Okay, been a fan since '79 or '80 or so, alumni, live in the Columbia area. But I've given up I think.
I have reasons, and I'll put them down as best I can. I'm not looking to convert others to my misery, but I would like to know if there is a flaw in my logic.
Okay look. I've come to believe Muschamp is a very likeable guy. His players love him. The administration everywhere he has been loved him (still do apparently).
He is as good a recruiter as we will ever have. Actually I think he is the BEST we have ever had here in that role. If he were at Georgia I think he would pull in the same kinds of classes that Smart is.
We've given him everything he has asked for. He can hire whoever he wants. We are building his football ops building (have something to say about that, but it isn't to bust Muschamp's chops, and I'll get to it later).
But in another thread I made the statement that we needed Bill Snyder, and we got Muschamp. I'm guessing most people know about Snyder and his career, and the relative position of Kansas State versus... heck even the also rans in the Big 12.
This is Muschamp's 7th year as a head coach. He has a lot of good points, but he has no ability to get his team ready for a big game. Someone called it "analysis paralysis" and overcoaching. Maybe, you'd sure think a workaholic like him would be prone to something like that. Additionally, for whatever reason I see very little indication he can pull off an upset against a team that has more talent than his. And we need that.
Last Saturday notwithstanding, his teams don't quit. And they are well coached, sorta...kinda... in a way. They know spin moves, swim moves, are well conditioned, that kind of thing. If you need someone to get players to reach inside themselves and make a play that they had no inkling they could do, well he ain't your man.
Anyway what really got me though was seeing the kind of team Georgia brought here. Unless they have their head up their butt in Athens next year, they are going to brutally dominate us worse than they did here. No home field thing, simply that one more year on a team that is actually younger than ours is >> greater than one more year on our current players. And this year's recruiting class isn't going to change that one bit, outstanding as it is for us - or most schools.
And it isn't going to change. Not as long as Smart (or a similar guy is there). They'll keep on bringing in these kinds of classes every year. BECAUSE THE PLAYERS ARE IN THEIR BACKYARD. I have a little more to say about Clemson later, but Dabo has done a great job recruiting, and he couldn't keep up with that.
Okay I mentioned Georgia. We have another traditional power, Florida with similar recruiting advantages. There is nothing we saw with Georgia that couldn't be done at Florida, just as quickly - if they have the right coach.
Now we have A&M on the schedule as our permanent opponent. Same story as Georgia and Florida - potentially. Whether Jimbo is that guy I don't know for them, but all it takes is a guy like Smart and it can happen there easily.
Then I started thinking about Tennessee. Yeah, yeah, I know. But Middle Tennessee is exploding in population. My estimation just from eyeballing the recruiting rankings is that Middle Tennessee area is about as good as the whole state of Alabama at putting out prospects now. Maybe not as many speedy db's or wr's, but they got big uglies out the wazoo. Not as good as Georgia, Florida, or Texas, but IMO comparable to Louisiana - and I'm not joking about that. Once again a right coach situation.
Now Clemson. Honestly they are the least of our problems (not counting teams like KY for now). These are their glory days. I keep mentioning the "Right Coach," but it is still applicable. Put a guy like Smart at FSU or Miami, and not only do they have a lot more trouble getting guys out of Florida, no matter what the bagman does, they also will have a lot more difficulty getting through the ACC with the kind of record that gets you in the playoff. Heck again with the right coach thing, put one at UNC and he starts to have real problems.
To me our destiny is out of our control. No matter what we do, how much money we spend, in the end what happens depends more on other schools hiring dud coaches than anything we do.
There's some kind of name for imagining or dwelling on bad situations that might never happen.
But I can see a situation where what we saw last Saturday happens four times a year, then we play Clemson.
I can't handle that. I've handled it for 38 years or so, but I can't handle it anymore.
Literally I read a projection that we would wind up in the Belk Bowl and my first thought was I hope Tanner declines that. What's the point of dragging out another lacklustre season? Just put the dog out of its misery.
