Buddy's Blog: Important Spring Transition. Do Gators Go Backward or Forward? Just Pause ...

THE HOME FOR 'ETERNAL SPRING HOPE.' This is what we do. (Photo courtesy UAA)

Back in the pre-Internet day when there were still newspapers, my assignments often brought me back home to the sweet smell of orange blossoms wafting through the hills and valleys of Central and even North Central Florida. It was late March. Madness was about to ensue. The Masters was just around the corner. That pleasant, intoxicating fragrance triggered hope for all Florida Gator fans, because help was on the way. “Next Year” was going to be pregnant with possibilities.

Spring has always been an important period of transition for Gator football -- a harbinger of things to come. Spring meant everything. I remember that famous quote from late Texas SID Jones Ramsey that in Austin there were just two seasons: “Football and Spring Football.”

While that’s not true anymore in Austin, and perhaps never was in Gainesville, I can assure you that spring remains extremely important for the Florida football program. This one, especially. If everything from the last 11 months seems foggy, it’s because it was.

There is an old adage, “Hope Springs Eternal,” but after the challenges we have all encountered, we need to reparaphrase it: “Eternal Spring Hope.” We must brandish patience, persistence, prayer and perhaps learn to pause in order to achieve perspective. And wear a mask, continue to stay safe.

It has become very hip these days to put things on “pause” during the pandemic. It’s just another way of procrastinating, with a note from your doctor. I get the fact that it’s primarily a medical precaution -- but it’s also a way of dealing with the unpredictable.

We’re not going to “pause” today with the intention of skipping this column. This is more of a time out/temperature check to reflect on where things have been, where they are going and what things look like from my GatorBait chair.

As Gator fans look back on 2020 football season and then dare to peek around the corner at the promises of spring, they are in dire need of a little emotional, spiritual and mental pick-me-up. To wit:

WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE WITHOUT BRIAN JOHNSON? (GATORBAIT PHOTO)

The loss of Offensive Coordinator Brian Johnson didn’t come at a good time and his replacement by Garrick McGee, which may or may not turn out to be more than adequate, didn’t seem to create a positive buzz. On that one, however, they should learn to trust the judgment of Mullen. (More on that in a moment regarding football.)

Gator basketball’s late January spurt lifted spirits substantially, providing one of Mike White’s best weeks ever, with impressive wins over Tennessee and Georgia.

Almost simultaneously with “Fire Mike White” pejoratives ringing in the background, somehow this Gator team, despite missing three of its best players, found the mustard to paste the No. 6 ranked Vols. When a team can win by 26 over a heavily favored rival while sorely short-handed, it’s downright inspirational.

Following up with a dominating win over Georgia, the Gators began to get the attention of the bracketologists. And despite a ragged finish, they eventually also vanquished Vanderbilt. So this won’t be an entirely lackluster spring, devoid of potential competitive achievement.

In addition to the promise of White’s team making it to The Dance – provided there IS a Dance – there will be the unveiling a brand, spanking new baseball stadium as the home of Kevin O’Sullivan’s highly regarded, pre-season No. 1 team. And, of course, Scott Stricklin’s whole arsenal of other superb non-revenue teams.

So there is, indeed, hope, as many of us await our first or second vaccine shots with an eye toward a better future.

By the same token, I can seldom ever recall such a tumultuous off-season for a returning Gator head football coach after a semi-successful year. And to some it felt like a bit of a disconnect with Dan Mullen as his team stumbled through losses in its final three games after enjoying a Top 6 perch almost the entire regular season and another New Year’s Six Bowl appearance. It was abrupt change.

One of the stiffest prices of success is the loss of staff members. In Mullen’s case, he was all but showing the door to one or more assistant coaches. What he did not expect, most likely, was the sudden departure of the offensive coordinator that he trained and raised, although he knew it would eventually happen. All of a sudden Johnson shed his Gator orange and blue for Philadelphia green, where he will coach Eagle quarterbacks. When it did, he had Garrick McGee already in place.

We all knew Johnson would be getting that call one day. He has come to the fore lately as bright young offensive mind with a special insight for training and coaching quarterbacks. I began to see him as college head coaching material, maybe even as a candidate to replace Josh Heupel at UCF. Who knew Johnson would accelerate to the highest level of football competition so quickly?

I do remember another highly regarded offensive coordinator leaving Gainesville after a national championship season and how it impacted the program in a negative manner. However, I don’t think the loss of Johnson to Mullen will be as severe as was the loss of Mullen to Urban Meyer after 2008. Mullen left for Starkville and Steve Addazio took over.

It will have to be proven out, but as a close-up observer to that 2008 era, one who was “imbedded” in the program while authoring the book “Urban’s Way,” it seemed to me, and others, that the Florida offense never recovered with Addazio in charge. And please don’t take that as a slam of Addazio. We must guard against going down those rabbit holes as we begin to heal physically, emotionally and spiritually. Check your pride and ego for a moment.

We have sorely needed something besides cable news angst and the bald-face lies of Internet jibber-jabber to propel us forward. In normal times of national crisis we’ve always had sports to lean on, but even much of that was taken. Sports fans settled for whatever crumbs they could get.

My friend Mark Cummins said in a recent message, in order to navigate through these combative times when tendencies are to criticize and find fault everywhere, we should try his “Hundred And One” idea. Pick somebody with whom you have difficulty communicating and think of just ONE good quality. Then give 100 percent in using that as a positive tool and perhaps even develop a vibe for a connection. And pray for a change in attitude.

I HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO, BUT I CAN WEAR A MASK AND LEARN PATIENCE. JUST AS YOU CAN. (GATORBAIT PHOTO by BUDDY MARTIN

I can use all the help I can get, so let me start with some general introspection, as we sit here waiting, waiting, waiting for our second vaccine shot. We received a notification that we were scheduled for our shots Saturday and were given a number to call for an appointment. We had dialed it more than 150 times as of Thursday mid-day and received 150 busy signals. So I needed an attitude check. So I took a moment.

First of all, gratitude. Thank you to all the health care workers. At our house, we’ve been semi-quarantined since March 13. I am hopeful that Saturday, or soon thereafter, we will receive that second shot and we’re looking forward to possible liberation from the four walls of this confinement.

On a second note of gratitude: SEC and Gator football fans were treated to a smorgasbord of games and the fact that they were able to make it through an entire season with SEC representative Alabama winning the national championship is a testimony to resolve, brilliant problem-resolution and a willingness to find a way.

So thank you to all those athletes, coaches, administrators and fans who shepherded us through the troubled waters and the oppressive uncertainty of football season -- and, in particular, the last 321 days of our health crisis. We’ve needed that distraction of sports to keep our sanity.

Football is going to require a semi-reboot. We will all need to work on our patience, persistence, prayer and perspective.

At the same time, even without the orange blossoms anymore, there is a scent of promise, a certain air of appreciation and expectation that will begin to roll our way over the next eight weeks. I’m a Hundred And One on that one.

And by the way, just as I was wrapping up this column, I called the Heart of Florida Health Center. Three more rings, three more busy signals. On the fourth ring, a nice young lady named Jessica answered. We are now booked for our second vaccine shot on Monday at 1 p.m. Maybe it just required the extra patience of nearly three days and that 154th call. I’m learning.