In the form of Florida head coach Urban Meyer announcing his early departure, the question on everyone's mind is: \"where do we go from here?\"
There really aren't any Meyeresque hot commodities out there on the coaching market right now, since Brian Kelley has already taken the Notre Dame job. So, the logical question now becomes: \"is there an ole ball coach in Columbia who might be interested in the position?\" What about Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech? Might they make a run at him? He's proven he can beat us and turn a team around, he's won everywhere he's gone, and Florida is a rung up the ladder from the Wrambling Wreck.
And where does that leave our beloved Dawgs? Am I inspired? Yes. Do I feel like any weight has been lifted off our chest or that we are now about to put a Georgia-Techesque 5+ game winning streak on the lizards? Absolutely not. I don't care if Gary Coleman is patrolling the Florida sidelines in Jacksonville next year. The fact of the matter is, we are cursed in this rivalry and it doesn't really matter how good the Gators are or when we play them or who is favored the answer to the question of how the game will go is always the same: \"we'll probably lose.\" We have mental problems big time when it comes to that game. We were just as successful against them when they were coached by Ron Zook and we had the two Davids, DJ, Pollock, and two SEC championship game appearances. We've beaten Florida 3 times in the last 20 years, and two of those times were during rebuilding years after national championship seasons and one was in a year in which we won the SEC championship and while when they were down and their worst coach in recent memory was about to be shown the door.
The bottom line is, as far as this series goes, we are cursed. If Florida is even a mediocre team, they'll probably beat us until we can get our headcases straightened out and resolve the mental problems that plague us when that game comes around.
So, ultimately, I'm unconcered with what happens with the Florida coaching situation because I know that even if they managed to field a team that consistently goes 9-4, we won't get any wins in in the series until we can figure things out on our end and put an end to this nonsense. Our players minds turn to mush in Jacksonville, and we need to put a stop to that. Starting now!
As for the rest of the league...with LSU's defensive coordinator presumably departing for us and Les Miles probably not going to be around much longer, it looks like the Alabama Crimson Tide will rule over this league for the forseeable future. Florida will be down next year, Tennessee will be improved somewhat but not on Bama's level, South Carolina will just be South Carolina, and what becomes of Georgia remains to be seen so far.
But with the way things like now, I'm expecting the 2011 SEC championship game to be another undefeated Bama against a one or two loss Tennessee with the Dawgs finishing second in the east.
The point is, the choices we make during this offseason, starting with our performance in the Independence Bowl and getting a quality DC and going after quality recruits, will not determine the kind of team we'll be next season...it will determine the type of PROGRAM we will become for the next 10 seasons.
This is a watershed moment in SEC history and right now it looks like Satans smiling, knowing he's got the best conference in college football all to himself. Who will step up and challenge him for the throne. With the stars having aligned the way that they have, the opportunity to determine choose our destiney and begin to build our legacy has suddenly presented itself in a way very unexpected and unimaginable. If we play our cards right, we can have more than just another championship banner to fly over Sanford Stadium...we can become a DYNASTY!