As per usual, the TRUE culture of F$U is to create hollow slogans, instead of actual substance.
"The Climb" and "Finish For 13" can now be printed on banners and hung in the F$U trophy case, alongside "Do Something".
What this whiny dip**** doesn't understand is that this isn't some kind of sudden "reversal of fortune". Nobody gives a **** if Prison Mike "emphasized humility". The reality is that the F$U program, at every level, is arrogant and dismissive of everyone else. Therefore, when everyone else in college football detests F$U, then everyone enjoys F$U's misfortune.
"Arrogance", you say?
1. Arrogant treatment of the ACC and other ACC schools - as I've expressed elsewhere, the ACC Grant of Rights is terrible. The worst. Unenforceable. But F$U has acted as a lone wolf all along, leaking out self-serving spins on how valuable they are (with the implication that everyone else is trash). As I've said, the lawsuit that F$U filed should NATURALLY include another Florida litigant, but F$U only looks out for F$U. And I realize that "F$U" should be priority #1 to themselves, but there are lots of situations where alliances are even stronger than individual action.
2. Arrogant treatment of their own players - we've already discussed the recruiting approach of "we are going to sign Top 20 high school recruiting classes and immediately recruit over them with Top 5 portal classes". But what killed F$U this year was the arrogance that they held all the cards in the NIL game. First, F$U went out and spend mad money to run it back with their prior-year Portal successes. Then, when the team SUCCEEDED, all the underclassmen assumed that the good feelings and free-flowing money would come their way as they ascended into the starting lineup.
But, NOPE, F$U started acting like they could zero out the budget and start all over again, making all the younger guys "earn it". Even worse, somehow, all of the "comparative" $$$ amounts started leaking out. If you go on the F$U boards and open any thread on a player LEAVING for the Portal, you'll get some kind of comment about "yeah, this Running Back X wanted $X, and that's more money than we gave to Running Back Y, and that means he is greedy and selfish and entitled, so GOOD RIDDANCE". I've seen that same page of the F$U Playbook at least a half-dozen times in the past month. So, if you treat your own roster players like they are stealing from you just because they want comparable treatment, then you ARE going to have a "culture" problem. And it's hard to BOTH lose your seniors to graduation AND your key underclassmen replacements to the Portal. Good luck with that, F$U.
3. Arrogant treatment of recruits - we just saw over the last few months where F$U (fans and writers) talked non-stop about how they were getting EVERYBODY, both high school and Portal. And then..."The Climb" turned into "The Slide". F$U verbals flipped. F$U "silents" signed elsewhere. As in Scarface, F$U started to get high on its own supply, and all the recruiting momentum slipped away. When a coaching staff starts to act like recruits should be honored by an F$U offer, and then turn into quivering jelly right before committing on the spot, you have a serious issue.
I'll leave it at that. I won't even address the arrogant treatment of the rest of college football and the fans.
**** F$U. **** 'em.
The rest of college football is taking pleasure in their downfall.
And don't get me wrong, I understand the concept of "the rest of college football" taking pleasure in the downfall of a team such as, say, MIAMI. I realize that other fanbases perceived our players as arrogant. But at least I'm self-aware of that concept. I'm not out here whining about how the "sympathy" for our team disappeared, and trying to come up with ideas for a Public Relations campaign to turn things around.
