-----
* McElwain addresses suspended players
* Florida line is a work in progress
* McElwain Teleconference Blog
* Film Room: Breaking down the quarterbacks
* Notebook: Players on the sideline saw Swain open
* Notebook: McElwain updates Franks, Toney and Webb
* Former Player Feedback: 10 Rutledge Observations
-----
A walk-on quarterback for three years with the Florida Gators before deciding to head into coaching, Noah Brindise has found success at all levels of the game. He returned to Florida as a graduate assistant from 1999-2001 before joining his former head coach, Steve Spurrier, in Washington as the quarterbacks coach of the Redskins from 2002-03. After a year as the offensive coordinator at East Carolina, Brindise spent two more in the same position with UNLV before retiring from the game and to pursue business interests outside of football.
From time to time Brindise will share his knowledge about the game from the perspective of a former player and coach.
In this edition of Coach Speak Brindise answers questions from the Gator Nation about Florida's offense, the quarterbacks and much more.
Florida is entering their eighth straight season with an offense ranked near the bottom in the NCAA in total offense. How does this happen at a place like Florida?
Brindise: "It should never happen at a place like Florida! The difference that I see this year, as opposed to most of the other years of poor offense, is that we actually have some decent playmakers now. My heartburn comes from the lack of imagination and the failure to develop a top level quarterback. When Jeremy Foley decided to make a change and fire Will Muschamp (which I did not agree with at that time-but understood), he maintained that the reason was to hire an offensive minded head coach that would bring an exciting style of play and an ability to develop quarterbacks. Clearly, that hasn’t happened. We have maintained a high level of play defensively, but I see no sign of life on the other side of the ball, and that’s very disappointing for those of us who thought that Muschamp and his staff were only one player away."
What have you seen from Feleipe Franks that you like and then what do you think he needs to improve upon?
Brindise: "He doesn’t appear to be a comfortable pocket passer to me. It’s obvious that he has physical gifts, but if he isn’t developed correctly as a pocket passer who throws on time and in rhythm then he will not be a high level quarterback in the SEC. He needs coaching and experience. I don’t watch them practice, but it appears to me that they do not put a big enough emphasis on the rhythm and timing of the passing game."
Luke Del Rio will be taking over he starting position this weekend against Vanderbilt. What are your thoughts on his game as far as strengths and weaknesses?
Brindise: "Luke is an experienced player who doesn’t make many mistakes. Luke will not lose many games for us as long as the other phases are playing well. I have confidence in him as our starter."
Watching the Kentucky game, yes it appeared as though Del Rio is more poised than Franks - however, it also appeared that the playbook was opened up a bit with Del Rio in there compared to Franks. Thoughts?
Brindise: "That was very obvious to me also. That tells me that the are not comfortable giving Franks too much of a 'menu'. It’s concerning to me because he isn’t a first year player. Again, development of quarterback was supposed to be a strength of this head coach and staff…hasn’t happened in this case."
What's your opinion of the offense under Doug Nussmeier? Is it schematic, coaching or talent problem? What would you do specifically to fix it?
Brindise: "I would spend more time on developing rhythm in the passing game. We have talent…don’t be fooled. To me, it all comes back to coaching and execution of the passing game."
What are your thoughts on Franks getting pulled for Del Rio?
Brindise: "I understand it, but I also wonder how and why they arrived at that decision. At the end of the day though, it worked."
Who do you think should start?
Brindise: "Without the benefit of being there in the film room and on the practice field I really couldn’t say. If we had last years defense I would say, without question, to play Del Rio."
Your mentor, Steve Spurrier, wasn't afraid to pull a quarterback. If you are a coach other than SOS though, how difficult is it to make a change at that position?
Brindise: "Not hard at all if that's the tone you set. The best player plays until he’s not the best player anymore. And that can change weekly... Just ask SOS!"
In an interview Austin Appleby talked about how schematically complicated Jim McElwain's offense is to operate. So, my questions are:
Is the system to complicated for our quarterbacks?
Brindise: "I haven’t seen anything in this offense that I haven’t seen a thousand times from other teams. So as far as scheme its not too complicated. But I don’t know how they teach it so I can’t really expand further."
And is his system so much more complicated, as say an Oklahoma or Oklahoma State offense?
Brindise: "If it is he needs to go spend some time studying theirs!! But honestly, those systems work when their quarterbacks are top level players. We haven’t developed a top level quarterback…bottom line. And that's the main reason we hired him, right Gator fans?"
And if so, what advantages does his system possess that this aforementioned don’t?
Brindise: "I can’t speak to any advantages. Football is an easy game to evaluate offensively…wins…points…yards."
Would Florida's offense benefit from playing more four wide receiver sets and cutting down on the use of the in-line tight end since the blocking has been so poor from that position?
Brindise: "I actually think we should play more multiple tight end sets to take advantage of matches in the passing game.
What did you think of Malik Zaire against Michigan?
Brindise: "I thought he looked uncomfortable and hesitant. I actually felt bad for him because I don’t think he had much of a chance."
From your current viewpoint, what are the biggest differences you are able to see between McElwain's program at Florida and Spurrier’s?
Brindise: "Touchdowns and championships."
In your opinion why do we never use the middle of the field? Nearly every pass play goes to the sidelines. Either wide receiver screens or long balls. Doesn't this allow for the defense to not have to account for 80% of the field? And if so, why would McElwain/Nussmeier employ this?
Brindise: "It’s safer to all pass routes to the sidelines. But I agree with your point. They are obviously not confident in the execution of anything over the middle. Again, development of the passing game…where is it?"
You have to have to be resilient as a quarterback, the position isn't for the weak-kneed, but Franks has now been benched in two of his three starts - what do you think that does to him from a confidence standpoint?
Brindise: "I think it depends on the person being benched, what type of resolve he has. Some players use it as motivation and others use it as a reason to transfer."
You have been in there before, how does this type of situation play out among the three quarterbacks and the position coach when they are in their meeting room?
Brindise: "Coach Nussmeir is a professional and I’m sure has been open and honest with the players. Frankly, that’s all that usually needs to happen in order to remove the “elephant in the room” so to speak."
We saw Malik Zaire in the Michigan game. Thoughts on his game and skill-set? Making it clear that you aren't inside his head, what do you think that he is thinking, coming transferring in as a senior, and sitting third string right now?
Brindise: "I’m sure its probably not what he envisioned when he made his decision. The reality though is that a majority of the quarterback “graduate” transfers don’t pan out the way everyone hopes they will. For whatever reason, most of these guys were benched at the school they were at otherwise they wouldn’t be transferring. In Malik’s case, I actually felt bad for him when he was out there against Michigan. He wasn’t given much of a chance protection-wise."
You caused a bit of a stir with your comments about the offense on a podcast a couple of weeks ago. When a former player/assistant coach says some of those things publicly, what kind of feedback did you get from the current staff and from former players? With Spurrier currently an Ambassador for the UAA, has he reached out to you about your comments/concerns?
Brindise: "First of all, I want to make it very clear that I support Coach Mac and the staff and want them to be successful. I am, however, critical of the way they have developed their quarterbacks and the offense in general. I’m sure that they aren’t very happy with it either. All I am being is honest in terms of the way I feel. Nobody from the current staff or administration has reached out to me to discuss or ask my opinion, nor should they! I’m just a former player giving his opinion and I could be dead-wrong, who knows. The bottom line is that I'm a Gator and want success for the program, long-term. As far as Coach Spurrier, we talk all the time. He is a Gator through and through, as am I. That's all that matters."
