Leaving 2010 Behind, Moving Into 2011
Have we decided which is correct? Is it two-thousand eleven? Or is it twenty eleven? I was a “two-thousand ten” guy, but I’m thinking that might not be right. Right or wrong, it may just be time to mix things up. Time to go with something a little different for the new year. Twenty eleven sounds good to me. One day in and so far, so good.
Ahmad Black is my hero. In a down year for Florida, Black was the rock. He was the leader who was supposed to be a leader and actually delivered and was a leader. That isn’t the case as many times as it should be. Black was the best player on both sides of the ball and the most consistent. With blame being thrown around throughout the season, Black was never the target. The former “recruiting mistake” was not only the most valuable player of the Outback Bowl, but of the Gators’ entire season. To go out the way Black did was fitting. Some may say he’s too small for the NFL, or too slow, but Black will get a chance. His play over his career has given him that. He’ll get a chance to play on Sundays and there are plenty of worse players you could bring into training camp. On the first day of 2011, Black put in a great performance to end a great career.
Florida’s win over Penn State won’t be remembered for Black’s performance though. It’ll be remembered for being Urban Meyer’s last game as the Gators’ head coach. A final victory in a forgettable season. There’s plenty to criticize when it comes to Meyer’s last season at Florida. The offense, at times the defense, his desire, leadership in the locker room. Plenty to look back at now and shake your head about. But Meyer went out with a win. Like most of 2010, it wasn’t pretty. The offense left much to be desired. The defense even had a lapse or two throughout the contest. But the desired goal was accomplished. Just win. For Meyer. For Florida.
Even without Meyer, fans should be excited about the future. Sharrif Floyd played like a veteran, an All-SEC veteran. Ronald Powell is the real thing and has legendary closing speed. Cody Riggs and Josh Evans had their moments as well. There’s plenty of talent at Florida and plenty more will come. A new head coach brings uncertainty, but the Gators will be the Gators of 2006 and 2008 and even 2009 again. Maybe not in 2011, but sometime soon. Florida isn’t entering a dark period, just a different one. One that may look very different on the field and that might be a good thing.
Will Muschamp will be a big difference, but Charlie Weis may be the biggest, in more ways than one. The initial reaction of many was shock and anger. For whatever reason, there aren’t a lot of Weis fans out there. His lack of consistent success at Notre Dame has a lot to do with that, but everyone needs to realize he’s not going to be the lead man. Weis is coming in as the offensive coordinator and he’s a very good offensive coordinator. One with an impressive track record and plenty of NFL experience, something Muschamp was looking for. The Gators could have done a lot worse than bringing in a proven former NFL assistant.
To help Weis on the offensive side of the ball, Aubrey Hill will be returning to Florida where he was a wide receiver from 1991 to 1994 and then a graduate assistant from 1996 to 1998. Hill has been a wide receivers coach at Duke, Pittsburgh, and most recently Miami. This is a good pickup for Florida, one that has to have returning wide receivers and incoming ones pleased.
As Meyer finished his last season at Florida, Skip Holtz was finishing his first at USF. The Bulls were also able to end the season on a high note, ringing in the new year after a bowl victory over Clemson. A win that wasn’t as close as it looked. The game was far from pretty and the running game was held in check for the most part, but the defense played well for 58 minutes and 13 seconds. More than enough to give the Bulls a victory and end the season on a high note.
Holtz and USF have plenty to look forward to. The Bulls were picked by most to finish at the bottom of the Big East. They didn’t. 8-5 isn’t a great record, but it’s more than good enough with a new coach and a team in transition. As with most seasons, this is a team that is so close to getting that first 10-win season and not that far away from being able to consistently compete for conference titles.
There are only a few college football games left. Some good ones, but only a few. We get to watch a handful of Ohio State stars play against Arkansas when they should all be watching from home. We’ll get to witness what seems like it has to be Jim Harbaugh’s last game as the Stanford head coach. And we get to watch the championship game most of us wanted. And then we get to make the transition.
The move to the NFL, which ends only a few weeks after the college season. We could take a turn to college basketball. Or a move to the NHL or NBA (I’ll take hockey nine days out of ten). Some of us get to ramp up for spring training. Most will be feverishly following recruiting for the next few weeks. The last is the best way for us to stay connecting to the greatest of all of the sports. We’ll live and die by the choices made by kids no older than 17 or 18. A scary thought. Whatever we turn to, January 10 will be the last time we’ll tune into a college football game for a long, long time. And for that entire period, we’ll be thinking about next season and the season after that and the season after that…