Great... im taking extra meds this weekend and the rest of the damn season now.
On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 8:47 AM, Shane Ford <[email protected]>wrote: > Is Muschamp going to fall victim to third-year jinx?****** > ** ** > ** ** > Florida head coach Will Muschamp is coming off 11 wins in his second > season with the Gators.**** > *Doug Finger/Staff photographer* **** > By Pat Dooley <http://www.gatorsports.com/personalia/patdooley> > Gainesville SUN Columnist**** > Published: Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 8:00 a.m.**** Last Modified: > Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at 8:52 p.m.**** > ** ** > As Will Muschamp approaches his third season as Florida's head coach, he > is roaring into uncharted waters with the same passion he did his first two > seasons.**** > He told us all he would be himself when he arrived at UF and we have seen > it in all its loud glory. (I wouldn't want to mess up his dry cleaning). > Muschamp is not afraid to offer an opinion, sometimes with the decibel > level of a Green Day concert and sometimes with a dry wit that says more > than he's saying.**** > He has faced the tough first season (7-6) and navigated an overachieving > team through an 11-win second season. He's seen a lot in two years. But > there is something out there, something lurking, a pit of despair filled > with struggles and lost hope.**** > It's waiting for him even if he doesn't realize it's coming. What coach > ever sees it coming?**** > Maybe he'll be the guy to slay the dragon, to buck the trend and dismiss > the demons.**** > I am speaking, of course, about the Third-Year Jinx.**** > It's a frightful monster, disguising itself under mounds of comfort level > and betrayal.**** > OK, maybe I'm being a little overdramatic here. College football season > starts tonight. Excuse me for being a little amped up.**** > But the Third-Year Jinx has bitten a lot of coaches at Florida.**** > I'm not sure I can explain why it happens. And it's not just at Florida. > Nick Saban's third teams at Michigan State and LSU each lost five games. On > the other hand, Lou Holtz and Les Miles won national championships in their > third seasons at Notre Dame and LSU, respectively.**** > So this is a fickle jinx.**** > Except when it comes to Florida.**** > It's not like Florida coaches have had disastrous third seasons. But > during the 51 years I have been following the mighty Gators, every one of > them has struggled.**** > The previous coach, Urban Meyer, coached the Gators to three 13-1 seasons > in a four-year span from 2006-09. The one year the Gators weren't among > college football's elite during that amazing run came, of course, in his > third season. **** > Florida lost four games, including the only one Meyer lost to Georgia > during his UF career. Sure, Tim Tebow won the Heisman Trophy and gave us an > individual season to remember, but this is a team game and Meyer's third > team (9-4) was the worst one he coached at UF. I say this with the caveat > that the 2010 team was worse with five losses (8-5), but I'm not sure how > much he coached that team.**** > Ron Zook was bitten the hardest by the Third-Year Jinx. It bit him right > in the behind. Zook was fired midway through his third season. He also had > to deal with Gainesville suddenly turning into Hurricane Alley for one > summer. **** > Steve Spurrier was immune, right? Not really. His third team at Florida > was the worst one he had at UF. Somehow, in part thanks to a collapse by > Tennessee, he managed to get that team into the SEC title game, but it did > suffer four losses one year after a Sugar Bowl season. It lost consecutive > games for the first time in Spurrier's Florida coaching career and by a > combined 40 points. **** > His 1999 team also lost four games, but that team was better. Because I > said so.**** > Galen Hall's third season could be defined as 1986 because he was interim > coach for most of the 1984 season. His '86 team went 6-5 and didn't go to a > bowl. If you want to say his '85 team was his first as permanent head > coach, well, his 1987 team lost six games.**** > Charley Pell's 1981 team was his third. It lost five games one year after > the greatest turnaround in college football history and turned in one of > the biggest duds in Florida's bowl history at the Peach Bowl.**** > Doug Dickey's third team had a .500 record. Ray Graves' third team, which > just so happened to be the first Florida team I ever saw play, lost four > games, but at the time it was considered a special season because it ended > with a win over ninth-ranked Penn State in the Gator Bowl.**** > But that was then. That was when a Gator Bowl victory and seven wins was > considered a good season.**** > That's as far back as I go. I could point to G.E. Pyle, who went unbeaten > in his third year (1911). But then I'd have to point out that six of > Florida's first nine coaches didn't make it to their fourth seasons because > they were three-and-out.**** > I'm not sure I understand why coaches such as Meyer and Spurrier struggled > in their third years. The first year, you come in and change the culture, > the second you're more comfortable and the players buy in and you have > great success. And maybe it's because of that success that the third year > is difficult. **** > Whatever the reason, the Third-Year Jinx is alive in Gainesville.**** > Like Muschamp doesn't have enough to worry about with viral infections and > Toledo's tempo and torn labrums and expectations. **** > Like he's going to worry about this.**** > *Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at [email protected]. And > follow at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley.***** > ** ** > > -- > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "GatorNews" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorTalk" group. 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