So, the question becomes....what changed? He still had to be the Head Corch that whole year too, right? Nobody said, "You just concentrate on the offense and we'll take care of the rest". Look, he's done all the right things on the outside. Did anyone question coming in to this year that he assembled one of the best coaching staffs in all of college football? Hell no! Garner. Craig. Thompson. MUSCHAMP!!!
I have no idea what the answer is. From my arm-chair QB perspective, the whole thing looks simple. 3 things.
1. Change the weight room philosophy for your interior linemen on both sides of the ball. ASS MOVES MASS. The rest is fine.
2. Keep the faith that the D under Muschamp will continue to improve. It is. It will continue.
3. Trust your damn instincts as an offensive coordinator. Don't back off. Balls to the wall. Run what you know. Regardless of the QB. You've adjusted a dozen time but the overall philosophy remains the same. Adjust to your QB's strengths and weaknesses and run your O...fast and furious. That's what we hired! That's what we expect!!!
Couple of things changed.
First year it was all new. Whirlwind even. Ever hired somebody who came in, worked their ass off and then struggled to maintain the momentum they started? I've BEEN that guy. Come in with your ass on fire, everything you touch works and you're the golden boy. Then you fuck something up, the whispers start and you start questioning yourself. It ends in flameout far too often.
The first year was all new. He didn't have the year-round recruiting, the pressures of the off-season. When you're the OC you can go home except when you're recruiting. When you're the HC at Western Arkansas A&T you can go fishing after practice and decompress. This is a different atmosphere (for all of them). It's 24/7 scrutiny.
Like Bowden, he set an impossible standard his first year in. If we reversed the order and this was Year One, we'd all be okay with it. It's not.
In every game he's ever coached, there's been a lull where he thought too hard, tinkered with things that didn't need tinkering, fiddlefucked around. I still remember when Chizik was there the first year and Ben Tate was sitting on the sidelines riding a bike. Can't recall now what game it was, but Tate was just over there. Nobody even knew. Chizik had no idea. Gus was running Mario Fannin instead if memory serves. Just random shit like that.
How long did it take him to settle on Tre Mason?
We crucified Chizik for 2012, but doesn't anybody remember 2011 WITH Gus there? Full fucktard against Utah State. The mysterious loss at Clemson when the offense couldn't get its head out of its ass. Retardo shell in a win over South Carolina. Ass beatings against Arkansas, LSU, Georgia and Alabama as the Frazier, Trotter, Moseley circus went into full fetal position.
Maybe Trotter wasn't that bad a QB. Maybe Frazier wasn't -- looks a HELL of a lot like Jeremy Johnson IMO.
Gus shouldn't get a pass for 2011. The fucking arc for him is almost exactly like it was when he was with Chizik. Maybe that's all he's got? One good year and then some shitbaggery? What if Houston Nutt was right? What if Chizik was? Both got torpedoed in Gus fallout. What if they were right to put reins on him and try to build the program?
There came a point last season -- and I think it was probably somewhere during the Mississippi State clusterfuck -- where he looked over his shoulder and got scared to lose. We have not played worth a shit against ANYBODY except Alabama since that game.
He got scared that people were right, that his offense couldn't win consistently, that he was putting too much pressure on the defense. Something? Anything? I don't know.
I honestly don't think he can take the pressure of being a head coach in the SEC. His ability to draw plays in the dirt and X and O people to death is limited -- make that almost nonexistent -- given the other tasks he has to handle. And Lashlee doesn't know dick.