Oh what it must be like to be a Florida Gators football fan this season. The once mighty Gators are 3-3 (2-3 SEC) this season after losing perhaps their most embarrassing home game ever to Missouri 42-13 last Saturday on homecoming at The Swamp.
After the game, the speculation immediately began. Would embattled head coach Will Muschamp coach another game on the UF sideline? Despite most, if not all, Gators fans wanting Muschamp out as of yesterday, athletic director Jeremy Foley said that he would not make any substantial coaching decisions until the end of the 2014 season. So while Muschamp’s job is seemingly safe for now, one would speculate that he will be canned right after the Florida State game at the end of the year.
In a statement released by the school, Foley said, “At the beginning of the season we said we would evaluate the season as it plays out,” he said in a statement released by the school. “We will continue to do so. Our sole focus right now is supporting our coaching staff as they prepare for Georgia.”
Photo: Gators’ head coach Will Muschamp
It will be interesting to see how many Gators fans attend the game against Georgia in Jacksonville on Nov. 1. Over the years, these two teams have been evenly matched but this year’s matchup seems a big one-sided. What Gators’ fans should be especially concerned about is that No. 9 Georgia beat that same Missouri team the week before, 34-0, in Missouri.
So either Missouri is that resilient or the Gators are just that bad.
To make matters worse for Gators fans, their cross-state rival, Florida State, is as good as they have ever been under head coach Jimbo Fisher and quarterback Jameis Winston. The Gators absolutely dominated the Seminoles in recent years under former head coach Urban Meyer but now the roles have reveresed. The Seminoles are the top team in the state while the Gators wallow in misery.
But there is a silver lining. If the Seminoles can return to national relevance, so can the Gators. When legendary head coach Bobby Bowden stepped down at FSU, fans wondered if the football program would ever return to fame and dominance. In the end, it didn’t take long as the Seminoles won the national championship over Auburn a season ago.
Despite Foley’s ‘vote of confidence’ for Muschamp, there are some interesting tidbits to share. Mark Long of the AP tweeted the following after Saturday night’s Florida loss:
“Gators AD Jeremy Foley stood in end zone near Mizzou side and didn’t say a word to coach Will Muschamp as he left field”.
https://twitter.com/APMarkLong/status/523661969912774656
Michael David Smith, the managing editor of Pro Football Talk, tweeted:
“Ron Zook went 16-8 in SEC games at Florida. Tonight’s loss will drop Will Muschamp to 15-14 in the SEC at Florida.”
https://twitter.com/MichaelDavSmith/status/523645761314373633
Last November, Foley was seemingly more supportive of Muschamp when he said, “We will get better under Will Muschamp’s leadership. This is not the quote-unquote dreaded ‘vote of confidence.’ This is just how we all feel around here. We have a strong faith and a strong belief in his capabilities, his leadership skills, in his ability to evaluate what needs to be fixed.”
Clearly, Foley is having second thoughts about that statement. But if you ask any Gators fan, they didn’t have faith in him last November anyway.