Football coach Will Muschamp inherited a Florida Gators program with high expectations but considerable flaws. By Joseph Goodman
Rookie Gators coach Will Muschamp leads with a fiery edge. He’ll need that unbridled enthusiasm to get the most out of this season.
An uncomfortable malaise settled over the University of Florida football program last season. Players bickered about entitlement issues. Arrests continued to pile up. At times, the quarterback position was painful to watch. The generally uneasiness surrounding the program manifested itself in five losses (including three at home) and climaxed when an exhausted coach Urban Meyer resigned due to ongoing concerns for his health.
More than anything, Florida football simply needed an attitude adjustment. Enter Muschamp, who is short on head-coaching experience but long on discipline, energy and confidence.
“I’m about being honest with the players and sometimes they don’t like what I tell them, but I’m going to tell it the way it is,” said Muschamp, who learned under Nick Saban at Louisiana State and the Dolphins before coaching defense at Auburn and Texas.
The way it is: While any rookie head coach would sell his soul to begin his career in Gainesville, Muschamp inherited a program with high expectations but considerable flaws. The Gators were ranked 10th in the Southeastern Conference in total offense last season, lost to rival Florida State for the first time in seven years and lost to Gators legend Steve Spurrier, coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks.
When it couldn’t get much worse, it did. Meyer quit and Muschamp’s first major action as coach of the Gators was dismissing the team’s best player, cornerback Janoris Jenkins. Losing Jenkins, who was arrested multiple times while in Gainesville, was a blow for a team that likely will lean heavily on its defense while its new offense comes online.
But based on Jenkins’ recent comments about the Gators’ program, it seems Muschamp made the right move by cleaning house. Jenkins, who is now playing at North Alabama, recently told the Orlando Sentinel that Meyer wouldn’t have kicked him off the team after his second arrested for marijuana possession in a two-month span.
“No doubt, if Coach Meyer were still coaching, I’d still be playing for the Gators,” Jenkins said. “Coach Meyer knows what it takes to win.”
In kicking Jenkins off the team, Muschamp changed the culture of UF’s program with one swing of the axe.
“He gives us standards and then we have to be held above those standards and if we mess up that’s our fault,” said defender Lerentee McCray. “He doesn’t baby us or treat us like kids. He treats us like adults.”
Receiver Chris Dunkley and defender Chris Martin were other big-name players Muschamp weeded out of the program. With less than 75 scholarship players on the roster, depth could become an issue with injuries to thin positions groups: linebacker, receiver, cornerback, safety and the offensive line.
Not including kickers, the Gators only feature 10 senior lettermen and 77 percent of the roster is made up of underclassmen. With so few upperclassmen, Muschamp is counting on his sophomore class to make an impact.
“We’ve talked about leadership and we’ve basically defined it to our players as No. 1, you have got to be a productive player,” Muschamp said. “If you aren’t producing and you aren’t making plays, it’s hard to be a leader.”
The Gators are ranked No. 22 by the Associated Press to begin the season. It’s the lowest preseason position for Florida since it began the 2003 season unranked. A difficult schedule won’t help the transition from Meyer’s spread-option offense to the pro-style offense implemented by offensive coordinator Charlie Weis.
Of course, you won’t hear any complaints from fifth-year senior quarterback John Brantley, who struggled early last season and had seemingly lost all confidence in himself by November. Brantley averaged 158.5 yards passing in 2010 and was ranked 10th among SEC quarterbacks in efficiency (116.4). Now matched with Weis, Brantley is hoping to make the most of his senior season.
“His swag, his confidence is just higher than it’s been the past couple of years,” said receiver Deonte Thompson , like Brantley a fifth-year senior with a lot to prove. “He’s taking leadership and taking control of the team.”
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