I’ll go ahead and say it — my alma mater? The University of Florida? I’m embarrassed to say I (barely) graduated from the place. Why? Because of the much smarter people I apparently graduated with.
U-of-F’s fans and alumni are spoiled brats, and I think we all know it. And they’re the No. 1 problem with the Gator Football machine’s demise that has been going on for more than a decade.
I love Gainesville with all my heart, and I’ll never forget my time there in the 1990s. I was lucky enough as a student to cover my college for my hometown paper in Leesburg (Fla.), and I had classes with a Heisman Trophy winner (Danny Wuerffel) and walked across the street after class from our J-school to cover a national championship team in 1996 with another Heisman winner coaching it (guess who?).
And yet, you could see a slight arrogance beginning even 25 years ago in a program that like … 25 years prior to 1996 … hadn’t been in any kind of national discussion, ever. Everybody in the CFB universe knew the sleeping giant of college football was down here in Florida, but nobody knew how to do it. That was the problem back in those days.
But I don’t think anybody whined like we hear today.
This place/school/program we all love? It’s not the second coming of something special. Our alma mater can be replaced. So as much as you all boo your asses off in Sept. at the “new guy” you all celebrated the hiring of just a few months ago when you screamed in ecstasy about ditching the last guy?
You’re part of the problem.
You all don’t understand how it works. A coach needs a minimum of five years to get his recruits in place (especially in today’s climate), his system, and his staff infused to build a massive program like the one you are praying for in Gainesville right now.
They aren’t the problem, you are. You fire them too early. And yes, big-money donors, you are the ones steering that ship with the clout to get rid of the current guy — and you ride that publicity wave when you hear the noise at the stadium on game day.
Let’s do some research:
STEVE SPURRIER (1990-2001) — hired prior to the 1990 season, an alum with a Heisman who you knew would get a longer leash than any of the other hires prior (long story). The SEC was stuck on yesterday, and he was innovative and shredded them all with a passing attack and everybody in Florida loved the guy — until the later 1990s when you began to hate going 10-2 instead of 12-0. WTH? He left because the fanbase began crying about not winning nattys. SMH
—————–
And? You/we haven’t changed.
RON ZOOK (2002-04) — Clearly flawed BUT brought high-level recruits in who won Urban Meyer’s first title game in 2006. Meyer got all the credit, and Zook certainly had on-the-field problems (with his staff included), but everybody was short-sighted as usual and the world gave Urban all of the cred when he won with Zook’s recruits.
URBAN MEYER (2005-10) — Riding the success of Zook’s upperclassmen in 2006, truly a damned good recruiter in his own right — Meyer also nabbed a legacy Fla Gator in Tebow and built things up for the 2008 title run. But after that? The wheels fell off in many ways and he left on his own accord.
It’s worth mentioning, by the way, that a very talented columnist I worked on staff with in Daytona — Ken Willis — used to say repeatedly that you can’t win the SEC without a couple of felons on defense. And the truth is? He’s was right.
WILL MUSCHAMP (2011-14): Didnt’ get the chance to develop the talent he recruited after coming from Texas as the HBC to be named later in Austin. Was he really good? Who knows.
JIM MCELWAIN (2015-17): Probably didn’t fit the southern culture, but was a Saban disciple. ‘Champ recruited Will Grier, who did some spectacular things in fall 2015 and then left and did some spectacular things at West Virginia in 2017-18. But ole Coach Mac didn’t make anybody happy in Gainesville.
DAN MULLEN (2018-20): The guy who everybody in the Gator Nation wanted — DIEHARD wanted — the minute Meyer left, because he was the one who worked with Tebow — and it didn’t take 3 yrs before Gator fans all hated him. And by late last year? You all wanted him trashed. He’d had big-time success at Mississippi State. But UF fans are too stupid to have patience.
Oh, and in between the firings you all have screamed for? You’ve had four “interim” head coaches. Charlie Strong, D.J. Durkin, Randy Shannon, and Greg Knox.
Now it’s Billy Napier. And those of us paying attention Saturday night? We heard boos.
Boos? Who are we? Really? Already, you clueless wonders. It’s embarrassing.
But that’s us, isnt’ it?. A bunch of spoiled brats who keep getting stuck in neutral.
And people are yelling and screaming about a second consecutive loss to Kentucky. Did you notice something? KY has a coach who has been allowed by his program to actually stay and build something for a decade — Mark Stoops. Remember when he was hired back then? KY may hot have patience with hoops, but apparently, it has a brain when it comes to football. His program is not a national title contender, but a solid program.
And again, his program? It’s beaten our program two years in a row. So apparently he’s decent.
Stoops has built something from scratch into a program that can consistently knock off an SEC EAST division foe like Florida. Something that hasn’t happened in back-to-back seasons since the 1970s. Remember bell-bottoms? Remember KY owning UF in football?
No? Hell, I’m old, and I don’t remember KY over FLA in two straight years, When I went to school at FL? Ky was almost like a payout game. Truth. Not now.
How about everybody just shuts up for five years and let the guy you all gave millions to do his job? Recruiting is brutally hard. Building a program is hard.
But, if you want to keep firing coaches every three years and paying them millions afterward to go away because you supported firing the last guy.
That sums up UF football in 2022 as of Sept. 2022.
