What are the goals and what is the timetable? You have a coach who is extremely dedicated, works as hard as anyone, and appears to be able to recruit extremely well (more on that in four weeks). He was brought in at a point in time when his only real option was to continue to recruit those players that were already in the pipeline, regardless of whether they fit his system or not. As a practical matter, he didn't have time to formulate a system before he had to sign last year's class. He needed to get an offensive coordinator after the coaching carousel had stopped. And it appears that he made some commitments to some of SOS's players to get them to stay that may have taken some of the control out of his hands or made some of the players unhappy. He now appears to have let the team know that next years program will be under his terms. This year's defense wasn't as big as it might have been. The offense was surprising in its lack of potency. The special teams meltdown is very hard to explain. Probably not as good a year as the XHBC would have had this year, but it is hard to determine how much of the problems should be attributed to coaching, players (either by attitude, inability, or human error), and bad luck. We kept hearing how the problems were correctible, but we didn't see them corrected. All of that notwithstanding, there are 96 Division 1 teams looking up at the UF program in the final analysis and you were one lucky break on the jewel of the plains from winning the SECC (you would have beated Arkansas) and joining your sister up the road in being an undeserving 4-loss team being beaten in a BCS bowl. WHAT IF - Zook believes that he needs a new offensive coordinator? Would you make the move before signing day? Would you defer it one more year in order to minimize the turnover in your coaching staff now that you have a new defensive coordinator? Will the situation be any different next year if Strong moves on? WHAT IF - Zook and Foley think it will take another two years to build the program in the system that Zook wants? Would you be willing to give him three more years if he came out and said we're looking to build for the future at the expense of winning a little bit more in 2003? If you knew that he would go 5 - 6 next year losing to MIA, TN, UGA, and FSU; then go 7 - 4 in 2004 with losses to TN, UGA, and FSU, but then would go 11 - 2, 10 - 3, and 12 - 1 finishing with 2 SECCs and 3 top five finishes, would you accept it? If you were Zook or Foley and you believed that this was the likely scenario, would you tell your fans? Before signing day? WHAT IF - You're Foley and you're now really beginning to doubt the wisdom of this hire. When do you pull the trigger? Do you stay the course until Stoops or Shanahan announce that they're ready to take over (which in all probability is never)? Do you look for another interim coach? Do you hope to find the football equivalent of Billy Donovan, knowing that it usually doesn't work out that well? WHAT IF - You're a five star high school senior? I see an awful lot of good things about going to UF. I also have some concerns. Same with FSU, UM, UGA, etc. WHAT IF - The learning curve on the way to becomming a perennial top-10 coach is steeper than we all realize? I remember everyone thinking that Richt was dumber than dirt last year. This year he's the next Bear and the Gipper rolled into one. Lucky as sin, but still a rising star. Zook could be next. DING DONG, THE WITCH IS DEAD - Parity is here to stay. There isn't one team that can safely be expected to dominate its own conference next year. I don't expect to see another winning streak like Miami's in my lifetime. While I'm not suggesting that anyone at UF should accept 8 - 5 as a "good" season, I do believe that if that's as bad as it gets, it just isn't that bad. You lost to an outstanding team and three pretty good teams. And, yes, you did have one stinker. You also beat a very, very good team and had other quality wins. Its extremely hard to replace a legend. I feel your pain. Our 9 - 5 season with our legend wasn't so hot and it comes on the heels of another disappointing season. Bobby desperately needs to fire Jeff or find him a head coaching job at North East Southwest Central Tech, but I don't see it happening. We will be facing this exact same situation very soon. It isn't any easier to die from atrophy than from shock. I love college football. I'm really looking forward to going to South Bend and the renovated Swamp next year. I'll really enjoy it if we have a great year, but I'll enjoy it even if we don't. I've heard its great to be a Florida Gator. I believe it. Enjoy. Its not the destination, its the journey that makes life worth living. Just my $0.02 - feel free to show me the error of my ways.