his passes and passed for over 2000 yards. Tebow only passed for 2900. But his touchdown-interception ratio was negative. And a big criticism was his lack of stretch vertical passes (more than 20 yards downfield), which amounted to just 5% of his passes. But what is the correct percentage and why is that important? Situations where the need to pass for at least 20 yards take place oftentimes on a 3rd and long situation because all of that yardage must be gained in a single play. Former Gator Carlos Dunlap refers to this and explains why Brantley struggled with those plays.
- Florida’s offensive line was incredible last year—very experienced and talented as three of the four who depart this year were selected in the NFL draft (including #1 draft choice Mike Pouncey and #2 draft choice Marcus Gilbert). This year they are severely less experienced. But hopefully their quarterback’s impending improvement will make up for that fact.
- Otherwise on offense, they are in much better shape at running back and receiver compared to last year. In 2009, Tim Tebow was not only their quarterback, he was also their leading rusher. In fact, he has almost as many rushing attempts as the net three rushers combined. They had to replace him as well as most of their receivers in 2010. This year they are much better prepared and have more experience at running back and receiver to help out their quarterback.
- Defense is decimated once again. Last year they lost 5 of their top 7 tacklers and had five players selected in the NFL draft. This year they lose 7 of their top 9 tacklers—but just one defensive player is off to the NFL. The defensive line allowed the most rushing yards per game in years and although this year they lose several starters this year, there are high expectations for this young group. Regardless, the talent level is not going to suffer a huge drop off the way it did last year.
