Editor’s Note: The following is a perspective from Gators booster and Dartmouth Alum Dan Richman. It does not necessarily reflect the position of Read & Reaction, but we thought it was an interesting addition to the conversation following the recent loss to Kentucky.
I was born in 1973. Between the time I entered this world and my 45th birthday in 2018, the Gators had lost to Kentucky a total of five times: 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1986. In the six seasons since 2018, the Gators have lost FOUR times.
As a longtime Gator booster, the most recent loss makes me think that this is a good time to reflect on what we’ve all been through for the past decade and a half.
The top of the mountain: January 2009
In early 2009, Florida won the BCS Championship.
There I was, in Miami, watching the Gators win their 2nd national title in 3 seasons. The entire team (minus Percy Harvin) was coming back for 2009. And Urban Meyer would later land the number one overall recruiting class in 2010.
2009 saw us go 12-0, and head to Atlanta to face an Alabama team the Gators defeated in 2008 (without an injured Percy Harvin). This time, it went quite differently. Standout defensive lineman Carlos Dunlap was charged with DUI after being found sleeping in his car, idling at a red light, and was suspended. The Gators went on to get absolutely hammered by Alabama in an embarrassing showing.
Little did we know, at this point, the 5 stages of grief were just beginning…
Stage 1: Denial
Charlie Weis turned out not to be the solution at offensive coordinator.
The Gators hired Will Muschamp in 2011. He brought in former Notre Dame head coach and Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, who quite nicely symbolized this era.
After a .500 season in 2011, there was the first of a few offensive coaching shakeups and the Gators went 11-1 in 2012. Phew, after just 2 mediocre seasons, we are back!
Sure, we got embarrassed in the Sugar Bowl in a game we later learned several key players didn’t take seriously. But whatever. Surely things would improve from here, because for all of Muschamp’s warts on offense, he can recruit and coach defense.
Stage 2: Anger
Football was too painful, so here’s a pic of my cousin’s kid at a HOOPS game – we went to the Final 4 that year!
2013 began with promise, starting 4-1 with a fluke loss at Miami. The 18th ranked Gators beat Arkansas 30-10 on October 5. That was the last win we’d get that season. A rash of injuries saw almost half the starters shelved, and we even lost to FCS Georgia Southern.
This was the first losing season the program had seen since 1979. This wasn’t supposed to happen in Gainesville, even in bad years.
But look, we were down to our third string QB and backups at so many positions. Yes, recruiting took a hit because of the horrible year, but Muschamp was fresh off a 11-1 season, so we had to stick with him, right? Right?
2014 saw yet another OC get hired, and the team went 7-5. The final straw was an embarrassing home loss to a Steve Spurrier-coached South Carolina team, and Muschamp was summarily fired. In came offensive-minded Jim McElwain from Colorado State (after a stint as Alabama OC), and needless to say, we remained in stage 2…
Football was too painful, so here’s a pic of my cousin’s kid at a HOOPS game – we went to the Final 4 that year!
Stage 3: Bargaining
The Michigan game that essentially ended the McElwain era.
In 2018, we did what many Gator fans had wanted long before then:hired Dan Mullen. This was the guy who oversaw our offense in the glory years. He was fresh off a very successful stint at Mississippi State. He managed to (albeit very temporarily) get what was a toilet bowl program to a number one ranking in 2014. Just imagine what he could do in Gainesville!
And things started fairly well! 9-3 in 2018 (with a victory over pesky Michigan in the Peach Bowl) and 10-2 in 2019. Two New Years 6 bowl appearances and two top-10 finishes in a row. 2020 saw an all-time great offense bring us to the brink of the College Football Playoff (CFP), only to be spoiled by a historically bad defense. But hey, 2020 was weird, right?
Stage 4: Depression
UF football was in the toilet but Dartmouth boasted 2 kids from Gator greats: Judd Davis’s and Kevin Carter’s sons Connor and Zion.
2021 saw a total implosion of the Dan Mullen regime leading to his firing (only a few weeks after he finally cut bait with his toxic defensive coordinator, Todd Grantham). The historically bad 2020 defense continued through 2022, which saw an absolute rock bottom under new head coach Billy Napier. That defense finished , where the defense finished 97th nationally in yards per game.
2023 saw more coach shuffling, with defensive coordinator Patrick Toney headed out of town after just one season. NIL disputes saw the intended blue chip QB recruit for 2023 go elsewhere and we planned to roll with a Wisconsin transfer at QB.
We are now on our 4th coach since 2011 (average of 3 seasons per coach). Did we just make 3 (4?) bad hires in a row, or is more going on here? Are our expectations realistic? 2008 doesn’t seem like that long ago, and yet…
Stage 5: Acceptance
“Kentucky beats Florida for the 3rd straight year, by a score of 33-14.”
For over 30 years, even mediocre Florida teams were still able to beat Kentucky. Even had a couple of them turned into losses here and there, never was three in a row even in the realm ossibilitiesies. But here we are.
Yes, this is not your Dad’s Kentucky team. But’it’s also not your Dad’s Florida Gators.
The University of Florida currently is the 6th-ranked public university and number 28 overall. Now let’s ask ourselves, where do the truly elite football schools rank?
- Ohio St: #43
- UGA: #47
- Clemson: #86
- Oklahoma: #124
- Alabama: #170
- LSU: #185
There are only two schools ranked academically ahead of UF who are known for football: #20 Notre Dame and #21 Michigan. Tell me, how many CFP victories do they have?
The answer: Zero, same as UF.
Yes, both recruit well and are good this year. But Michigan plays in the Big Ten where they only have one rival on the above list. Notre Dame is a solid program but they aren’t a major threat to win national titles.
Where am I going with this? Well, it’s time we accept that Florida in 2023 isn’t the same as Florida in the 90s or early 2000s. It’s over. This doesn’t mean UF will never have good or even great football teams. We certainly can. We will be able to recruit very well, though probably not at an elite level. In years that we have a QB (see: Trask, Kyle), we can be very competitive. But if you’re waiting for 2008, you’ll be waiting a while, and continuing to fire coaches isn’t the answer.
In sum, the sooner you join me in “acceptance” of these circumstances, the happier you’ll be.
Mike
Not in this lifetime. Napier wasn’t hired because he was a proven coach. He had a pedigree and was successful at a power 5 but not at an elite level. He was hired to implement a C.E.O approach in a rapidly changing landscape in major college football. Can Napier be relevant and prominent at Florida. He’s a good recruiter, be has established the pr part to attract prospects. U.F. has bought in and has the money to provide whatever he needs. He is not a good head coach. And unless he changes his philosophy he will be fired. U.F. has had two great coaches, Spurrier and Meyer, both with innovative offenses. The fun and gun and the spread. We are not the old Alabama or the new Jawja boodogs, we shouldn’t want to be. We are the Florida Gators. For the last 33 years the most watched team in college football. Why? Because we played outside the box. The only way Napier will succeed is bring in an offensive genius. The buzz word in football analytics is explosives. If you can stretch the field your two elite backs can have 1000 yard seasons. The west coast style may work in power 5 it won’t in the S.E.C or against elite defenses. The portal has evened the playing field. The days of old have passed and you have to score points to win. Napiers ball control has nowhere to go if they get behind. He did good with Armstrong now go get one for the offense…and special teams. Go Gators!
Doug
This might be the most boring and inane article I have read in many years, on any subject.
Julie B.
This post was sobering…
I enjoy your unique approaches Will. And this is spot on. It IS a grieving process.
I’ve been a Gator fan for 58 years.
The years before Steve Spurrier (and Billy Donovon) came along were so much easier. Once you experience the top of the mountain, everything changes. And in many ways that’s a shame.
I have just one wish, & I’m not proud of it.
I want someone to wipe that self-satisfied smirk off Uncle Lou’s face. Please.
As long as it’s not FSU.
God bless & Go Gators!
Darrick
I see what the author is saying about the trajectory of the program, but I don’t see anywhere in this essay an account of why we are no longer a top program. The thinking has been for a long time that we had all the ingredients to get back to the top, but just needed the right coach. The author lists the programs ahead of us and contrasts that with UF, which seems more interested in being a top public university than winning championships in football. Perhaps that is the reason? Lots of people have said this, and perhaps that is the case. Perhaps we have all the resources to become a power and are not using them, or perhaps not. If someone can clearly point to evidence of this (by that I mean not the usual message board complaints, but specific, concrete evidence) that we simply cannot compete for championships anymore, then I will resign myself to that fact. But I don’t think that’s been proven yet, not to my satisfaction at least.
Potzer
I am clearly at acceptance.
Accepting not making donations. Accepting not buying tickets. Accepting not buying merch. Accepting not wearing merch.
Next will be accepting not watching the games on tv.