Coaches and QB’s Make the Difference

When it comes to where the University of Florida and the University of Georgia football programs have gone in the last ten years, it’s apparent where the success or failure in Gainesville or Athens comes from. To win in either of those places you need a coach with an offensive philosophy and you need a quarterback to get the job done.

That’s nothing new in the last thirty years in the Southeastern Conference. Steve Spurrier brought that idea to a defensive minded “Don’t make a mistake” SEC in 1990 and revolutionized how to win in the conference and in turn in college football. Dubbed the “Fun ‘n Gun,” Spurrier’s offense put up numbers, touchdowns and wins at a record pace. He made no apologies about scoring and not worrying about out-scoring the opponent. When you’d ask Steve something about the Gators’ defense during his mid-week press conference, he’d say “You’ll have to ask Coach (Bobby) Stoops about that.” And Stoops would have his own press conference when Spurrier was done.

Going back thirty years, the two schools’ football programs are dominated by two coaches: Steve Spurrier at Florida and Mark Richt at Georgia. Both were offensive-minded coaches who were willing to spread it out, throw it around and recruited quarterbacks to do it. Spurrier had Shane Matthews, Terry Dean, Danny Wuerffel, Doug Johnson and Rex Grossman running his offense. Richt recruited David Green, D.J. Shockley, Matt Stafford, Aaron Murray and even Jacob Eason although he never played for Richt.

SEC passing records and conference titles followed both coaches and their quarterbacks in Athens and Gainesville. Since Spurrier’s departure nearly 20 years ago, Florida has had only one real offensive run under Urban Meyer. Meyer’s another coach who’s looking for skill players who can run, throw and catch.

Neither his off-putting personality nor his penchant to recruit players on the edges of eligibility and the law stopped Meyer’s offensive juggernaut. He wanted to score points and recruited players to do that. While Ron Zook brought Chris Leak to Florida, it was Meyer who won a National Championship with Leak behind center. And when Leak committed to Florida, it opened the floodgates for other skill players to make their way to Gainesville.

Meyer convinced Tim Tebow to join him in Gainesville, outdueling Alabama for the quarterback’s services. Another National Championship followed along with a laundry list of quarterback records amassed by Tebow.

So what’s happened since then?

Once the Meyer era ended the Gators turned to Will Muschamp to lead the program. Muschamp is a solid coach, but he’s willing to win games 21-17. Not only does that not work in the SEC any longer, it also doesn’t please Gator fans.

“We just didn’t win enough games,” Muschamp said at his departure press conference. He was exactly right but an inspection of his quarterbacks probably reveals why. John Brantley, Jacoby Brissett, Jeff Driskel, Tyler Murphy, Skyler Mornhinweg and Treon Harris all started for the Gators under Muschamp. With Muschamp’s philosophy, none flourished in Gainesville. Brissett, Driskel and Murphy all transferred. Brissett and Driskel are still in the NFL. Murphy starred in his final season at Boston College.

With the promise to revive the offense, Jim McElwain arrived in Gainesville to much fanfare. His problems started when Will Grier became ineligible and transferred to West Virginia where he had a stellar career. Gator fans then watched Luke Del Rio, Malik Zaire and current placeholder Feleipe Franks drive the points and win totals down. Turns out McElwain was part of the problem, not the solution and his acumen for recruiting quarterbacks remains in question.

Georgia’s quarterbacks in the last twenty years also follow their success. Joe Tereshinski, Joe Cox, Hutson Mason, Greyson Lambert and Faton Bauta all started games of varying degrees for the Bulldogs but without much success.

Both Dan Mullen and Kirby Smart fill the role needed to win in the SEC and on the national stage in today’s college football climate. Mullen has stuck with Franks and Smart inherited Eason but recruited Jake Fromm and even Justin Fields to Athens.

Mullen is quick to point out that 17 of the top 25 quarterbacks in Franks’ recruiting class have already transferred.

“He’s stuck it out, and he’s continued to work and stay through different adversities, to continue to grow, to continue to develop,” Mullen said of the Gators projected starter for 2019. “And he’s starting to reap all of the rewards of that now with how he finished last year.”

At 6’6” and 227 lbs. Franks is a prototypical quarterback that wins in college football these days. He can throw and run, something Mullen has encouraged him to do. He made the outlandish statement, “I want a fourth statue,” at the SEC Media days referring to the three Heisman winners already immortalized outside of Florida Field.

Smart, despite his defensive background as a player and a coach, has had an embarrassment of riches at quarterback since becoming the ‘Dogs Head Coach and his 24-5 record reflects that. Having Jake Fromm entrenched at quarterback the last two years continues the skill player talent pipeline to Athens. The Georgia Head Coach referred to that when talking about emerging star wide receiver George Pickens who picked the ‘Dogs over Auburn.

“He knew what style offense he wanted to play in,” Smart explained. “He saw an opportunity when he saw two guys declare early for the draft. I know he wanted to have an opportunity to play with a quarterback like Jake Fromm.”

So you want to win in Athens and Gainesville? Get a coach who loves points and a quarterback who can get them.

Georgia is there. Florida might get back there, but currently the Gators are playing catch up.