Florida Football: What Exactly Makes Steve Addazio So Atrocious?

OK, so I've been ripping on him for a few days now. But all I was really doing was using my wit and humor (so my readers say- I don't think I have a great sense of humor, those online tirades were just me expressing my displeasure over his inability to be an OC). So what I'm going to do now is to explain why Addazio is such an awful playcaller.

The creator of Fire Steve Addazio has started the list, but I think I'll add to it.

Here goes:

1) Does not use players to their strengths.

Urban Meyer said before the season started that the Gators would tweak their offense to fit John Brantley's talents. And believe me, the kid can throw. But why listen to me, when you can listen to the scouts who were watching Tebow, yet couldn't keep their eyes off this guy.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-03-17/sports/os-bianch-tebow-pro-day-2-0318-20100317_1_tim-tebow-john-brantley-nfl-network 

Now I don't agree with their assessment of Tim Tebow- they simply think he's overrated. But there's no question that John Brantley can throw the football. Yet all Addazio did with him was run the option- which is more like a non-option, because everybody knows Brantley can't carry the ball, and throw little bubble (more like baby, because a newborn baby can crawl further than the play gains) screen pass.

Move from Brantley on to Jeff Demps, an Olympic track runner who weighs about the same as a beach ball (he is surprisingly muscular for his frame, and is a decent blocker... but he's still tiny!!!). During the Miami Ohio and South Florida games, Addazio ran him up the middle so much that he got bruised (and later injured, during the Tennessee game). With the fans booing their lungs out in each game, Addazio called a sweep to Demps probably thinking that the fans would shut up once they saw that King Steve was right, and all his little subjects were wrong. Lo and behold, Demps goes 73 yards for a TD against Miami Ohio, and 62 yards for another TD against USF. The fans who weren't silent with shock cheered, causing Addazio to grumble to himself, lucky break.

Now let's go to the recieving corps. Carl Moore and Trey Burton are the 3rd down possession receivers and  Thompson, Omarious Hines, and Frankie Hammond are the playmaking deep threats. So what does Addazio do with them? Quick outs, screens and 5 yard passes to Thompson, Hines and Hammond, and deep(er) passes with Moore and Burton. Only recently did this change, and it wasn't even a big one. Now, they all rotate being different types of recievers.

2) Inability to Adjust

See this year's Miami Ohio, Alabama, and Mississippi State games, along with last year's SEC Championship game. Dives, screens, and quick outs littered the field in pretty much every game this year. 26 yards of total offense throughout the Miami game was the most disgraceful so I'll start there. Forget the bad snaps for now (Addazio's fault as well, I'll cover that later). Dive after dive after dive, then a punt. Next drive: dive, screen pass, dive (punt). Next drive: bad snap, dive, bad snap. It pretty much went on like this all game, yet Addazio only took one deep shot THE ENTIRE GAME (a drop by Thompson. No doubt Addazio stuck out his chin and said "Ha! Told you so, fans!!! That's why I don't do that!!!"). The Alabama game was even worse. The Tide went up early, and stayed there as they slowly added to their lead, while Addazio countered their TD drives with the lethal dive play and its equally dangerous complement, the screen pass. He refused to take a shot downfield all game, even down 31-6. Alabama could have won the game if they took knees the rest of the game. And that's essentially what they did.

3) Too Conservative/Overuse of Staying on Schedule

I've touched on this previously, but it needs mention all by itself because it is such a glaring issue. Here is Addazio's philosophy for play-calling.

1st and 10. Goal: Get 3-4 yards.

2nd and 6/7 Goal: Get 3-4 yards.

3rd and 2/3/4 Goal: Get the first down.

The only issue with this is that every play is supposed to get 2-4 yards. And since Addazio is too stubborn or downright stupid to adjust... well, that's a prescription for disaster, because once the other team realizes that Florida is just trying to gain 4 yards maximum on every play, that's what they defend. Then those 4 yard plays turn into one yard plays, if it doesn't lose yardage, because the defense will stack the box on every play, daring Florida to beat them any other way. Dan Mullen used to punish defenses by throwing the home run ball, and even if it fell incomplete, he sent a message to the defense that Florida can beat you with the long ball, so back off or it will hurt you. But alas, he is gone. And we have an idiot as a playcaller instead of a real man.

4) He Hates Momentum

There's just no other way to say it. I cannot believe how much Addazio despises having momentum on his side. In my last article, I explained how he handed momentum back to Alabama in the 2009 SEC Championship Game. Since I've beaten that horse until it died, I'll use another game to describe my point. This year's Miami Ohio game saw Florida struggle in the first quarter, for the first of many times. In the second quarter, however, Janoris Jenkins created a pick 6, Florida denied a fake punt on 4th down deep in Miami territory, Brantley hit Hines for a 10 yard score, and that was followed up by a near pick 6 by Ahmad Black. Trey Burton finished it off with a 2 yard run. Now, Florida's up 21-3. No big deal, Florida started slow two years earlier against Hawaii, and didn't score a point in the first quarter. They won 56-10. So, no problem. Now they've got the momentum. And then I watch as Addazio curls up into a ball, and is more conservative than ever- dives, screens, and an occasional quick out. Florida won the game by three TD's, but it was quite ugly. And against South Carolina, Andre Debose takes the opening kick back to the house. Crowd roaring. We've got this. Fans thinking blowout. Then Addazio ruins all of that with his I'll-beat-you-two-yards-at-a-time game, and Florida spends most of the game in reverse.

There are lots of other issues with him, but I have better things to do. Besides, thinking about this gets me all pissed off again.

Chomp (cough F*** Addazio) Chomp.