Why has the West division of the SEC become
- Thread starter VFO
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The rise of Bama under Saban (for most of the 90s Bama was just an ok team)
The rise of LSU under Saban/Miles (for most of the 90s LSU was a mess)
Freeze lifting up Ole Miss
Texas A&M added to division as opposed to Mizzou added to East
Miss. State being risen up by Mullen
The decline of UT under post 2000 Fulmer and Kiffin, Dooley, Jones, etc.
The rise and regression of Georgia under Richt
The decline of Florida post Spurrier/Meyer
South Carolina started sinking fast after a quick rise under Spurrier
Mizzou is just a mess
Vandy is always Vandy
The rise of LSU under Saban/Miles (for most of the 90s LSU was a mess)
Freeze lifting up Ole Miss
Texas A&M added to division as opposed to Mizzou added to East
Miss. State being risen up by Mullen
The decline of UT under post 2000 Fulmer and Kiffin, Dooley, Jones, etc.
The rise and regression of Georgia under Richt
The decline of Florida post Spurrier/Meyer
South Carolina started sinking fast after a quick rise under Spurrier
Mizzou is just a mess
Vandy is always Vandy
I remember not to long ago the west wasn't competitive and Florida, Georgia and Tennessee were dominating and people said the same thing, it comes in cycles. Buster3.0 hit right on.
Coaching.
SEC East coaching roster is pathetic right now. Muschamp? Butch Jones? Derek Mason? Bad bad bad. If i were a coach like Petrino or Hermann who covets an SEC job, I'd take Florida or Tennessee b/c the east is ripe to be dominated by a good coach.
SEC East coaching roster is pathetic right now. Muschamp? Butch Jones? Derek Mason? Bad bad bad. If i were a coach like Petrino or Hermann who covets an SEC job, I'd take Florida or Tennessee b/c the east is ripe to be dominated by a good coach.
Well, maybe everyone ends being surprised to learn that the good coach who will dominate the East is already in the ranks. :sunglasses:
Mainly because as many have said, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee - 3 pretty strong powers from the 90's thru 2010 have all been on the down. Unfortunately for UK, Florida appears to be recovering now. Georgia is kind of like Kentucky in that it will take Kirby Smart a couple of years to get Georgia going again and now Tennessee is still questionable. I said Butch Jones would not be the answer at Tennessee - I still could be wrong - but he hasn't really proven to be a great head coach anywhere he has been before - not saying he is not a good coach and not a great recruiter - but he is NOT a great coach.
The good news for UK, is that this does/has opened the door for a slower but study growth coach like Stoops. I wanted Coach Stoops and like Coach Stoops. I was down on him, like a lot of fans after the crash last year and early failures this year - but he appears to have righted the ship. The question in my mind was it just a matter of time?- or did his sudden move to actually take over the defense create this change? I think it WAS his move to take over the defense - but I also think - just watching the interviews from the past few months - that he, Eddie Gran and Darrin Hinshaw had a meeting to basically let the offense do their thing and Stoops do his thing. I fully believe this because we don't see the same type of emotional outbursts from Stoops on the sideline. It is clear that he is letting Gran do his thing - and he also likes the running game - Stoops was always a believer in running it and now it is happening! It took coaching of all the offensive team, the line, the backs, the ends, the QB - all of them to work as a unit to make it work - it was obvious that didn't happen under Dawson. I think it would have worked well under Neal Brown - but Neal didn't have the experience or depth available to him that Gran now has. But make no mistake about it - I give credit to the entire coaching staff here.
Gran is a fiery coach who has experience and success to point to the players. He has proven he will not take any crap from the players. All everyone has to do is realize why the offense is succeeding - it is because Gran will play the best players - the ones who follow his lead and temperament. Boom has a much better chance getting into the league now than he did before. Personally, I think Boom should consider staying around - I believe he and Bennie will be even more fantastic together next year! Just look at the offense when Gran had two great running backs at Auburn at the same time.
Finally, I think we have a coaching staff that appears to be working together in all areas to win. Recruiting, coaching and earning the player's respect. I personally believe that if Gran hadn't been hired that Stoops would have failed here. I know many will say that is obvious - but my reason is probably different than most think - I don't think it is Gran's coaching the offense is the reason - I think his temperament and showing Stoops how to be fiery during the game and then communicate your thoughts to the team during practice and socially is the big difference. I didn't really realize how "green" Stoops was in this area. I think most would have expected him to be better at this than he was. It's just my opinion - but I think it has some validity.
Go Big Blue!
I agree with most of this. As UK fans, there is good news and bad news to be found.
Good news:
-There is a clear opening to establish ourselves as (at least) the fourth best team in the division on a consistent basis. This is the first year in FOREVER where we have beaten all of the "Beatable" conference teams (so far).
-Florida is getting better, but they're still no juggernaut. We can beat this team in the next few years.
-Tennessee is recruiting like Tennessee again, but their coaching situation is a hot mess. Opportunity here.
-Georgia will recruit well under Smart, but he looks like a deer in headlights so far. Let's hope he is another Dooley.
-We get to play MSU every year.
Bad news:
-We still do not have a signature win over a really good team in the Stoops tenure. We have 2.5 chances to get one this year (think that last game of the year presents an opportunity for this?)
-We are still not recruiting at the level of the big boys. Is this even possible?
-QB play is bad. I like Johnson a lot and i think he is maximizing his skill set, but it's going to be tough beating good teams playing the way we are playing where the QB is not much of a threat to consistently throw the ball. What is more worrisome to me is that I just do not think Drew Barker has what it takes to be a great (or even good) SEC QB. I thought Towles was better than him and Towles is not exactly a stud. Is Hoak the guy for the future?
All in all, we are in a better spot than we have been for a while. Let's take advantage of it over the next two weeks!