Most UF sources are saying it was a surprise to Meyer. However, he probably had contact with Azzanzi after UL showed interest in Gonzales and the replacement has close ties to Meyer from Bowling Green.
Yes, but also the impact on recruiting, and from what I have heard that the news breaking too soon might have aslo been a factor.
yep. i think that any news of a coach leaving the NFL for college with so much football still left is probably not a good thing. but i think gonzales is the better hire since he can recruit, and is (supposedly) proficient in redzone offense.
If my memory is correct, I think we ran into a similar problem back in 2007 when trying to hire a new DC.
also, wasn't it a factor with Del Rio after saban left? although i don't know how serious he was about taking the LSU job.
News breaking likely did not have much to do with it since everyone in Buffalo expects him to be gone one way or another after this year. As for recruiting it does have a factor but if Tolbert would have accepted the offer it would have been a moot point. The big positive is that these prospects already know who Gonzales is and that in itself helps recruiting but he still has to go through the same orientation that Tolbert would have had to go through but he gets an earlier start instead of waiting for the Bills season to end. The timing couldn't have been better for Tolbert to decline the offer given that Miles was in Orlando yesterday at the bowl banquet and therefore had easy access to Gonzales to get the deal done in a timely manner.
Yes, you are correct. I like the Gonzales hire better, anyway. I think that we will get waaaayy more value and results. As they say, timing is everything, and I think we benefited by this series of events.
