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Final AP Poll

Barlass

I.T.S. Defensive Coordinator
Mar 1, 2004
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UCF gets 4 first place votes in the final AP poll but only finishes 6th overall.

USF finishes at #21 and Memphis at #25.
 
That's about right on UCF. USF is wildly overrated. That's a courtesy ranking if I have ever seen it. You could put 10 teams in that 25 spot and I would be OK with it. Some years, that's us in the 25 spot, so no problem with Memphis being placed there.

As much as I cant stand Gundy, he definitely knows his football. I was watching the ESPN coaches cam last night during the game. He was consistently calling out GA's plays in advance. Many times before the personnel were even on the field. Sumlin and Cutcliffe would suggest other things, but they either were not correct, or if correct, the play had a minimal gain.

About half way through the broadcast when Gundy was right for about the sixth or seventh time, Pat Fitzgerald from Northwestern asked him if he called his own plays. Gundy replied that he used to, but he found smarter people to do it for him. Fitzgerald was visibly surprised by the statement.

I didnt think anything of it until the end of the broadcast when Gundy, commenting on other topics, said this was the first time he had seen the two teams play that season and the first SEC game he had watched all year.
 
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I don't think Gundy found calling plays and being the HC difficult per se. What he did struggle with is making in game adjustments on the sidelines to the offense while the game was being played. There were many times when he was huddled around the offense making adjustments while the defense was on the field.
 
The AAC problem in football is the same as it is in basketball...the bottom of the conference. Half of the AAC football teams have a Sagarin rating of below 85. This drives down the conference standing when compared to the P5s. The top of the league (as in basketball) is pretty damn good. Need to get the bottom schools to improve. (A winning bowl record would also help)....but that comes down to the middle and bottom tier schools stepping up.
 
I don't think Gundy found calling plays and being the HC difficult per se. What he did struggle with is making in game adjustments on the sidelines to the offense while the game was being played. There were many times when he was huddled around the offense making adjustments while the defense was on the field.
Yes, you are quite right. he discussed that. He stated that he needed around 40 hours a week minimum in the film room to prepare properly to call the plays and that wasn't a good use of his time. He also stated that it was a challenge in practice because it forced him as head coach and playcaller to either ignore the defense or absent the play caller from the offensive practice while the head coach gave attention to the defense. He also stated that he was not comfortable with the things he missed on the sideline and in games while being a head coach that a play caller would have seen and adjusted for and that it hurt his team. He was very cold and analytical about it. He gave a very short but open assessment of his role as a play caller. It was clear from the exchange and the facial expressions of the other five head coaches present, some with decades of experience, were surprised at how well he was predicting what Georgia was going to do, but that Gundy still didnt think he should be doing the job because he didnt think he was the right person to be doing it. I think a few of them kinda just viewed him as a shouting jerk with a bad haircut going on appearances but had never met him. But by the end they were deferring to him on certain questions the way the group started out deferring to David Cutcliffe at the beginning.

But the way Gundy talked about himself was refreshing. It was something you would never hear in an interview or press conference. It was great TV. And maybe, and I underscore maybe, advice our coaching staff should listen to.
 
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The AAC problem in football is the same as it is in basketball...the bottom of the conference. Half of the AAC football teams have a Sagarin rating of below 85. This drives down the conference standing when compared to the P5s. The top of the league (as in basketball) is pretty damn good. Need to get the bottom schools to improve. (A winning bowl record would also help)....but that comes down to the middle and bottom tier schools stepping up.
When looking at basketball, the top 10 teams are pretty worthy and can go toe to toe with just about anyone. ECU and USF are the 2 who you don't have to prepare for as real threats. When your 9th and 10th rated teams are Memphis and UCONN...it could be a lot worse.
 
Yes, you are quite right. he discussed that. He stated that he needed around 40 hours a week minimum in the film room to prepare properly to call the plays and that wasn't a good use of his time. He also stated that it was a challenge in practice because it forced him as head coach and playcaller to either ignore the defense or absent the play caller from the offensive practice while the head coach gave attention to the defense. He also stated that he was not comfortable with the things he missed on the sideline and in games while being a head coach that a play caller would have seen and adjusted for and that it hurt his team. He was very cold and analytical about it. He gave a very short but open assessment of his role as a play caller. Its something you would never hear in an interview or press conference. It was great TV. And maybe, and I underscore maybe, advice our coaching staff should listen to.
It took a few years before Gundy relinquished that role so maybe it was a little bit of maturity and understanding what his team needed. And it's not wrong. It probably did BB in was his refusal to give the reins of the offense over. You still hire someone to be OC who has the same philosophy as you, but it brings an extra set of eyes with at least equal if not slightly more input. Monty should as well. Heck, Houston is bringing in Kendall Briles as OC and play caller so Major has already learned that lesson. No one is saying the HC can't have influence in the game plan or the adjustments, there's just too much going on to be able to be in the 10 different places he needs to be and to be able to give the OC role 100% of the attention it needs.
 
When looking at basketball, the top 10 teams are pretty worthy and can go toe to toe with just about anyone. ECU and USF are the 2 who you don't have to prepare for as real threats. When your 9th and 10th rated teams are Memphis and UCONN...it could be a lot worse.

Our top 2 teams are fantastic. Half of our conference (6 teams) have a Sagarin rating over 100. The other power conferences have ACC 1, BigEast 1, Big10 1, Big12 0, SEC 0, and PAC12 4. None of those conferences have anyone anywhere close to ECU and USF (291 and 303). We would be close to the PAC12 if it weren't for ECU and USF.
 
UCF’s accomplishment this year has already paid huge dividends for the school as a whole. Donations to the school are up 50% and enrollment and interest from potential students has increased drastically.

Goes to show you that success in athletics can have an extremely positive impact on an institution as a whole.

I remember when graham was here and we were ranked, leading the nation in offense, and were making a name for ourselves, enrollment was up, and so was interest from high school students. I’m not sure why this isn’t leveraged more than it is...

Can you imagine if TU received a 50% increase in donations? We’d be riding high.
 
I love the "big boy" sports writers whining that UCF's claim of a national championship sours their perfect season. Too bad fellas. You can scream from the mountains that Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Clemson, an Ohio State and Auburn are better...but we'll never know will we? Oh wait, did I still include Auburn? Anyway, if you won't let them play In the big game you don't get to whine that they claim they would have or did win it all.

Blah blah blah getting through an entire SEC season is difficult. You know what else is difficult? Recruiting a roster than can beat the SEC #1/2 while a non P5 "upstart" and the 4th or 5th best football school in your state. Getting the "big boys" to schedule you as anything other than a 1 and done pay to play (or even then). Or having a perfect season.

If Alabama's loss to Auburn was just a fluke, Georgia's loss to Auburn didn't hold them back, let alone Clemson's loss to Syracuse or Oklahoma's loss to Iowa State...surely they understand that a perfect season is hard to come by. If UCF beat Bama, Georgia, and Auburn and dropped a game to either Syracuse or Iowa State, they'd be saying the exact same things.

If UCF had obviously gone for a puffball schedule and scheduled Mercer, Citadel or even Kansas late in the season - I'd get the argument that they are gaming the system. But they didn't, they played 3 ranked opponents in conference in the stretch Bama, Clemson, and OU were playing those puffballs. Do you think UCF becomes a target for P5 schedules now? Unlikely. No one wants to play the P5 that will probably beat you because you can't whine about their success when you lose.

So yeah, those Big Boys do have a harder time staying perfect. They also are given a "bye" for mistakes and have advantages UCF can only dream of. So when someone else plays the game to perfection they either get a spot in the big game or get to snub their nose and claim that championship. Deal with it.
 
Boise doesn’t seem to be having any issues schedule home and home with perineal top 25 P5 teams. Check out their future schedules
 
Yes, you are quite right. he discussed that. He stated that he needed around 40 hours a week minimum in the film room to prepare properly to call the plays and that wasn't a good use of his time. He also stated that it was a challenge in practice because it forced him as head coach and playcaller to either ignore the defense or absent the play caller from the offensive practice while the head coach gave attention to the defense. He also stated that he was not comfortable with the things he missed on the sideline and in games while being a head coach that a play caller would have seen and adjusted for and that it hurt his team. He was very cold and analytical about it. He gave a very short but open assessment of his role as a play caller. It was clear from the exchange and the facial expressions of the other five head coaches present, some with decades of experience, were surprised at how well he was predicting what Georgia was going to do, but that Gundy still didnt think he should be doing the job because he didnt think he was the right person to be doing it. I think a few of them kinda just viewed him as a shouting jerk with a bad haircut. But by the end they were deferring to him on certain questions the way the group started out deferring to David Cutcliffe at the beginning.

But the way Gundy talked about himself was refreshing. It was something you would never hear in an interview or press conference. It was great TV. And maybe, and I underscore maybe, advice our coaching staff should listen to.
I enjoyed the article on him getting tired of losing coordinators and searching for one on the internet.(Yurcich) More advice our staff should be listening to.(Not just the present staff.)
 
Gundy walked away from that broadcast on Monday looking like the smartest guy in the room. I didnt think that was possible. I have found a lot of respect for him.
 
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Yes, you are quite right. he discussed that. He stated that he needed around 40 hours a week minimum in the film room to prepare properly to call the plays and that wasn't a good use of his time. He also stated that it was a challenge in practice because it forced him as head coach and playcaller to either ignore the defense or absent the play caller from the offensive practice while the head coach gave attention to the defense. He also stated that he was not comfortable with the things he missed on the sideline and in games while being a head coach that a play caller would have seen and adjusted for and that it hurt his team. He was very cold and analytical about it. He gave a very short but open assessment of his role as a play caller. It was clear from the exchange and the facial expressions of the other five head coaches present, some with decades of experience, were surprised at how well he was predicting what Georgia was going to do, but that Gundy still didnt think he should be doing the job because he didnt think he was the right person to be doing it. I think a few of them kinda just viewed him as a shouting jerk with a bad haircut. But by the end they were deferring to him on certain questions the way the group started out deferring to David Cutcliffe at the beginning.

But the way Gundy talked about himself was refreshing. It was something you would never hear in an interview or press conference. It was great TV. And maybe, and I underscore maybe, advice our coaching staff should listen to.
I enjoyed the article on him getting tired of losing coordinators and searching for one on the internet.(Yurcich) More advice our staff should be listening to.(Not just the present staff.)
I thought Graham did a good job finding Morris and trusting him to run the offense straight out of HS coaching. Monty just needs to trust someone. And apparently Kendall Briles isn’t as toxic to the touch as we all thought.
 
I thought Graham did a good job finding Morris and trusting him to run the offense straight out of HS coaching. Monty just needs to trust someone. And apparently Kendall Briles isn’t as toxic to the touch as we all thought.
Graham did a fine job with assistants. I was more referring to Blankenship, Montgomery, and whoever is next on the totem pole. Montgomery hasn't had enough time to make judgements on assistants, due to failures and successes though.
 
They have home and home every year with top 25 P5 programs. What other G5 has that? We can’t get anywhere close nor can most of our conference mates.
Because the perception of Boise is it's a strength game in the mind of voters because of past history. If you lose to Boise early on it's not a devastating loss if you win the rest. I think you will see that perception about most of the teams in the AAC starting to change. I'm not sure there is a consistent easy out in our conference any more. We will always have a team or two struggle for a season but those same teams usually get it turned around pretty quickly.
 
Because the perception of Boise is it's a strength game in the mind of voters because of past history. If you lose to Boise early on it's not a devastating loss if you win the rest. I think you will see that perception about most of the teams in the AAC starting to change. I'm not sure there is a consistent easy out in our conference any more. We will always have a team or two struggle for a season but those same teams usually get it turned around pretty quickly.

Oh I hope so!
 
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Because the perception of Boise is it's a strength game in the mind of voters because of past history. If you lose to Boise early on it's not a devastating loss if you win the rest. I think you will see that perception about most of the teams in the AAC starting to change. I'm not sure there is a consistent easy out in our conference any more. We will always have a team or two struggle for a season but those same teams usually get it turned around pretty quickly.

Boise has 13 ten win seasons over the past 18 years. Their excellence is more than just perception. It's sustained top 25 success over the last two decades. There's no one yet in the AAC who can come close to those numbers. The problem for the league is should a member school achieve that kind of success the odds of them remaining the conference is likely small.
 
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