Coach James "Gator" Bamgardner has sent more than 40 players to various SEC schools. He has also sent various other schools to the other power conferences as well. Coach Gator, as he prefers being called has coached 4 state high school championship teams along with two National Junior College Championship teams. We feel privileged to have coach Gator here on our humble blog. His nickname of Gator does not reflect any affinity for the Florida Gators, rather a fact that he wrestled an alligator somewhere in the swamps between Orange, Texas and Lafayette Louisiana.
BD: Coach Gator, what was your opinion of the recent Auburn-Oregon Tostitos national Championship game.
Coach: Well mah friend, I for one am getting sick and tired of all these little midgets who write sports and have never played the game saying how it was such a dominating victory for Auburn. I mean, the game went down to the last play.
BD: True enough, but were they mentioning the interior line play, where Auburn seemed to have it won hands down.
Coach: That may well be and Auburn had a distinct advantage to that part of the game. To me Oregon had a mediocre line with an outstanding system. Auburn had a good system with some outstanding size and strength. But there is one secret all SEC teams have and this cannot be duplicated by many other teams around the country.
BD: What is that?
Coach: I will tell you at the end of the interview.
BD:You don't seem like an SEC homer. What was your opinion of Oregon.
Coach: Well, I am objective and I would like to think I am a student of the game. Oregon may well have beat Auburn if they don't wait for over a month to play the game. Oregon has a ton of speed. This is why I think the PAC-10 matches up better with the SEC than the Big-10, because of the speed out there on the coast that them plowboys in the midwest cannot duplicate as much. Oregon has a very out of the box system and with over a month, Auburns size and speed was able to somewhat shut it down. Remember, I'm not such a homer to think that Southern Cal was only good for one national championship when Pete Carrol was there. There were as good or better than the 2 loss LSU team and had Texas dead in the water until Bush laterals and Pete Carrol goes on 4th down without Reggie Bush. They let a team that was down and out with the best player in college football back in the hunt. So the PAC -10 is a good conference.
BD: Why can't the Pac-10 seem to play defense that well in alot of cases, especially in pass coverage?
Coach: Well, USC has had some teams that have but overall I just don't know. It seems odd to me because they have some of the best quarterbacks and passing games in the country every year and you would think practicing every day against these boys they would surely be better in coverage. I think it's the pass rush as much as anything, and that's part of the secret I will tell you at the end of the interview.
BD: What could Oregon have done to win the game?
Coach: Well hell Boy, if they would have just kicked a field goal instead of trying to run it over that big ole Farley kid that was stuffin up the middle all day, they might be still playing. That game was really about as close as a game can be.
BD: What's your opinion on recruiting?
Coach: The most and best players consistently come out of 3 states...Florida, Texas and California. It's a numbers game and those states have the people and the players. Now, there are other state around those that have players in unusual amounts for small states. Two that come to mind are Louisianna and Mississippi. They probably have the greatest athletes per capita of any states. And then there is Georgia which is a rat race unto itself. It helps support Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Tennessee plus various other schools. When Auburn gets the best players out of Georgia, Tennessee and Georgia suffer and vice versa. Then there is Ohio which is owned by Ohio State. Their pro player production has increased by 3 players per year since Jimmy Tressell has become the captain of that ship. They are sort of like an SEC team playing in the big ten. And remember, in Southern Cal's back yard they have a school, Long Beach Poly high school, that has put more players in the NFL than any other school.
BD: Any other thoughts?
Coach: There are a few dream jobs like Florida, Florida State, Texas, Texas A and M, Miami, Southern Cal where if they just recruit the best in their back yard, they are in the top ten every year. The problem is their back yard is getting invaded...invaded heavily mah friend.
BD: Are there any sleeping giants sort of asleep at the wheel that could be great programs?
Coach: A few come to mind. One is UCLA. That is a great campus with the best weather in the country. Their degree is second to none and it has everything a kid wants, good lookin uniforms and lots to do off campus. Same for Arizona State. Best facilities anywhere, the countries biggest school, but they have to be successful recruiting in other states. Hell son, if ya tole me Oregon would be great a few years back I woulda laughed. But Ole Phil Knight of Nike threw so much money at the school that they became good. Maybe at UCLA's expense. I was gonna mention Texas A and M, but Coach Sherman seems to have turned that around. What a crazy bunch of fans they have.
BD: Wrapping it up coach, what is the secret you have been talking about that the SEC teams have the unfair advantage?
Coach: Think about it son...it's real simple. It's right there on your forehead....it's the humidity. These kids up north and on the west coast would crumble like daisies in a sauna bath if they had to put up with our humidity and heat. It's our secret and it's what makes our kids the toughest of the tough. Have ya ever wondered why Miami and Houston are the two top cities for puttin pros in the NFL? And Dallas ain't far behind son. It's the damn humidity....when they come out of these swamps they know they can beat anyone.
BD: Coach, thanks for your time, it has been my pleasure.
Coach: Anytime son.
*************************************************************
Two miscellaneous thoughts I have had for a long time. The Texas A and M fight song sounds exactly like the intro to the Yogi Bear Cartoon theme song that Hanna and Barbera produced. The University of Texas fight song is exactly the same tune as "I've Been Working on the Railroad".
No comments:
Post a Comment