There was a hilarious exchange between Will Muschamp and a journalist in Florida this week.
The journalist asked the 15,323rd question about Muschamp and his relationship with Nick Saban but added a bizarre twist. She referred to Muschamp as a "Padawan," which in "Star Wars" lingo is a Jedi apprentice.
"Huh?" Muschamp said. "I watched Star Wars One and after that I watched Empire Strikes Back, and that's it. I ain't see nuthin' after that. And I don't know what a Padawan is. You didn't call me a bad name, did ya? I don't speak French, either."
Sure sign a media angle has jumped the shark: "Stars Wars" questions get asked in the SEC that don't involve Admiral Ackbar becoming the Ole Miss mascot.
Let's focus on a new angle with more substance for Alabama-Florida: Nick Saban vs. Charlie Weis. One of football's best defensive minds goes against one of the game's offensive geniuses.
Saban and Weis both come from the Bill Belichick coaching tree. If you must follow through on the analogies coming from the "Star Wars" convention in Gainesville this week, that makes the hoodie-wearing Belichick the evil Emperor.
But here's the real intrigue: Saban and Weis, wildly successful coaches at their craft, have never played when they both could put a stamp on their teams' identity.
"It's funny," Weis told Florida media this week. "When Will and I talked today, one of the first things I did was say, 'Tell me about Nick, tell me about Kirby (Smart).' These are like his boys."
Saban went to coach the Miami Dolphins just as Weis left as New England Patriots offensive coordinator for Notre Dame. They met three times as NFL assistants in the 1990s, when Saban was the Cleveland Browns' defensive coordinator and Weis was running backs coach for the Giants and tight ends coach for the Patriots.
But those were Belichick vs. Bill Parcells games, and Weis was a low man on the totem pole. If you're keeping score, Weis' teams won two of three against Saban's but only averaged 13 points on offense in those meetings.
"A lot of the terminology is the same," Weis said about Alabama's defense compared to Saban's days with the Browns. "A lot of the things are consistent."
Say what you want about Weis as a head coach, and it wasn't good, but he coaches up offenses the way Saban does with defenses. Weis is the coach who helped Tom Brady transform from a sixth-round NFL draft pick into a future Hall of Famer.
He's the coach who turned Brady Quinn's 26-to-25 touchdown-to-interception ratio through his first two years at Notre Dame into 69-to-14 in the final two seasons.
He's the coach who inherited a Kansas City Chiefs offense last year that previously finished 25th, 24th and 31st in total offense and got it to 12th. The Chiefs are back to 30th without Weis, whose latest resurrection project is rebuilding the confidence of previously misused Gators quarterback John Brantley.
Florida always ran the ball under Urban Meyer, but did so with misdirection and even badly used Brantley some as an option quarterback.
Muschamp wanted a pro-style offense. Weis has obliged with an improved offensive line that paves holes for speedy running backs Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey, and protects what so far has been a short passing game with Brantley.
The Gators lead the SEC in rushing (259 yards per game) and scoring (40.3 points). Of course, that came against Florida Atlantic, UAB, Tennessee and Kentucky, none of which is ranked higher than 59th nationally in total defense.
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