How much influence a college football coach really have?

[bettilimbroke999]

Watching Spurrier getting annihilated 21-0 with time left in the 1st quarter by his old team I'm just wondering if the coach really makes any difference at all, I mean if your team is twice as good they just win, I think I could coach USC or Florida and produce good results hell they possess 5x the talent of the teams they are up against, looks like an NFL team vs. a Div 2 team most of the time (with the exception of the game they literally fell asleep and lost to Ole Miss thinking it was a bye week). Would Meyer produce a win were the roles reversed, hell no, he'd get run off the field by Spurrier's Gators, just seems like the only thing you can blame a college coach for is his inability to recruit the best players, no wonder McFadden was driving a 50k dollar car when he was a freshman at Arkansas, had they not bought his ass they couldn't have beaten anybody. Everyone is down on Fulmer but they forget he led them to 2 SEC Championships and an undefeated 1998 National Championship, has he suddenly changed his coaching style, hell no, TN players simply suck, their QBs suck, their WRs suck, they have 1 decent RB whose too small to play in the NFL, their defense is mediocre, what is he supposed to do with that team, only reason I can justify firing Fulmer is that he can't recruit worth a shit, maybe he doesn't travel around far and often enough to field a team that can compete anymore idk

[mathdotcom]

dont know about football, but the coach is a posting legend and is a frequent vegas line consultant and mink connaisseur

[The Seer]

Watching Spurrier getting annihilated 21-0 with time left in the 1st quarter by his old team I'm just wondering if the coach really makes any difference at all, I mean fuk if your team is twice as good they just win, I think I could coach USC or Florida and produce good results hell they possess 5x the talent of the teams they are up against, looks like an NFL team vs. a Div 2 team most of the time (with the exception of the game they literally fell asleep and lost to Ole Miss thinking it was a bye week). Would Meyer produce a win were the roles reversed, fuk no, he'd get run off the field by Spurrier's Gators, just seems like the only thing you can blame a college coach for is his inability to recruit the best players, no wonder McFadden was driving a 50k dollar car when he was a freshman at Arkansas, had they not bought his ass they couldn't have beaten anybody. Everyone is down on Fulmer but they forget he led them to 2 SEC Championships and an undefeated 1998 National Championship, has he suddenly changed his coaching style, hell no, TN players simply suck, their QBs suck, their WRs suck, they have 1 decent RB whose too small to play in the NFL, their defense is mediocre, what is he supposed to do with that team, only reason I can justify firing Fulmer is that he can't recruit worth a shit, maybe he doesn't travel around far and often enough to field a team that can compete anymore idk

Coaching can be a huge difference. You have to be able to recruit and have discipline. Here in TN and close to the program,Fulmer did a good job of recruiting. Kids liked him because he was a dad to them. However, there was little discipline. It is known in scouting circles that TN players have a lot of undeveloped potential. Look at how many kick ass in the pros. TN hs been outcoaching in games for years and has gotten by on talent. Now they aren;t getting the talent in there so you've got what you see this season. 98 champs were winning on pure talent. About 75% of the starters went to the NFL. TN has as much money in the athletic budget as anyone in the country . They were no. 1 not long ago. Look it up if you don't believe me. Their facilities can recruit themselves so it is not so much Fulmer. The other programs have passed them by. When you can get guys that can recruit, have disciplne, and can develop guys along with great in game coaching then you have guys like Saban and Meyer. Big difference there than with Fulmer. TN has been passed by and must go in another direction. To answer your question I have played up to the Canadian league level and I coach now there is a huge edge when you have a good coach and recruiter. Fulmer and Zook can recruit but it only takes them so far. Spurrier just needs a QB.

[SBR Lou]

Coaching can be a huge difference. You have to be able to recruit and have discipline. Here in TN and close to the program,Fulmer did a good job of recruiting. Kids liked him because he was a dad to them. However, there was little discipline. It is known in scouting circles that TN players have a lot of undeveloped potential. Look at how many kick ass in the pros. TN hs been outcoaching in games for years and has gotten by on talent. Now they aren;t getting the talent in there so you've got what you see this season. 98 champs were winning on pure talent. About 75% of the starters went to the NFL. TN has as much money in the athletic budget as anyone in the country . They were no. 1 not long ago. Look it up if you don't believe me. Their facilities can recruit themselves so it is not so much Fulmer. The other programs have passed them by. When you can get guys that can recruit, have disciplne, and can develop guys along with great in game coaching then you have guys like Saban and Meyer. Big difference there than with Fulmer. TN has been passed by and must go in another direction. To answer your question I have played up to the Canadian league level and I coach now there is a huge edge when you have a good coach and recruiter. Fulmer and Zook can recruit but it only takes them so far. Spurrier just needs a QB.

Excellent post.

[bettilimbroke999]

I disagree Seer, you're ignoring the simple fact that Spurrier would smoke Meyer just as he is getting smoked were the teams they are coaching reversed, I feel the coach gets much too much credit for strategy when the reality is you recruit incredible players you win, you recruit like TN has this year and you lose. There's not much you can say as a coach other than run, throw and catch, it's the players that actually perform the actions and it's wholly dependent on their talent level to pull it off

[rm18]

It can mean a lot. Urban Meyer's 2004 Utah team did not have that much talent NFL wise, and they were #4 in the country

[The Seer]

If you look at SC he has recruited good for SC. He needs the one piece to the puzzle though, a quarter back. Because of the QB positon,SC's O puts their D in bad positions and they are still a top ranked D. If spurrrier had a better QB, he could spread the field better and teams couldn't load the box against like they do which makes the whole team better. I do think Spurrier is a lot better coach than Meyer and would beat Meyer if they swapped teams no question .

[bettilimbroke999]

It can mean a lot. Urban Meyer's 2004 Utah team did not have that much talent NFL wise, and they were #4 in the country

#1 NFL draft pick QB the following year is evidence of having some superior talent, clearly Utah fields consistently talented teams as they are always a solid ranked team with or without Meyer