posts are some of my favorites, but i guess i mostly disagree. I can't believe i'm still writing this as late in the schedule as game #8, but STEVE SPURRIER IS GONE, AND HE IS NOT COMING BACK. That hindsight's 20/20, ain't it? Sorry folks, but comparisons to, and mournings of, Steve Spurrier are, and have been run completely into the ground so as to be totally redundant and irrelevant. Ron Zook has no established identity to stamp onto a program. And thus he has no confidence in his coaching style. Here i disagree. Ron Zook's image, reputation and character are that of a special teams DEMON, a defensive/defensive backs horse, a guy who prides tough defensive play - heck, tough, aggressive play in all phases of the game. Please tell me i'm not imagining this, merely wishfully transferring these traits onto Zook's persona? He's gotten results everywhere he's been - if i can see this, surely the man himself can see it and have confidence in himself? Contrast that with Steve Spurrier. Umm, no thanks. Everything you wrote is both true and accurately recalled, but unfortunately at this late juncture, also overstated, obvious and just plain OLD. Newsflash: Steve Spurrier is STILL gone, and we did not hire Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, Bobby Stoops, Jeff Bower, Steve Mariucci, Mike Holmgren, Bill Belichick, Bill Walsh or Vince Lombardi. Zook lacks that confidence and that established system for winning. You can see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. That is the difference, and despite what they say the players feel it too. You can see it in the way they are playing. I agree with many things you wrote, and must admit this is one of them. I don't know why that is, but i gotta say that i think i see it too. Really damned if i know why that is. I do know that Jeremy Foley needed to find a proven leader with confidence and a system for winning to fill the gaping void that Steve Spurrier left. Aw screw it, since we can't let the past go, let's travel back to January and ask, who would you have pursued/hired? Once again, i respect your Gatorness and Gator acumen swfl, but posts like these make me shake my head in awe at the rivals and drive-by flamers who in the offseason predicted and timed exactly such posts. "How many losses until the Gator Nation starts lamenting SOS? Til they start naming new preferred HBC candidates?" they all wrote? Who knew they knew Gator fans so well? Well, they may know our fans pretty well, but i don't think they know Ron Zook, nor Jeremy Foley (though if they did, they'd start hatin him, knowin how we've kicked their arses sideways in every single other sport over the last ten years), and they don't know Gator Football. Here's how i look at coaching hires: the same way i look at baseball trades. You don't judge a trade after the World Series, on whether or not the hired-stud that was traded for draft picks/minor leaguers actually helped his new team win a championship (though that's certainly gonna weigh heavily in the end). You don't judge a trade after one season, in which maybe 1 or 2 of the minor leaguers gets a September callup and struggles through a handful of at-bats/appearances. You don't judge a trade after 2 or even 3 years, when the draft picks are only reaching AA or AAA ball, and that once-stud is now aging and well past his prime. You judge a trade down the road, when you've had time to let things play out and you can make an even comparison. Obviously there are some differences, but i believe my analogy applies to hiring football coaches. Please let's give the man some time to learn, some time to recruit, some time to further build that image, reputation and imprint. It just seems to me all these I told you so/it's only gonna get worse/i knew he was gonna suck posts reflect an attitude of i know more than you, i can assess the overall situation better and quicker than you. Well, i have absolutely no problem admitting you have probably forgotten more about all of this than i will ever know. No problem - credit where credit is due. And you may well be exactly right, and if after 3-5 years, or an early firing, i will have no problem acknowledging your accuracy and my own wrongness. But i just think it is far too early to be making such drastic, judgmental, air-of-finality type posts. Far too early. jmho