Whether or not Urban Meyer left the Gators' program in shambles is a big issues trending among Gator fans, and often Muschamp's name comes up in this discussion. It goes one of two ways: Meyer crushed the Gators' program, not Muschamp's fault, or it wasn't Meyer's fault, 7-6 is inexcusable bottom line.

Meyer did leave Florida with some talent. There's no question about that. On offense, Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps terrorized defenses when healthy and Rainey was even in the Heisman race a third of the way into the season. Trey Burton, Andre Debose and Jordan Reed proved to be solid contributors, and Mike Gillislee has showed flashes of huge potential. Defensively, Meyer left Muschamp the pieces to the 8th best defense in the nation.

So I don't want to hear this "Meyer left the cupboard bare" garbage. Maybe the Circle of Trust report hurt, but he definitely left Muschamp some talent to work with.

On the flip side, Meyer did allow the Gators' offensive production to slip- a lot. This comes back to Steve Addazio. Here's why I still hate him- had he been a good or at least competent offensive coordinator, Meyer's respite wouldn't have hurt Florida at all. For all we know, he was half asleep during the Dan Mullen years- we just don't know. But had Mullen remained onboard for 2009 and 2010, I'm betting Florida's offense would have been at least time and a half better than it was.

But here's what I'm getting at- all the good and all the bad that's going on right now was due to Meyer and his staff. Sure, Muschamp's defense was 8 in the nation but that was with Meyer's players. And sure, Muschamp is fully capable of recruiting the players to do even better, but he hasn't yet at Florida. His track record at LSU, Auburn and Texas doesn't help Florida at all. Brian Orakpo and Sen'Derrick Marx don't play for the Gators. So sure, he very well might build his own dynamic defense in the future, so he hasn't yet.

So hold off on all thoughts of him, good and bad. You can't blame the 7-6 record on him because he didn't have guys on offense to fit his philosophy. You also can't praise him for getting through it and merely surviving it, because it was with all of Meyer's players.

The true test will be next year.

But if you want something positive to end on, check this out. Some second year coaches at schools have unbelievable success compared to their first, especially in the SEC. Can Muschamp be the latest?

Nick Saban, Alabama

1st year: 2007: 7-6 (Def. Colorado in Independence Bowl)

2nd year: 2008: 12-2 (Lost to Florida in SEC Championship, lost to Utah in BCS Sugar Bowl)

Chip Kelly, Oregon

1st year: 2009: 10-3 (Lost to Ohio State in BCS Rose Bowl)

2nd year: 2010: 12-1 (Lost to Auburn in BCS Championship Game)

Gene Chizik, Auburn

1st year: 2009: 8-5 (Def. Northwestern in Outback Bowl)

2nd year: 2010: 14-0 (Def. South Carolina in SEC Championship, def. Oregon in BCS Championship)

Urban Meyer, Florida

1st year: 2005: 9-3 (Def. Iowa in Outback Bowl)

2nd year: 2006: 13-1 (Def. Arkansas in SEC Championship, Def. Ohio State in BCS Championship)

Upon seeing this question, there are two main answers: Gators glory and Gator demise.

But what specifically was he responsible for? A lack of discipline? Recruits? Wins?

Here are the good things he was responsible for:

The 2008 BCS Championship

Using his own recruits, his own offense and his own coaching staff, Urban Meyer led the Gators to the national championship in 2008. Credit his assistants and his players too, but remember that Urban was responsible for bringing almost all of them to Florida. This goes to Urban, no doubt.

Tim Tebow

Without an offense so tailor made for Tebow, it's unlikely he would have had such tremendous success. He might have still won games, but not the way he did at Florida. Tim Tebow came so close to signing with Alabama, and if not for Meyer's great recruiting skills, he would have. Credit Urban Meyer 100% for making Tim Tebow a Gator.

NFL Pipeline

After the days of Steve Spurrier, many wondered who would be the next coach to lead Florida back to glory. It turned out to be Meyer after three years of Zook (who we as Gator fans owe a big sincere thank you, I'll get there later) and he did it by bringing in a truckload of future NFL players, such as Joe Haden, Percy Harvin, Brandon Spikes, Aaron Hernandez, Janoris Jenkins, Cam Newton (who, people forget, spent more time in Gainesville than in Auburn), Major Wright, Louis Murphy and many, many more.

Now, here are some negatives that Urban was responsible for:

2005 season

Many people forget it but the Gators were downright horrible in 2005 offensively and would have been under .500 if not for a dynamic defense led by Charlie Strong. If you don't remember, the 2005 season opener against Wyoming was actually worse than the 2010 opener against Miami Ohio. He tried to force a foreign offense on Chris Leak, who had enough trouble adjusting to a new staff, and the Gators really struggled. It raises questions about how good of a coach Meyer really was.

Steve Addazio Era

I made a few jokes in my Addazio to Gator Nation articles about Addazio recruiting 8th grade girls to run his offense. He might as well have- with all the talent he wasted with his awful "offense", he still couldn't run it for any success, so why not use the 8th grade girls? I also hinted at him being a Sandusky once. Well, I obviously hope he never molests a young girl, because that's disgusting and horrible- but if he had, Florida would have benefitted greatly. He would have been of more use sitting in jail on molesting charges- or any charges, for that matter- than he was calling plays. Quite frankly, he was the worst play-caller and coach I have ever seen, and his idiocy set the Gators back three years in prestige by killing recruiting.

Players' Character

Will Muschamp is rebuilding the UF program with character, not characters. Specifically, the kind of characters Meyer brought in. I'm not blaming him for a lack of discipline, but the players he brought in were just not the best people. His players' arrest record says that clearly. A few of them were silly mistakes, such as Chris Rainey sending a threatening text message, but a lot of them reflected the kind of kids Meyer wanted.

Here are some positives that Urban is not responsible for:

2006 BCS Championship

While nobody would argue that Florida could have pulled this off without three superb freshmen- Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin and Brandon James- this was a Ron Zook generated result. So Gator fans do truly owe Ron Zook in two ways. The first is the way he recruited. He brought in enough pure talent to field a national championship team- beating eventual champion LSU on their home field proved that. The other thing Florida fans must thank him for is employing Chrlie Strong, the brilliant defensive architect. Of course, Meyer did keep him on in 2006, but that's like crediting the people who built the Enola Gay for ending World War II. Thanks, Zook.

The 2009 season

No, this was simply a preview of Tebow's NFL career- great defense (Strong again), an OK offense around him and he just finds ways to win. If Florida had won it all, then you could credit Meyer for bringing Tebow in, creating the offense, etc. But Florida could have played Alabama 999 more times and they wouldn't have ever beaten them unless the defense pitched a shutout. The success that Florida did have was due to the defense for keeping Florida in it and Tebow for pulling it out.

Now, here are the bad things Meyer was not responsible for:

Discipline

You cannot blame Meyer for having such an arrest issue when he brings in so many thugs. You blame Meyer for bringing in the thugs, not for them misbehaving. It's really that simple.

The Broken Program Label

All good things must come to an end. Florida's NCAA dominance ended eventually, like all things do. While you can blame Meyer for letting Addazio ruin our program, you cannot blame him for not bringing in more Tim Tebows. Jeff Driskel was supposed to be the next one, and even if he does turn out to be a star, it won't help for 2010 and 2011. That's over. Tebow was made to run Meyer's system, and while that doesn't mean he can't succeed with other offenses, the focus on Meyer is that he can't simply reload. If you want to blame somebody, blame God for not littering the state of Florida with diehard Gator fan replicas of Tim Tebow. Without him, Florida really struggled, both before and after he got to Florida. The "broken program" is simply a synonym for "lack of Tebow". The defense is still great, the offense still has playmakers... but the Gators do not have Tebow.

It's hard to get angry at anybody that brings your team success, especially the kind of success Urban Meyer brought to Gainesville, yet Meyer has done that with the majority of Gator fans. I personally don't hate him; I am grateful for all he did but I don't really think he is the best person in the world, to use an understatement.

Look, we all do it. We're all unethical at some point or another. Everybody makes mistakes, a lot of them out of greed and selfishness. Coaches are no exception. What Meyer did was certainly selfish, but it's not uncommon. Lane Kiffin did the same thing to UT, and he only stayed one year. Nick Saban fled LSU for the pros, Greg Schiano ran away from Rutgers for the same reason as Saban, Pete Carroll jumped USC for the NFL after many successful years, and Bobby Petrino jumped more ships than a Somali pirate.

The point is, Meyer's departure was different because he wasn't honest about it. At least the other guys I just mentioned came right out and said they were leaving for the NFL or for another job. The fan bases were upset, sure, but they didn't have the license to riot about it (with the exception of Kiffin, because he jumped ship after one year). Meyer's departure was very shady because, well, we Gator fans know why.

We all knew long ago that Meyer had something special for Ohio State. Something wasn't quite right when the Gators mauled the Buckeyes 41-14 in Glendale for the national championship. His autobiography even hints at it. He just wasn't all that happy; you could see it in his eyes.

When asked why, Meyer replied that he was worried that the Gators didn't have enough talent/experience for the future, which was pure garbage; Tim Tebow won the Heisman the very next year, Percy Harvin became the most explosive player in the nation (sorry DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin), and although the defense wasn't great in 2007, they became a unit to fear in 2008 en route to another BCS Championship- which I will pause to point out had Meyer much happier than the one two years ago- and 13 more wins in 2009, when the Gators "settled" for a Sugar Bowl win and a #3 ranking.

So he was dishonest about that. And it's OK. Really, it is. College football is full of coaches that only talk gamespeak language where only other coaches and highly perceptive (or at least experienced) fans know what the coach is saying.

But it was still speculation then. Even after he resigned the first time, it was just talk. After the 2010 season, and his second resignation, despite all the years of buildup, it was still just a rumor.

Then Stan Drayton resigned as the Gators' running backs coach, and took the job as Ohio State's receivers coach- because they already had a running backs coach. The most he ever worked with receivers was with Percy Harvin, and when you have talent like that, you almost don't even need a coach. Plus, he was a hybrid at Florida.

That was when I knew it would happen, and I braced myself for it every day. Sure, it could be coincidence, but how likely is that? Maybe Drayton didn't know the extent of the Jim Tressel downfall, but come on, he HAD to know that someday, Urban Meyer would become the head coach. WHY ELSE? Why Ohio State? Over 120 schools play D-I football, and about 5 of them are currently in serious trouble with the NCAA, and Ohio State is one of them. (Auburn, Penn State, Miami, USC are the other four, although USC is starting to come out of it). Why else would he pick Ohio State?

To be completely honest, I'm not at all angry at Urban Meyer anymore. He left our program in ruins, and admitted as much to Will Muschamp. He also brought us 2 BCS Championships, brought us close to a third, and developed many great NFL players. There are two sides to this coin, and right now, the bad side is not only up, but glinting in a bright light. It's a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world in college football, and the last few things Meyer did for Gator Nation were: allow Steve Addazio to play with and mangle our promising offense (I am still, and might be for the rest of my life, furious with him), abruptly ditch us (twice) and then bolt for all the same reasons that supposedly forced him to retire.

That's all we remember when we think of Meyer.

We instantly forget all the wins he brought to our program. We forget that he brought in superstars such as Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, Brandon Spikes, Joe Haden, Ahmad Black, the Pouncey twins, Carlos Dunlap, and a slew of others. Even if you want to only credit the players for the championships, remember that Meyer and his staff recruited them.

So before you bash Meyer using all the techniques rival fan bases use- the arrest record, the lying, and the overall classlessness- remember that while they are all accurate to some level, they're not uncommon. If somebody you don't like is part of a violent gang that kidnaps the beautiful princess, do you start bad mouthing only your enemy, or the entire gang? Legally, they're all at fault. They're all getting arrested. They're all to blame, not just one. Gator Nation is just picking on Meyer because they all see him as the enemy. Let's go back to the List O' Liars/Ditchers: Lane Kiffin, Pete Carroll, Nick Saban, Bobby Petrino, and Greg Schiano- and these are guys that have lied/fled in the past three years alone.

I'm not defending Meyer. I'm only saying that you can't get mad at only him for doing something a bunch of other guys did. If you rip on Urban, then you have to unload similar insults at Kiffin, Carroll, Schiano, Petrino and Saban. And remember, he DID restore the Gators to national prominence.

Be honest, and be fair. Unlike those guys.

How mad can you really get at him when you think everything through?

This article is certainly a little late, but it's something I've been meaning to share, and with the impending Gator Bowl matchup on the way I'm sure this will once again be an ongoing news story as January 2nd approaches.

A lot of Gators feel betrayed by Urban, and feel that they were lied to.  This quote gets brought up often...

"But what I didn't want to have happen, and I made this clear to Jeremy [Foley], if I am able to go coach, I want to coach at one place, the University of Florida. It would be a travesty, it would be ridiculous to all of a sudden come back and get the feeling back, get the health back, feel good again and then all of a sudden go throw some other colors on my shirt and go coach. I don't want to do that. I have too much love for this University and these players and for what we've built."

-Urban Meyer, upon retiring from Florida.

How often?  In order to find the exact quote, I simply googled "Urban Meyer quote gators" and it was the first two results to come up.

It is a pretty damning quote, I will readily admit that.  From an outside perspective (which is all any of us have), we basically have a guy who says "uh, yeah I'm sick and want to spend some time with my family, but I'm a Gator and I always want to be a Gator and never want to wear any other colors" who then comes back a year later donning those ugly ass silver and red colors.

Both Urban and his wife Shelley claim that when he left he really had the intention to stay away for good, but the itch was just too much.  She recollects the walk they had together where he told her that he was thinking about coming back, and how much being away from the game was tearing him up.  Most Gator fans don't believe them.  I do, and here's why...

To explain this, I'm going to use an anecdotal experience from my own life.  Most of you are going to scoff at the idea of me comparing something so little to something as grand as the billion dollar college football industry, but I'm going to do it anyway so get your jokes in now.

Throughout my time at UF I was able to partake in eight glorious years of intramural football (4 years as an undergrad and 4 years as a spouse during my wife's grad-school run).  We had a pretty good run, with five final four appearances and two championships.  Yes, I'm about to compare something that happened in intramural football to something that happened in real football, but bare with me.  Besides, those of you that went to UF recently know how seriously and competitively that inner circle takes it.

After we won our first championship and continued doing well in the years that followed I began to feel that pressure to do well, both within that inner crowd that followed intramural football and with new teammates that I'd convinced to join the team.  I wanted to show them that we weren't a fluke, weren't lucky, and really knew what we were doing.  Like both Spurrier and Meyer alluded to in their roles, a win became nothing more than a relief and a loss was a disaster.  Again, keep in mind that this was intramural football.  There weren't millions of dollars on the line.  My livelihood and ability to provide for my family wasn't on the line.  There wasn't gobs of media attention watching everything we did (ok, so *shameless plug*, maybe there was some media attention).  If I felt that weight in a simple intramural game which had no consequences outside of pride, then I can't even imagine the amount of pressure that college coaches feel when all of that real stuff is on the line.

Nonetheless, I did feel a weight, and it led me to walk away with one semester of eligibility left.  After we won the championship in the fall of my last year, I was looking at an almost completely new group of guys in the spring.  I didn't want to go through the headaches of proving to everyone that I knew what I was doing.  I didn't want that weight of feeling like a loss would leave them of the opinion that "maybe this guy just lucked into it before".  So I passed up my last spring of eligibility and walked away with my last game being a championship blowout in the Swamp.

When next spring rolled around I could not possibly have regretted it more.  All I wanted to do was be back out there, "weight" and work be damned.  I thought watching some games would quench my thirst, but it only made it 10 times worse.  The corner is squatting on everything, a corner route out of the slot will each them up you idiots, just run that play!  I could do this so much better, just let me back out there!

When Urban left the Gators he did the worst thing he could possibly have done.  He joined ESPN.  I have no doubt that he got the thirst as soon as the 2011 season rolled around, but then to make matters worse the job he took had him analyzing those same games that he could no longer be a part of.  I can't imagine that Urban ever watched a game without thinking about how he would have done things differently, or what he could have done with those players.  Every time a coach punted on 4th and short from midfield it must have eaten him up.  Every time a coach kept his cool and didn't go on tilt and fake a punt from inside his own 20 when the offense was struggling he must have reminisced.  Every time a coach hoisted a trophy and hugged his players he must have teared up.

In Urban's final two seasons at UF he felt nothing but stress and the weight of expectations that he couldn't wait to get rid of.  Once he left, he realized how small of a price those things were to get back what he had.  Urban's ties to UF were always weak, but if the opportunity to come back a Gator were there, I think he'd take it, and I think he regrets leaving in the first place.  But right now, when the itch is too much to bear, the UF job isn't available.

Tebowmania is crazy. It never ends, and gets stronger and picks up new followers each week.  Then there are the people who knew him for awhile, or got acquainted with him at some point down the road.

Brainless Urlachers' postgame thoughts on Tebow: "He's a good running back." OK, sure. Let's go with that. Everybody can believe that heading into the game with Tebow. That spurred me to think of what other people would say when asked about Tebow after his most recent miracle.

So here's what everybody else has to say (note: this is realistic fiction, because I can totally picture these guys saying this about Tebow).

Former Florida Gators and now Ohio State Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer

I'm just real proud of Tim, and what he's doing, I knew he could do it and I'm so proud of him for saving me while I was taking my nap. It goes to show you, with good coaching he puts up 50 points, and with bad or no coaching he just finds a way to win games.

ESPN Analyst Merril Hoge

I don't care how much he wins. He needs to get better. Period. He needs better mechanics, or he won't succeed. Winning isn't succeeding. Looking good is succeeding. I'd rather he have Tom Brady's mechanics and go 2-14 than have Tim Tebow flailing wildly and making the playoffs. Looking like a real QB is all that matters, not winning. I refuse to budge.

Former Florida State Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden

The dadgum guy just wins. He must have gotten that from the dadgum garnet paint that was smeared on his jersey in the 2008 game against us. I'm happy for the kid that our end zone paint and winning rubbed off on him, dadgummit.

Rapper Kanye West

(Jumping onstage and grabbing the microphone at the Emmys) Imma let you finish, but first I gotta say Tim Tebow is the best QB of ALL TIME. ALL TIME. All he does is win win win no matter what, got Jesus on his mind, haters never get enough, but all he does is win, win, win, and if haters don't like that they can go jump off a bridge!

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan

He can't play. He didn't do anything so spectacular. If I never give credit to anybody and instead talk trash, why give Tebow anything? Bible Boy can't do anything right but run for two yards. Now excuse me, I've got to go see the doctor about my foot fetish.

Comedian Daniel Tosh

He's terrible. But what do I know? I'm a comedian, not a football analyst. That's because my football analysis is so off base, it's funny. I can admit when I'm wrong. I'm just a little depressed after he owned my Dolphins. That's all. He's great. (HE SUCKS.) I don't know what I'm saying. Maybe I should just stick to comedy.

Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban

I'd considered asking Roger Goodell to allow the Alabama Crimson Tide into the NFL, since you know, that's where all my guys wind up anyway. Then I watched Tim Tebow against Chicago. I immediately called up my boss and told him forget it. The guy's won 6 straight games, he's pissed off, and he's pissed off at MY TEAM. That's a bad combination. Forget it. Not happening.

Temple Owls coach Steve Addazio

Dive dive dive dive dive dive... what? Dude, I'm on a recruiting trip. I've got these twins, nationally ranked 9th grade swimmers, who could really help my dive program. Their names are Ashley and Sarah and they are both interested in diving (into brick walls, but I haven't told them that yet, that's a surprise for later) for four years. And you want me to comment on Tebow? OK, fine. He's doing OK, but he'd be better if he just ran the dive more. OK? Happy now?

Baylor Bears QB Robert Griffin III

Well, I guess I've got to throw out the Broncos gear John Elway secretly sent me.

Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton

He may be able to run with and throw the pigskin well against big, nasty defenses like the best of them, but can he run with and throw the laptop against big, nasty security guards like the best of them- like me?

ESPN Analyst Mel Kiper

Whatever, I don't care anymore. ESPN just paid me to bash him for an offseason, and that offseason is over. Onto doing research on how Andrew Luck will be a bigger bust than JaMarcus Russell.

Kansas coach Charlie Weis

Ehhh... he doesn't eat enough cheeseburgers for me to invest in him.

There was one person, on the other hand, that didn't completely smash Tebow's name. In fact, he praised Tebow. He gave the impression it was an honor to watch him playHe seems to know a fair bit about the game, based on his past credentials and resume. He may not be able to pull out ridiculous comebacks week in and week out like Tebow, but he's one of the game's greatest of all time: New England Patriots QB Tom Brady.

I posted this as a poll in the facebook group, and so far the results lean against it.

I personally have mixed feelings on this topic. Of course, I can't change history, but I do wonder what would have happened had Jeremy Foley backed down to Spurrier's demand of simply giving him the job.

But that leads to another question. Say we could change history. Do we as Gator fans really want to go back and undo the Urban Meyer era in exchange for more Spurrier days, presumably with similar results as his first run?

Of course, the hiring of Urban Meyer did lead us to 2 BCS Championships in 3 years, but it also led to back to back 5 (maybe more) loss seasons in which the offense was bad enough to counteract the juggernauts the Orange and Blue fielded in 2007 and 2008.

One thing that is for certain is that this team would never suffer a dip like this. Urban Meyer's offense, when run with the right players and play-caller, was literally unstoppable. But Dan Mullen was the co-generator of the offense, or at least watched Urban raise it from its infant stages to a multi-headed monster that even Nick Saban couldn't stop. Then there was Tim Tebow, who was born to lead the offense. A pinpoint accurate QB who was nearly as explosive a runner as Percy Harvin (in different ways, of course) was the cherry on the cake for Meyer, while his lethal collection of receivers (Louis Murphy, Harvin, Aaron Hernandez, Riley Cooper, David Nelson, etc) and running backs (Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey, Emmanuel Moody, Kestahn Moore etc.) would simply hide behind Tebow in the media and play the role of silent assassin to defenses.

Alone, one of those players would be useless. But blended together with a legitimate QB who was also a threat to run, these guys routinely hit 30 points and often eclipsed 50.

The problem with this offense is that it needs somebody who knows it inside and out aside from its creator to call the plays AND a QB who can both run and pass at an All American level, AND tons of speed around the QB.

The third part is relatively easy, but sadly, there's only one Tim Tebow. Meyer could teach the offense to somebody with intelligence (NOT YOU ADDAZIO, CALM DOWN) to run it, but it's still not the same without Tebow. Jeff Driskel might have been the second coming of Tebow but be honest, how likely is that?

Plug in Spurrier (and a young, hot offensive coordinator of his choice) for Meyer. Assume Spurrier retains Charlie Strong from Zook's staff and Strong works the same magic on the defense that he did with Meyer.

In 2005, Chris Leak would have had more chance to throw than he did with Meyer. He would not have been saddled with the heavy burden of being Meyer's guinea pig, meaning run as often as you throw. He had plenty of talent left over from Ron Zook (so I honestly say, thank you Zook) to work with. Maybe this offense wouldn't have been unstoppable, but it would have been better than it was in 2005. Many people forget that the offense never got their stuff together until the Western Carolina game (and they suck... in the FCS). It worked relatively well against FSU and Iowa. It never should have taken that long to bring success. If Spurrier, not Meyer, worked to retool Leak to HIS liking, the process would have been much quicker because Spurrier's use for Leak would have been closer to what he did under Zook than Meyer's use for him.

2006 would have certainly been better. That was Harvin's (and Tebow's) freshman year. Spurrier would have had a field day utilizing Harvin as his murder weapon of opponents. Not even like a knife to slice through opponents; more like a bludgeoning tool, like a huge piece of pipe. Or would that be Tebow, the freshman sensation? I do think Tebow would have thrown more passes than attempt rushes but it's hard to believe he wouldn't get the important short yardage touches. Nevertheless, it was the defense that won that championship. The offense was still a work in process in the overhaul from Zook retardation to Meyer success, and again, the transition to Spurrier's Fun N' Gun would have been easier than to Meyer's equally effective, but harder to build triple option spread.

Let's say they recruited the same exact players. Tim Tebow loved Florida partly because of Urban Meyer, partly because of the offense and partly because he loved the place. He probably would not have won the Heisman in 2007 without all those rushing TD's, but his passing numbers would have been unbelievable. He wouldn't have been used as the goal line bull all the time; he would have shared that role with Kestahn Moore, Emmanuel Moody and the fullbacks that never got their names called due to a profound lack of carries (NOT to say this was Meyer's negligence, it certainly was not, they were helpful in blocking, but that was all).

We all know that when told something to do or to change, Tebow listens and the piece of coaching is instantly incorporated into his game. His long delivery would have likely been corrected by his sophomore year.

Then look at the speed guys around him. Spurrier would have salivated over the thought of working with guys like Bubba Caldwell, Percy Harvin, Louis Murphy, Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey. Instead of running options and relatively short routes with receivers, Spurrier would have had them go deep much more often. We've seen Demps and Rainey catch the ball. They are capable of going long. With five wide and other crazy formations Spurrier could devise, tell me now, who could cover these guys in single coverage? If somebody actually could, that's great, NOW Tebow takes off and picks up yards on his own.

The production level might have been slightly lower in 2007 and 2008, and might have been better... but now we look at the last 3 seasons.

In his senior season, if Tebow decides he does need one more year of seasoning at UF, he would have been the best QB of all time without argument. We probably would have lost Harvin after his junior season anyway, so we simply plug in Rainey for 2-3 seasons. Watching film of both of them, Rainey's every bit as explosive. He simply hasn't gotten the space or opportunities to make the video game type plays Harvin made since 2008, when he ran wild behind Harvin and Tebow. Cooper, Hernandez, Nelson, Deonte Thompson and Demps are all back in 2009 so Tebow continues firing bullets all over the SEC to these guys en route to another successful season- maybe a BCS Championship.

2010 is where it gets interesting. I'll assume $cam Newton still was his own selfish and foolish self and threw a laptop out of a window. John Brantley is ready to take on all the responsibility of replacing Tebow, who still made a huge name for himself, just more with his arm and less with his feet. He'll have been trained by Spurrier and his pass-friendly OC for three years. It's much easier to replace Tebow now because he only has to match his passing production to be considered a Gator hero. He was doomed with Meyer, since he had to run like Tebow and throw like Tebow to fully be considered as a worthy replacement and live up to fans' ridiculous expectations. Take the running away and it's less to do to live up to the hype.

Let's just say he was the next Rex Grossman- great, but not Hall of Fame phenomenal. He would have flourished with Rainey resuming his role of slot/wide receiver, Andre Debose helping Rainey out, Demps driving DC's crazy with his Olympic speed, Deonte Thompson as the deep threat, Omarious Hines and Frankie Hammond as the wild card receivers (meaning, use them how you please, which I trust Spurrier to do well) and using Trey Burton and Jordan Reed as dependable tight ends.

Assuming Brantley was half his reputation as a pro style (or even a pass happy) QB, and assuming the line blocked fairly well, this offense would have been similarly unstoppable.

Then bring this exact same team back for 2011, and figure the results are the same. Brantley's self esteem has not been nuked like Hiroshima in 2010 with Spurrier, so there's no radiation with the everlasting effect that Addazio's spread-atomic bomb had. With Rainey and Demps as seniors, this is Florida's year to compete for championships. The blocking would need to be better, but Spurrier would never tolerate such foolishness as bad protection- he knows that in order to score points at will, blocking is key.

Now, let's take a look at projected results.

2005 would not have been a successful season anyway. There was still the Zook touch to overcome, and that would take at least a year even for a simpler offense than Meyer's triple option spread.

Florida went 9-3 under Meyer, and that's about what it would have been under Spurrier. The scores would have looked better, especially the 31-3 beatdown to Alabama, but the record would have been roughly the same. Figure an Outback Bowl appearance and win, just like it happened in reality.

2006 would have also been about the same- same record, better scores. Beating South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee and FSU by a combined 35 points never would have happened. Kentucky in particular would have been blown out in big fashion. South Carolina and Georgia wouldn't have fared much better.

FSU in Tallahassee is always tricky but UF would have won by more than a touchdown. Georgia would have lost the game somehow regardless because of the curse we had on them at the time (and hopefully we still have). But a BCS Championship seemed a likelihood. Maybe Ohio State would have stopped our Fun N' Gun slightly better, but given the way they talk so much, probably not.

2007 is where it starts to get tricky. The defense was bad, granted, but where was the offense in the Auburn, Ole Miss, and LSU games? With a reliable offense, the Gators probably pound Auburn and Ole Miss with ease instead of struggling to work out the final kinks of Meyer's offense.

LSU probably still would have been a loss- in Death Valley, the #1 team in the nation- but the Meyer offense was silenced the entire 4th quarter. That's when Spurrier offenses are usually at their best, when the game isn't completely out of hand.

Our defense couldn't stop UGA, so that's a loss as well, but those are our two losses, so that wins us the SEC East in all likelihood in a three way tie with Georgia and Tennessee. Each of these three teams beat each other with identical records, and we win the three way tiebreaker. We would probably lose to LSU again in the SEC Championship, and wind up in the Sugar Bowl where we would pummel Hawaii for the first time in back to back games.

2008 might be the one season we have a drop off. Or it might be even more dominating. This was Florida's most talented team ever, and with Tebow now fully comfortable as a drop back first QB, defenses get overwhelmed. The only reason this season would be slightly less successful is because defenses have finally caught on to Spurrier's Fun N' Gun Round 2. Then again, our defense was lights out so it might not even matter.

There's no way Ole Miss wins in the Swamp because Spurrier treated Florida Field like Meyer treated rivalry games- we'll win the game, every time. That is all.

Alabama might have gotten us in Atlanta, but not likely. Tebow didn't run a whole lot compared to other games, only when he needed to. Bama couldn't stop the flood of receivers Meyer sent- they wouldn't have stopped Spurrier's crew, either. And Spurrier's offenses were (aside from the Fiasco Bowl) at their best in bowl games, so the Sooners would have gone down as well.

2009 saw our whole team coming back minus Harvin and Louis Murphy. There were still three NFL receivers for Tebow to choose from. Addazio took over the offense- and took it down. We saw Tebow dive, Demps dive, Rainey dive, and on third and long it would be Tebow-please-do-something-to-bail-me-out. And because Tebow is the monster he is, it worked sometimes. But not always.

Tebow's senior season would have been a reprise of his junior season- blowouts raining down on the SEC, no close calls, no exceptions. Then, for the second straight year, we have an epic showdown with Alabama for the SEC Championship. I still think Alabama wins due to the revenge factor but it's much closer than the 32-13 Addazio egg-laying. Our defense had a bad day and our offense never got on track once Alabama had adjusted to our 5-wide formations. I have to assume our defense wouldn't have stopped the Mark Ingram-Trent Richardson combo, but our offense would have made it much closer.

Then we blow out Cincy in the Sugar Bowl. They couldn't stop Addazio's offense; how would they stop a Spurrier offense with the talent on the team? And I repeat, Tim Tebow, Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey, Riley Cooper, Aaron Hernandez, David Nelson, etc. The only difference is that, well, with the right play-caller to utilize this talent, it would have been even worse than 51-24.

2010 is the hardest to call because I cannot say for sure how many players stay if they believe the team would be great again. After the 2009 season, Florida lost juniors Joe Haden, Carlos Dunlap, Major Wright and Aaron Hernandez. Had they believed the Gators would remain a national contender, they might have all stayed. Who knows?

But let's say they all leave just to make it interesting. There's still a gold mine of talent to be used between Deonte Thompson, Frankie Hammond, Robert Clark, Omarious Hines, Jordan Reed, Trey Burton and the returning tailbacks, Mike Gillislee, Rainey and Demps. And then there's Mack Brown, who was buried on the bench. With John Brantley never facing the problem of Steve Addazio burning his confidence, he would have come out slinging it right away in an offense that suits him best.

Where to begin with the score differences? I guess I'll start from Day 1 when Miami Ohio stunned the Swamp by containing our comical Addazio-led playbook. For starters, UMOH would have been blown out. As in, 62-3, 63-5, 70-19 or some of the other ridiculous scores Florida hung on opponents with Mullen.

Basically, the Gators win their first four games by a combined 200 points (no big deal, it's Miami Ohio, South Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky) and then travel to Tuscaloosa, where we lose- but with honor. We'd be respected for giving Alabama a fight on their home turf.

We would return to blowout mode against LSU in the Swamp because their offense wasn't a whole lot better than ours was with Addazio. Mississippi State is impossible to call, since there's no way of knowing where Dan Mullen would wind up without coming to Gainesville with Meyer. But we'll say he's their coach. They'd give us a fight, but our offense would be way too much. The rest of our opponents go down in similar fashion, with FSU playing a little tougher than the rest.

Then, lookie here! We're back in the SEC Title Game, where Cam Newton tears up our rebuilding defense and outguns our offense and send us plummeting to the Capital One Bowl- where we wouldn't have much trouble with Michigan State.

2011, and we have that same team back again. We're now 100% confident in our abilities, we've taken our lumps and we're a year older, stronger, better. We blow out our first four opponents again, and Alabama will go down in a much less humiliating fashion, ie a tough game that's a replay of the 2010 game in Tuscaloosa with Spurrier. Then we'll travel to LSU and get humbled, we'll go to Auburn and absolutely smother them, assuming we catch the punts.

Georgia is where the season gets tricky. I'd love to say Florida wins big, but that's hard to say when they're playing as possessed as they are. It would be a similar game, with each team scoring a little more and neither team making as many mistakes. When Brantley would hit a big one (remember now, a pass heavy offense with a comfortable Brantley) Aaron Murray would simply respond with a bigger one. Both teams would trade scores until somebody makes a mistake- and that would be Georgia, who always makes mistakes against Florida, leading to a close Florida victory.

Then we'd win the rest of our games, until we'd get tripped up against LSU again in Atlanta. That places Florida in the Sugar Bowl as the #2 team from the SEC, where we would play (insert team here).

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Sure, this all looks a little unrealistic since I always have Florida in the top 3 of the SEC, but that's precisely what happened when Spurrier ruled the Gators from 1990-2001. They were always in the national championship picture, and always considered an SEC favorite. His teams went to 8 SEC Championship Games in the 10 years it was held during his tenure. That looks about the same as these predictions, don't they?

Now there may still be some of you saying that I'm ungrateful for all that Meyer did. That is completely FALSE. I love Urban Meyer and will never be able to thank him enough for all he did for Florida.

But the truth is, Ron Zook left whoever took the job after him at a great starting point. He had a very talented team. It just took a great coach to get the wins expected from such talent. Both Spurrier and Meyer were qualified to do just that.

The difference is, Meyer's offense takes much longer to master and must have the perfect set of players. Spurrier's offense was easier to learn and did not require player types x, y and z. Tebow was compatible for both offenses, or at least would be with Spurrier teaching him how to become a drop back QB. Brantley and Leak were only compatible for a drop back QB pro style offense. The skill position players- Harvin, Rainey, Demps, Caldwell, Hernandez, etc. were also compatible for both offenses.

But the QB is the position that matters. Your QB must be able to do something for your offense to function. Even LSU has a decent QB, Jarrett Lee. He can do plenty of things to help the offense- and does quite often.

So basically, Tebow wouldn't have been the Tebow that we have come to know and love. He would have been a better passer, but would not be the dual threat he was under Meyer. It's a minor setback. Tebow is still a QB, and an adequate passer at worst and a great one at best. It's because of the misuse of John Brantley and, to a lesser extent Chris Leak that makes me think we'd have been better of with Spurrier. With Meyer, there were great years, just like under Spurrier, but then there were completely un-Spurrier-like years as well. Swap the Zook-esque records in 2007, 2010 and 2011 for the worst Spurrier records- 2 losses- and it's easy to see why I at least considered this.

People do forget how dynamite the defense was when Leak was our QB. He's definitely more mobile than Brantley, and Brantley's definitely a better passer. We won 9 games and then a BCS Championship with Leak and Meyer due to our smothering defense and truly special special teams, not because of Leak. He was never thought of as a potential NFL QB. Brantley was- until Addazio stepped in and ruined him. I'm thrilled for Leak because it wasn't really his fault, and feel horrible for Brantley because he had even more hope than Leak in the future and he didn't have the great defense nor the somewhat adequate coaching behind him.

Do I think our bad seasons were Meyer's fault? Not really, he was hired as UF's head coach and his thing was an eccentric offense. It won us lots of games, and was at least partly responsible for 2 BCS Championships. He just needed the perfect QB to run it and there's only one: Tim Tebow. Tebow was born to run this wacky yet effective offense, and he did. My theory is that Meyer couldn't find another QB like him, and in his desperate efforts to either find one or make one out of Brantley, suffered severe stress and eventually heart problems because it was simply too difficult.

So I say with all my heart: thank you, Urban Meyer. You did things for our program that has never even been dreamed of. My only problem with you is that everything had to be perfect in order to work, and when it wasn't perfect, it was disgraceful. I understand fully that the spread offense is your specialty, and it's what you used to win. But Spurrier's offense doesn't cause heart issues, and when it isn't perfect, the result is usually an SEC Championship Game loss to a top 5 Alabama team. The potential results were the same, but Spurrier's offense had less margin for error and less severe consequences when not perfect.

But I will let you guys, my readers make the call.

After reading this and thinking about it, would you rather Jeremy Foley have swallowed his pride, given in to Spurrier's selfishness by declaring that he didn't need to interview for the job again and simply re-hired him?

You guys can take whatever side you want. I'm not even saying which side I'm on; it's just that it appears a stupid question at the surface since Meyer won more championships in fewer years. I'm just making the Spurrier side clearer; the Meyer side is easy to argue without thinking about this.

So I'm not voicing my opinion, at least not yet, until you guys take whichever side you choose and argue (hopefully respectfully, but why wouldn't we, we're all one big happy family).

It's been a few months since Steve Addazio left Florida, yet his awful job as our OC has stuck with me all this time. I can't shake it, even knowing that Charlie Weis is coming to town and will be running our offensive show. And I don't buy Muschamp being our head coach.

Right there is inverse #1. Last year, there was no firm leadership of our team. But Muschamp and Weis will be co-head coaches of the Gators, ensuring that both units will be disciplined, and, well, better.

Then we look at the strengths of our team. If you can call it a strength, our offense got the yardage it did by grinding it out. Of course, this caused more three and outs and heart failure than it did anything positive, but whenever our offense WAS clicking, it was because of a good long drive (to be fair, there was about one of these per game).

This year, look for our offense to throw, throw often- and maybe too often. Weis has a tendency to get pass happy when things aren't going great, which is inverse #2. This is the inverse of last year, where Addazio would run dives whenever things weren't going well (and even when they were, honestly).

In 2010, our offensive line was a "strength", if you could call it that. It was certainly a veteran bunch, though you wouldn't know it whenever Champion Pouncey snapped balls all over Alacha County. But an experienced line is a luxury we don't have this year.

Now, the rest of the experienced offense is going to have to pick the young o-line, instead of the other way around, for inverse #3.

Now, let's go to our defense. Last year, our pass defense was abysmal, and this was only not known on a wide scale because Addazio's offense was SO bad. Either that, or the defense snagging enough errant footballs to build a house (who would build a house out of footballs? Oh, Addazio, of course. Then when the wolf comes by and threatens to blow it down, Addazio would tell him to bring it on. Then the wolf huffs and puffs and blows the house farther than Addazio's longest drive all year.)

This year, without Janoris Jenkins, our secondary will certainly go through growing pains. Jeremy Brown can do a good job on one receiver, but our defensive line, which will be Muschamp's baby, will have to carry a huge load. They promise to be nasty, following great springs from former ESPNU Top 5 recruits Dominique Easley and Ronald Powell. Inverse #4 will be our front 7 carrying the secondary, not the reverse.

Then we look at the coaching staff. There are a bunch of differences here. The first one, is, of course, the head coach. Even Muschamp vs. Meyer can be broken down into a few inverses, but if there is one glaring difference, it's their energy level. Meyer in 2010 was clearly not the Urban Meyer that loved life and showed it in 2008. Will Muschamp? Check out the videos of him chest bumping Brian Orakpo and going nuts over a big 3rd down stop on youtube.

So, inverse #5 will be Muschamp being one of the most energetic guys to ever step into the Swamp, as opposed to Meyer, who was near the point of indifference in 2010.

How about the rest of the coaching staff? Meyer's 2010 group included three guys that are now coaching Temple, and Teryl Austin's role was demoted in his move to the Baltimore Ravens. Muschamp's staff includes one of the best offensive minds in the nation, and a slew of others with lots of NFL experience.

So inverse #6 is a switch from a below average coaching staff to an above average one.

This one is probably the most obvious, but it's going to happen- functional offense from I-hope-Chas-Henry-wins-the-Ray-Guy-Award-or-else-our-offense-accomplishes-nothing offense. Henry battled safety Ahmad Black for the title of our best offense. As great as he was, that's something that any decent coach would be ashamed of. No more. With Weis, we can rely on our offense more. If only because it cannot get any worse, the offense will be better.

But you guys knew that from the day that Weis was hired. So I'll put it this way- our offense will have more responsibility. Even in 2009, with Tebow, the Gators won games with fantastic defense, fantastic special teams, and one good drive from the offense. That was all it was. If not for a 500+ yard Sugar Bowl performance, Tebow would have had his worst year as a starter statistically.

THAT'S HOW BAD ADDAZIO WAS.

He was smart enough to realize what a lights out defense we had- you'd have to be a residential idiot not to- and simply didn't care what the offense did, because he knew Brandon James and our D would win the game. Then we all saw what happened when you don't trust your offense against a good team.

So inverse #7 will be playing to win on offense, not playing to avoid catastrophe.

From the team itself we move to the fan base. Gator fans everywhere want a national championship, but realistically, that's probably not going to happen. Last year, many fans (not all) bought into Urban Meyer's promise to tweak the offense. Let's face it. I love Urban Meyer, but that was nothing more than a bald faced lie. Running the option with an immobile QB that broke Tim Tebow's record for passing TD's is simply not a good idea. But by hearing that, Gator fans became giddy and bragged about how the offense would be the most explosive one yet. Funny, I'm not hearing that about last year's team much anymore.

This year, we fans know maybe 2% of what our team will look like, since Muschamp blocked spring practice. We know we'll be better, but we cannot take much at all from our spring game. The fans this year are in the dark, and know to be patient. That's inverse #8.

The ninth inverse is probably the one that will work most to our advantage- assuming Brantley steps up. That probably gave it away, at least somewhat. But in 2010, leadership came from the underclassmen. Andre Debose sparked our team numerous times with big kick returns (too bad we had you know who to throw all our momentum away). But at least he tried. Ahmad Black certainly led to some extent, but the front 7 was a mess. Terron Sanders and Justin Trattou didn't do badly, but Jelani Jenkins, Sharrif Floyd, and even Jon Bostic led by example and made some huge plays. Bostic in particular excites me for the future.

But then look at Jeff Demps. It seems that poor Mr. Demps was rewarded by Addazio for reeling off huge gainers by a comfy seat on the bench. Chris Rainey was suspended, and rightfully so, but when he returned, the was the only legitimate threat on our team. Deonte Thompson? Well, it depended on his mood. Carl Moore? Maybe if he got the ball more (no pun intended).

But most of those guys above were young. This year, (hopefully) John Brantley will lead our team. It's what QB's are supposed to do. Of course, to this point Brantley has shown as much leadership capabilities as an albino kitten roaming around a library, but you've got to believe that Weis can change that at least somewhat. If you don't, then I advise you against watching Gator football this year.

Jeff Demps will be counted on a lot more, let me tell you. This year, there will be no sprained ankle plan. You know, where guys that don't show as much emotion as Tim Tebow in practice do not play in the games. Brantley, Thompson, Rainey and Demps will all have heavier loads. I'm not sure Demps can fully maximize his potential, if only because there's just SO much talent in that offense. What he can do is lead by example- reel off a big one and watch the younger guys follow suit.

Inverse #9 is that this year, we have proven upperclassmen leaders.

The 10th and final inverse is simple. Reclaim the Swamp. Our biggest games are at home. Alabama, Tennessee, Florida State. Whereas last year, many of them were away. Or so it seemed. Then we lost to a trio of teams at home that we had beaten by 10 points each the year before in their homes. We went from a 13-3 win at LSU to a 33-29 home loss. Sure, blame it on the field goal, but then remember how many times we went 3 and out. We went from a 29-19 win at MSU to a 10-7 loss at home. We went from a 24-14 win at South Carolina to a 36-14 embarrassment in the Swamp.

Tim Tebow and a smothering defense certainly had something to do with this, but come on. We hadn't lost three games at home in a row since 1989. The last time we lost three straight home night games? Gee, I'm not sure that EVER happened before, though I invite anybody to look it up.

The point is, this year, our Swamp motto will read: The Swamp, Where Only Gators Get Out Alive. Whereas last year, the Swamp's motto was: The Swamp, Where Only Riverboat Gamblers, Former Favorite Sons and Former Assistants Get Out Alive. Or even more simply: The Swamp, Where Only Tigers, Bulldogs, and Gamecocks Get Out Alive.

The Swamp will become a fearsome place once again, and it will be a place to fear for opponents once again.

Inverse #10 is very easy to remember: NOT IN OUR HOUSE!!!

There are easy things to tell that will be completely reversed- Addazio to Weis for example- and then there are others that aren't quite as easy to detect unless you think about them. But nobody here is a Georgia fan. We all know how to use our brains. Right?

So, after taking a look into the changes from 2010 to 2011, we can be sure that if Muschamp's boys didn't wear orange and blue, we wouldn't know what team this is.

It's certainly not the Gators of 2010.

Not to be an arrogant little punk, but anybody remember me blowing off Meyer's "family" reason for retiring and saying there was some other reason?

Immediately afterwards, a report surfaced that he still had health issues.

Yet I was sure, deep down in my heart, that Steve Addazio's dangerously stupid mismanagement of our program was what either caused his heart issues or directly caused his retirement.

That theory has just gotten a huge boost.

Gigi did later back off... but too late. She got the message into our minds that this wasn't the father she envisioned having following the Outback Bowl win over Penn State.

It's OK, Gigi. You're a hero in my mind and we all love you for arming us with this message. And by no means am I coming after you or your dad or anyone in your family. That is, unless you call your father's right hand imbecile family.

Urban Meyer is every bit as busy with ESPN as he was as head man of Florida.

Maybe even more- this is the offseason, and he's already been to Texas, Oregon, Indiana and god knows where else to interview coaches. He's got his own TV show... he is a BUSY MAN!!!

What's it going to be like in season? How much busier will he be IN SEASON???

Yeah, he'll be his old happy self, pouring his heart out into his work. Too bad it won't be for Florida football. If only Meyer had hired a real offensive coordinator within a week of Dan Mullen's resignation, he would still likely be coaching the Gators.

But alas, he didn't.

And now I just got pissed off at Steve Addazio all over again.

But what good does it do?

We already know all his deficiencies. We already know why he sucked. Why Florida floundered. Sure, we all need to keep a 35 page Word Document on it because there are so many things that made him inept, but the reasons are known.

And now we are armed with this: he caused Urban Meyer to leave. It was a very easy process. In fact, it was as easy as 1-2-3.

1) Dive, non-option, hitch, bad snap, punt offense

2) Make Urban miserable by running the entire program

3) Keep going until Urban can't take it anymore

Ahhh!!!! Genius!!! Whenever you have a boss you can't stand, do this until he quits.

Except he'll be back.

Oh, yes he will. Maybe not next year at Ohio State, maybe not within three years at Texas, maybe not within five years at Notre Dame- I'm not making predictions I can't see happening.

Nor do I lash out at people who are in fact correct in stating their views... like Gigi.

Unlike the UAA, who called Ryan out for having an "uneducated opinion", and later "Mikey Henderson"  for "unnecessary and humiliating personal attacks".

Timeout.

Please join me in uncontrollable, boisterous laughter.

When you've calmed down, step back and look at this objectively. Somebody please explain to me why Urban Meyer left Florida, and do it without mentioning the words "Steve Addazio" as the reason.

I admit it's possible that Gigi was only kidding when she made that twitter post. Anything is possible. But again, she might have only taken that comment back due to ESPN firing back at her via email or her dad or something. I don't know.

What I do know is that Meyer had too much pressure to win at Florida to be able to take it. And what I also know is that he wasn't himself. From those two pieces of info, combined with our knowledge of Stevio's idiocy, we have a theory for Meyer's departure.

Gigi only confirmed it in my mind.

I love playing what-if. Whether it be with friends, family, teachers, anybody. I know it doesn't help to change the future, but it's still a fun thing to look at. But there is a reason behind it.

In college football, the tiniest change of anything in the past could set off a chain reaction of completely different follow up events. So: what if the NCAA had hit Alabama just a little bit harder and faster with punishments following the textbook scandal? What if they made Bama forfeit, not vacate wins? What if they imposed a two year bowl ban? After all, this was the second infraction in the last 5 years, so.... They're just predictions, but they seem awfully realistic.

1) Nick Saban leaves Alabama after 2007

In November of 2007, right in the heat of Alabama's embarrassing collapse, the University received word that the NCAA was onto them regarding the possible textbook issues. Saban played Glen Coffee a ton suring both 2007 and 2008, and he was one of the players mixed up in it. Take a 6-7 season, a humiliating home defeat to Louisiana Monroe, a horrible late season collapse and if he knew that big time punishment from the NCAA was looming, and I doubt Saban would have stayed.

2) Florida wins the 2005 SEC Championship

Had the NCAA forced the Tide to forfeit, rather than vacate their wins, including a 31-3 throttling of Florida, the Gators' record would now be 6-2 in SEC play. That's tied for first with Georgia, and the Gators beat Georgia 14-10 in Jacksonville (what else is new?). Florida had lost a tough game to LSU on the road, but playing in Baton Rouge and playing in the Georgia Dome- home field for Florida if anything more than neutral- is a huge difference. I would have liked an angry, revengeful Gator team in the rematch in Atlanta.

3) Florida wins the 2009 SEC and BCS Championship

As awful as Steve Addazio was, he won 13 games in 2009 thanks in large part to Tim Tebow and a smothering defense. Remember now, Alabama doesn't have Saban. Whoever was willing to take over a sick program likely would not have been able to defeat Tebow's power and the defense's lockdown drill. LSU likely would have been the opponent, and as I stated above, it's much harder to win at LSU than in Atlanta. Florida beat LSU in Baton Rouge, and on a neutral field, I love UF's chances- even with a moron for a play-caller.

4) Urban Meyer remains healthy, and runs Florida's offense

Let's remember, Alabama handed Urban Meyer his three worst losses as Florida's head coach. Lots of the pressure Meyer faced was due to Alabama beating his Gators on big stages by big scores. If Saban leaves UA after 2007, and Alabama is taken over by a mediocre coach, Alabama doesn't beat Florida in 2009 and 2010 by 19 and 25 points- in fact, probably not at all. Meyer's first heart issue came after the 2009 SEC Championship. Had Florida crushed and then smeared Alabama on the wall, I doubt it happens (at least to that extent). Then Meyer stays on. And when I say Meyer stays on, I mean both his body and his genius. Meaning he doesn't allow Addazio to screw us over.

5) Cam Newton winds up at Mississippi State

His father (and maybe Cam himself as well) is greedy regardless of what happened in Tuscaloosa. That's not going to change. But after seeing Alabama make a rocket jump to the top of college football in a 2 year span, over in Auburn's athletic offices, quiet feelings of anger and desperation were everywhere. They likely would not have offered 200,000 dollars for Newton's services. And until Auburn won the Newton auction, Cam seemed destined to wear maroon. He and Mullen were friends from their Gator days, Mullen ran a perfect offense for Newton, and Cam was even spotted clanging a cowbell. Thanks to old fashioned jealousy towards their rivals, Auburn made a move they probably would not have made had Alabama remained in the mud.

6) Mississippi State becomes a contender for the BCS Championship

How is this possible? Aside from Newton being there? Yeah, well, there's also the fact that Manny Diaz would have never left MSU for anywhere short of a national powerhouse. Because Bama was not forced to forfeit their victories and more, Saban stayed at Bama, and caused Meyer heart conditions, Meyer left, Will Muschamp left Texas, meaning there was a void for the Horns DC job... which Diaz  took. Where else would he have left for? Diaz is a great coach and a fantastic recruiter. Imagine a defense full of Pernell McPhees that comes after you on every play, coupled with a Cam Newton led offense. Plus, look at what an effect this could have on recruiting.

7) Will Muschamp returns to Georgia as head coach

Yes, Muschamp appeared to be loyal to Texas. Yes, he had a head coach in waiting title in his contract. Yes, he would have gone to his alma mater in a heartbeat had they offered him the head coaching spot. Willie Martinez was clearly not the man to run Georgia's defense, and Muschamp seemed a great fit to take over as DC in 2010. But with the three straight disappointing seasons, I doubt Damon Evans would have kept Richt as head man after the worst indignity of all- 6-7, loss to UCF, had he known that Muschamp was interested (though when you're drunk, you become less credible). And he clearly was- the guy's name is BOOM. You think he might be a little restless? How do you think he feels, wanting to do well for his own rep but wanting the team to fail so he can take over as head man? I have a gut instinct that he was ready to bolt midway through 2010 at the latest. Right to his alma mater.

8) Lane Kiffin remains at Tennessee

How awful must things have been on Rocky Flop to make trouble-bound USC look like a prize? Kiffin had three main issues- Alabama, South Carolina (remember the Alshon Jeffrey gas-pumping story?) and Florida. I'm assuming nothing here changes his motormouth. However, everything here changes the way Florida plays following the 2009 season. Either Meyer tells Addazio to grow some balls and call plays with his brain attached, or he hires a new OC for 2010. Or, he calls plays himself. Whetever. Knowing that Alabama has been reduced to dust, Kiffin stays. It's OK to have one good team pissed off at you. Two, while treacherous, can be handled. But he drew the line at three, and hightailed it out. He could have dealt with South Carolina and Florida every year, no problem. The Gators might hang 70 on them but he can deal with that. What he could not handle was having three teams angry and/or powerful enough to do it. So he chose to deal with USC and their penalties rather than his own penalties at Tennessee plus three peeved rivals.

9) FSU hires Nick Saban and returns to the top immediately

Why not? Bobby Bowden grew up in Alabama and rooted for the Crimson Tide, and admittedly still has a soft spot for them. Meaning he's behind Saban. Bobby Bowden being a fan of his successor meant a lot to FSU when 'looking' for a replacement (gee, where do we start looking? British Columbia? WAIT never mind let's just hire Jimbo). Jimbo!!! Yeah, the offensive coordinator of LSU's national championship team in 2003- under none other than Nick Saban. FSU hires Saban prior to the 2008 season, before FSU makes the head coach in waiting title official for Fisher. And while Jimbo likely leaves for a head coaching job elsewhere, Saban's got the most talent rich area in the nation to recruit in. We all know what a fantastic recruiter he is, so this spells doom for anybody hoping to or used to raiding the state for the Gator rejects.

10) Florida-FSU becomes a national rivalry once again, Miami plummets

After reading everything else, this isn't just probable, it's a certainty. If Florida and FSU sign 95% of the four and five stars from the state, nobody else gets anything. That includes Miami, whose current struggles have nothing to do with Alabama's punishments- until now. The Gators and the Noles consistently face off as top 10 teams, while Miami falls even harder. Everybody's passing the U. Now, I can see the Hurricanes as possibly the SIXTH best team in the state. UCF finished in the top 25. USF beat Miami. Hell, Florida International won a bowl game a year removed from 3 wins and a 62-3 throttling at the hands of the Gators.

See what one decision can do? See the possibly enormous consequences one seemingly tiny decision can have? Maybe this Janoris Jenkins incident will warrant an article something like this 10 years later... you never know.

The main purpose of this article is to hint at the fact that Muschamp needs to be careful. He's got to be VERY cautious of possible consequences like this. What if he had decided to keep Jenkins, and then in March it comes out that somebody took Jenkins' SAT for him? Look at the effects a violation can have- or not have.

So far, Muschamp has done a great job. He made what I believe is the right call on Jenkins. He's got to continue to do it, though, both on the field and off.

I dreamt last night that a bunch of bulldogs- not UGA bulldogs, just a pack of random bulldogs- were jumping up and down to some random song that I can't remember. But I woke up remembering the Hoedown at the Showdown and my blood boiled all over again. Of course, the High School Musical dance scene wasn't the reason Georgia won that game.

Rather, it was Florida's sudden inability to remember how to shoot the a-gap, or even to remember what an a-gap is.

Or, for that matter, any other gap.

Knowshon Moreno ran up the middle, off tackle, outside and all over the field for 188 yards and Georgia topped Florida 42-30.

However, nobody outside of serious football fans will remember the inability to even lay a finger on Moreno because of what happened following his first touchdown- the entire team charged the field and turned the end zone into the dance floor at some random Las Vegas night club. Every kind of obscene dance and gesture that you can imagine was executed by at least one of the 55 players in that end zone.

Florida crushed Georgia 49-10 in 2008, and Urban Meyer called two timeouts just to rub salt into the nerve deep wounds, but it wasn't enough.

Florida crushed Georgia 41-17 in 2009, and Tim Tebow broke UGA running back Herschel Walker's touchdown record, but it wasn't enough.

Florida edged Georgia, 34-31 in 2010, with Chas Henry nailing the game winning field goal, but that still wasn't enough for Gator fans, even after Henry blew a kiss at Todd Grantham, the Georgia DC, after Grantham yelled at Henry before the kick that "you're gonna f------ choke!!!"

No, we're still not even, not in a rivalry game.

Rivalry games are very different in this special way: while non rivals that beat or annoy you merely warrant an eye for an eye retaliation, a rival that rubs you the wrong way requires an eye for both eyes, both ears and then the nose, and if was an especially over the top insult, then the head comes off.

Again, guys, I'm not especially fond of Tennessee, but what's the difference between them and South Carolina? But, now, when Georgia, FSU, Miami or even Auburn or LSU aggravate Florida, then it's war. Against Tennessee we simply retaliate and then go back to our normal lives.

Right now, we're in a war with Georgia. Rivalries require roughly a five to one get-even code, and Florida is 60% of the way there- the timeouts were insult #1, the record breaker was insult #2, and the kiss from Henry was insult #3.

So this leads me into Muschamp. However, he's got to be very careful not to make it too obvious or insulting, because then everybody sees it, and the more obvious an insult is, the angrier the opposing coach will get.

Let me explain that.

The opposing coach (Richt, in this case) is probably going to find out about anything insulting done by Florida. But people have a natural tendency to get even more upset if the insult was purposely done to a huge audience. I mean, would you rather get beaten up in private or in public? The public humiliation is much worse, so Muschamp has to be very careful to not do anything too public, because Georgia, like it or not, is talented, and if you anger the coach of talented kids- especially if the coach is any good, and Richt is a pretty good coach- then the players get angry and they play great.

Meyer could afford it in 2008, because he had this guy named Tebow coming back in 2009 (or so he was pretty sure of), but even if he didn't, he still had Hernandez, Rainey, Demps, Brandon James, Cooper, Nelson and the entire defense coming back.

So what is it going to be, Coach Boom?

The dance floor is all yours, Coach. Everybody has cleared away to give you some room, and the DJ is playing a fast song, so you have to jump right in without missing a beat, and I believe you will do that.

I'm not talking about strategy; I've already done that. But what's your icing on the cake?

I know that sounds a little difficult to understand, so let me clarify that: In order to be a successful football player at Florida, you need to do two things.

Two steps. Thats what it takes to succeed at Florida on offense- you need to play at least two different positions.

Tim Tebow, the best college football player of all time (I'll defend that to anybody who wants to argue) played five positions.

Quarterback, running back, wildcat QB, co-offensive coordinator and cheerleader.

We all know that Tebow was a QB by position. We also know that he was a powerful runner, and let's face it- Florida basically ran the Wildcat with Tebow for four years because he was a threat to run for big chunks of yardage, only difference was, Tebow could throw like a real quarterback, I don't especially care what Deonte Strangegloves Thompson said.

He was also a huge part of planning- he met with Mullen at least once and sometimes twice a day, and for all the fist pumps, Gator Chomps and raising his arms, he's a cheerleader.

And we apparently just signed another Tebow type player- Jeff Driskel.

But it wasn't just Tebow. Percy Harvin, Brandon James, Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps all played both running back and receiver during their time at Florida, and James returned 95% of punts and kicks.

Aaron Hernandez and Cornelius Ingram played tight end and some wide receiver in some packages created to throw off opponents, and Riley Cooper was a receiver by position but did a significant amount of blocking, more than you might expect from a receiver.

Louis Murphy and Andre Caldwell played both wideout and slot receiver, two similar yet distinguishably different positions, and they had fine careers.

All of those players had pretty damned good careers, didn't they?

Now look at players who only played one position in recent years. Kestahn Moore, Emmanuel Moody, Carl Moore, David Nelson, DeShawn Wynn, Chris Leak, etc.

They all had good careers at Florida, sure, but were any of them really great?

No.

So where is this headed?

Well, I'm not exactly sure why that is, in fact, I would think that the opposite is true for offensive players- when you do more, your production drops. And it is true for everybody else- Chas Henry was forced to kick field goals, and didn't do especially well at it and his punting dropped a little bit. Oh and he won the Ray Guy Award. Our good buddy Steve Addazio, was actually a great offensive line coach but could he call an effective drive to save his life? No. I'm not defending Addazio, he's a moron, but he had too much on his plate and he was no longer useful to us (though he was extremely helpful to opponents).

The bottom line- the really good players that Florida hauls in are freaks of nature, and who recruited them? Mainly Meyer- and if Muschamp is half the recruiter that he has shown himself to be this far, he'll keep it up.

Muschamp will hopefully do that for defense, too- numerous guys who played for him were linebackers/defensive linemen, or linebackers/safeties. I hear everything is bigger in Texas- including the number of recruits.

With Muschamp's ties in Texas, and UF being the flagship university of the state of Florida, Muschamp can select pretty much anybody he wants- and he'll probably want guys that can play two positions.

Oh, and I hear that Weis guy isn't a half bad recruiter, either.

Still stuck on Addazio, huh? Yeah, I am, because I want to just clear a few things up. If anybody does not know why Gator fans hate Addazio, look no further than right here.

I'm going to show you, in real figures, just how much Steve Addazio cost the Gators and it's all still hurting Florida now.

1) 2009 SEC and BCS Championship

This one is self explanatory. I've already explained the strategy Kirby Smart used to stifle the offense in the SEC Title Game, and how Addazio just couldn't quite do anything to get it started.

I'll quickly recap it again: one man on Aaron Hernandez, one on the tailback (usually Demps), two to follow Tebow everywhere he went, one guy playing back deep just in case Addazio grew a pair and threw a deep ball, and the rest would try to crash the line of scrimmage and blow the play up before it ever got started.

But Addazio never changed strategy, and when he did throw a end zone ball, there was Javier Arenas, interception, good game, now let's book a flight to LA.

Addazio's failure to even try something different cost the Gators a shot to write the perfect ending of Tim Tebow's story.

2) Respect

It's simple. Nobody respected Florida last year, and Mississippi State and Dan Mullen especially. Mullen called one pass the whole second half, and not trying to score because he knew the 10 point lead was well secure.

What the hell? You don't think the mighy Florida Gators can score 10 measly points in a half?

Not against Mississippi State, they couldn't.

3) Urban Meyer

If Urban Meyer and Steve Addazio are a package, and they both leave or they both stay together then I'm happy that the former occurred. But if that wasn't the case....

Look. Urban Meyer is certainly not the genius that everybody once that he was. He's no mastermind. But he is a solid, winning, SEC coach.

Obviously, he had help. His assistant coaches were some of the best in the game. But Addazio so thoroughly brainwashed him that he couldn't even speak out for himself anymore. This is not the Urban Meyer we are used to, and his decadence was 100% caused by, you guessed it, Addazio.

4) Recruits

Kelvin Benjamin walked into the Swamp for the LSU game an excited young man, anxious to see Florida go to work in the Swamp at night. He walked away a disgusted Seminole commit, and eventually signed with FSU.

Mike Bellamy, who was once upon a time a Gator commit, signed with Clemson and left during halftime of that same LSU game because the offense was boring.

The Gators also nearly lost AC Leonard on the spot. Thankfully, he reconsidered and signed with Florida.

There were numerous others but it kills me to think about it. Some include Ryan Shazier, Tim Jernigan and Nick Waisome.

5) 5 losses in 2010

Alabama I can live with. LSU I'm disgusted about, but I can live with. Mississippi State I can live with but just barely. South Carolina I cannot live with, and Florida State drives me into a blackout rage.

What's a blackout rage? Imagine that you're under heavy influence of alcohol, and your best friend just got shot. That should pretty much sum it up, up to and including destruction of inanimate objects foolish enough to stand in my path.

But now think about this- three straight losses AT HOME, AT NIGHT.

You gotta be f*ckin kidding me.

They should change the motto from the Swamp: where Only Gators Get Out Alive to the Swamp: where nobody but Riverboat Gamblers, former offensive coordinators who are not afraid to embarrass his successor, and former head coaches who are likewise not afraid to embarrass his former adulators, Get Out Alive.

In each game, Florida'a play-calling was repetitive and predictable as sunrise. But Addazio just never figured out how to adjust, and it cost Florida dearly in each game. Addazio never even realized that there was a problem, because he was too busy creating new ways for Brantley to throw check down interceptions on third and who-the-hell-knows-I-lost-track-somewhere-in-the-triple-digits.

This included the end of the dominance in the rivalry now called the Beach House Bowl, but hopefully Muschamp can pull UF out of it.

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Basically, Florida is in its own Great Recession. No, not depression, because that was during Ron Zook's tenure (though his seasons and 2010 were eerily similar).

But Muschamp can pull us out if it.

He's already started to, saving Florida's recruiting class, but he's got a lot more work to do- he's got to clean up the mess that the dunce before him (Addazio, not Meyer) left.

He needs to sweep the games in the Swamp, and he'll have covered everything I listed, barring a 70 point loss to Georgia.

And I think that he WILL lower the BOOM and get this done, because, after all, we MUSt be CHAMPs under WILL "BOOM" MUSCHAMP.

Look at the bottom right corner of the screen, where the white sideline turns green. That's Muschamp.

LOOK AT THAT ENERGY!!!

What happens when you put the best team from the Big East on the same football field as the second best from the SEC?

This.

Many people are calling Brian Kelly a jerk for ditching Cincinnati just before the Sugar Bowl. I disagree. He was either a coward or a genius, as he knew exactly what was coming and didn't want to be held responsible.

And he was right. The Gators opened up a 37-3 lead early in the 3rd quarter and then stopped trying.

What happens when you put a Big East team in the national championship game in basketball?

Gee, I forget, nobody from the Big East has made it to the title game since 2004.

That's right, despite all the hype, the multitude of ranked teams, and the recruits, nobody from the Big East has reached the national championship game since Syracuse got there in 2004.

And the Big Least has 16 teams in b-ball, to everybody else's 12 or less.

A common argument from Big Least fans is that "we beat each other up during conference games so much because everybody is so awesome that we're all tired come March Madness."

Take that argument elsewhere.

The SEC is by far the best conference in football, and has produced the last 5 National Champions. Don't those teams get tired and appear dead to the world in the BCS Title Game?

But this is a Gators blog, so this is ultimately going to tie into our football and basketball teams.

Football first.

The Big East is a disgrace to college football. Everybody knows that. UConn fans won't admit it, but they're probably thankful they only lost 48-20 to Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, and the same with Cincy fans about the Sugar Bowl to Florida. TCU made a huge mistake going there.

But what is it that those teams lack? Why exactly do they suck and blow enough to cause tornadoes (QUICK EVERYBODY LIVING IN A BIG LEAST CITY RUN)?

No enthusiasm from the fans is a big one. Aside from USF's Raymond James Stadium, where the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers play, pretty much every stadium could fit inside a glove. Cincy had to rent out the Paul Brown Stadium JUST to play Oklahoma.

We SEC fans laugh at these maximum capacity numbers:

Cincinnati: 35,097

Connecticut: 39,995

Louisville: 42,012

Pittsburgh: 65,050 (NFL's Steelers home field)

Rutgers: 52,454

Syracuse: 49,262

South Florida: 66,321 (NFL's Buccaneers home field)

West Virginia: 59,986

Now, let's compare those to the SEC stadiums:

Alabama: 101,821

Arkansas: 76,000

Auburn: 87,451

Florida: 88,541

Georgia: 92,746

Kentucky: 67,606

LSU: 92,400

Mississippi State: 55,082

Ole Miss: 60,850

South Carolina: 80,250

Tennessee: 102,37

Vanderbilt: 40,410

Now, what I want you to do, is compare the stadiums above. The left is an SEC stadium, the right a Big East stadium. Which look bigger? Is it even close?

Clearly, more people want to watch games in the SEC. And just as clearly, it has a negative effect on opponents.

But fans don't get to coach the games.

However, the fans are drawn by the same characteristic that coaches in the SEC just have to have: enthusiasm.

I'm not saying coaches should all be psycho, like Nick Saban. But every coach has to yell at his players at some point, every coach has to give pre-game, halftime and other pep talks. That was one of the more cryptic reasons Addazio sucked; he had zero emotion.

Will Muschamp, however....

Yes, you have read this before. Ryan mentioned this following Auburn beating Oregon for the BCS Championship. Will Muschamp is definitely crazy.

That's won Saban a couple BCS Championships.

But Ryan just mentioned it regarding BCS Championship Games. This post gives you guys a shot to have a laugh at the real "Little Sisters of the Poor"'s expense while showing you that it wasn't just a coincidence, the same is true in multiple examples.

Bottom line: emotion has been proven multiple times to lead to success.

Now, onto basketball.

The Big Least has a habit of choking in the Big Dance, and just in general. Last year, I nearly collapsed from laughter as Ohio, one of the worst teams in the tournament, crushed Georgetown 97-83.

Then, Syracuse got knocked down by non-AQ, Cindarella candidate Butler, 63-59.

What is this? Do we have a choke parade? Yes, we do.

And we will probably have it again this year.

Moral: The Big East is full of chokers.

Now look back at Florida's conference games that went into OT.

The Gators gritted their teeth, ground through it, and won all three against decent teams: #24 Vanderbilt at home, at Georgia and at Tennessee.

See where I'm headed?

To sum this entire post up: the main faults of the Big East are not present in the Gators.

The Gators' football coach is full of emotion, while the Big Least stadiums are either shared with NFL teams or below 60,000, meaning the fans don't care.

The Gators' basketball team pulls through in big games despite bad foul shooting, while the Big Least chokes in big games.

The Gators are a legitimate team in both sports, while the Big Least is full of chokers.

Laugh.

But the kid has been saying all along that he really loves Florida, even though he is verbally committed to UT.

For those of you that don't know, AJ Johnson is a linebacker/defensive end from Gainesville, Georgia that was recruited by Meyer and now is being sought after even more by Muschamp.

And a pretty good one, at that.

Could something weird be happening?

Could all these "I love Florida" hints that he's dropping be an indicator that he's going to pull off a stunner and put on a Gator hat?

Let's just say that I wouldn't be shocked if he does pull the shocker.

I pose a legitimate question to all of you: Who Does Maurice Jones Drew Think He Is?

For those of you who don't know, Maurice Jones Drew took a shot at Urban Meyer, saying "Hey I think the Urban Meyer rule is in effect right now... when the going gets tough... QUIT" (referring to Jay Cutler leaving the NFC Championship Game).

Meyer's daughter, Gigi, responded but I don't think what she said was strong enough. I'm not sure she had an hour of free time before a party like I do now.

So I think I'll respond on the behalf of all three of Meyer's kids, Meyer's wife, Urban Meyer himself and all of Gator Nation.

I'll be honest. Jones Drew doesn't suck, like I wanted to claim. It would have made this a lot easier.

But he's nothing special, either.

So who the hell is he to take a shot at Urban Meyer? The man who took a program from the rubble that Mr. Zook left it in and won 2 BCS Championships in 6 years and nearly got a third?

I know Meyer has taken his share of criticism. He's been called Urban Cryer, Urban Leyer, he's been accused of allowing thugs to play for UF, not disciplining kids... it goes on and on and on.

Back off, haters. You're just that- jealous people who only hate on Meyer because of the success he had.

No way, Neil. No we hate Meyer because he's a bum.

Funny, but I don't recall Ron Zook being hated by opponents, and he had 12 arrests in two seasons.

Anybody want to guess why very few people know that?

Because Zook was a bumbling moron and was only slightly more effective at calling plays than Steve Addazio.

You only hate Meyer because he's a successful man.

I understand that Georgia, FSU, Miami, LSU and Tennessee fans have nothing better to do than to whine and cry about Meyer pounding on their teams.

But I expect more from an NFL running back.

One question for Drew: do you enjoy pissing off your hometown fans? Because, like it or not, many Jaguar fans happen to be Gator fans. Sure, there are some Noles in Jacksonville, but there are plenty of Gators fans, too. Plus, the Swamp is filled with 91,000 for every game, and your Jaguars get blacked out almost every week.

Or are you that desperate to move back to LA? You could simply ask Wayne Weaver to do that without asking for trouble from Gator fans.

Is that where you learned to be a news magnet?

Not to mention a hypocrite?

Sorry to break it to you, but the going has never gotten tough for you. The one time you actually won a playoff game you were holding your arm and crying throughout. MRI's showed that not only was there no break, there was nothing even resembling a hairline fracture. Did you know that Tim Tebow played the 2008 Capital One Bowl with a broken arm?

You're lucky his bowl game was before your waterworks show, or I would be saying that "Hey I think Tim Tebow just ignored the Maurice Jones Drew rule that says... when your arm is broken... QUIT (and CRY)"

And then after your loss to the Patriots in the divisional round the next week, you cried again.

So when Tim Tebow was in tears after the loss in the 2009 SEC Championship, I should have said "Hey I think the Maurice Jones Drew rule is in effect... after a heartbreaking loss... CRY!!!"

But no, I don't have to go out of my way to take a cheap shot at somebody completely uninvolved to make myself feel better when I'm mulling over the fact that my team's season is over because they weren't that good.

I'm 16 years old and I know that.

You're a grown man (or are you) and you don't.

Maybe you should move to LA. You've just turned away half of your fan base. You're an embarrassment to the state of Florida.

The way you're headed, you'll never either make enough money to buy or win half of the rings that Urban Meyer has earned himself.

Maybe Urban Meyer had geniune reasons to walk away. Maybe he has enough character to have fun with his family, unlike you. When he's bored or lonely, he can look at his hand and smile. That's provided that he doesn't blind himself from all the jewelry.

You, on the other hand, have no jewelry. Not between your legs, not on your hand, not in your house.

You've got nothing.

Except a big mouth.

And believe me, it would be better for you if you didn't have that either.