Jeremy Foley again throws full support behind Will Muschamp, talks Meyer, Spurrier, Donovan

By Adam Silverstein
July 10, 2014

In an appearance Thursday afternoon on ESPN Radio’s The Paul Finebaum Show, Florida Gators athletic director Jeremy Foley once again threw his full support behind head football coach Will Muschamp ahead of the 2014 season.

Muschamp, who last season led an injury-plagued Florida team to its worst record (4-8) since 1979, has been written about plenty this offseason as the top name on college football’s list of coaches on the proverbial hot seat.

Foley did not deny that Muschamp is facing a pressure situation in 2014 but had no problem making it clear that he trusted him to right the ship after it sunk just seven months earlier.

“If you’re not being successful in this business, you’re going to catch heat no matter what the sport is or who the coach is, and we understand that,” Foley explained.

“We hired Will three years ago now and felt very strongly about his capabilities and his talents. Certainly in year two, I think those were on full display when we finished 11-1. Last year didn’t go our way; we’ve never made any excuses about it. It’s not who we are. It’s not good enough. We need to get better and nobody understands that more than Will.

“It doesn’t change and didn’t change how we felt about him. If you feel strongly about somebody, sometimes you just got to take the heat and you got to go and be strong. That’s what we did there, and we’re excited for the future under Will’s leadership.

“He made some tough calls himself by making some changes in his coaching staff. Now we just got to go do it. The University of Florida is not a 4-8 program. That’s not who we are. We’re going to be better, and we’re excited about the future under Will. [We] feel the same way about him as the day we hired him.”

RELATED: Foley puts legacy on the line by sticking his neck out for Muschamp

Finebaum also asked Foley how difficult of a decision it was to ultimately keep Muschamp in the fold and not jettison him out of the program.


Muschamp at 22-16 in three seasons, is one loss worse than Ron Zook was (23-14) during his three years with the Gators. Zook, who was fired in the middle of that third season, never won more than eight games but also never missed a bowl game and did not lead Florida to a losing record and its worst season in more than 30 years.

Foley detailed how he did not just stick to his guns but rather evaluated how Muschamp dealt with the difficulties he faced, such as a flailing offense and list of season-ending injuries that mounted week by week from the offseason to Florida’s regular-season finale.

“I certainly observed how Will handled a difficult year. I never saw a guy lose control; I never saw a guy who was walking around with a deer-in-the-headlights look. I saw a guy who just kept grinding and was a leader,” he explained.

“You tell a lot about people when things aren’t going well. It’s real easy for all of us when things are going well. You really find out what people are made out of when things aren’t going well, and I liked what I saw.

“It was no fun – no fun for him, no fun for Gator Nation, of course, certainly no fun for our players, no fun for me – it’s no fun when you’re not winning in this business. I think you got to sometimes look through all that and just figure out where you’re headed. If you feel like you’re headed in the right direction, then to make a change will just, in my opinion, set you back.

“Obviously, you hope you’re right. It’s an important program to so many people. It’s important to the University of Florida. It’s important to our fan base. It’s important to our tradition and our history. You don’t want to let anybody down. By the same token, if you think you’re headed in the right direction, you got to stick to your guns. If you stay strong, things have a way of working out.

“I’m very confident and I feel very good that this is going to work out in the end for the University of Florida. The easiest thing to do is to make that knee-jerk reaction, and I’m not sure what you’re left with…I’m not sure what kind of program you have. I’m not sure how people view you. I’m not sure how potential coaches you interview would view you: ‘Here the guy’s 11-1 and SEC Coach of the Year and he’s gone a year later?’ I just think that sometimes you got to look at all those things, in a combination, and make a decision that you feel is best for the University of Florida.”

Foley also touched on a number of other topics in his conversation with Finebaum, including his thoughts on head basketball coach Billy Donovan and former Florida head football coaches Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier.

» On Urban Meyer and Gators fans turning on him for leaving: “I think the whole separation was awkward for a lot of different reasons. … He was the one who had to go through it. … Time has a way of smoothing all that out. … I think some of the uneasiness as far as our fan base will heal over time; time has the way of doing that. I think when all the dust settles, he was one of the all-time greats in the profession. We were blessed to have him for six years. We all enjoyed the ride, that’s for sure. I can say right now again, because I saw the efforts it took to make it happen, he was the ringleader of that ride. It was the way he coached, the way he worked, the staff he put together. Obviously on the front end there’s some uneasiness, and it doesn’t happen very often where a national championship-winning coach leaves and goes somewhere else. That doesn’t happen very often.”

» On Steve Spurrier’s roll with South Carolina and Florida fans still respecting him: “He’s always been a favorite son and rightfully so with what he did for the University of Florida when he was a player, obviously what he did as a coach. … He put the program on the map. At the end of the day, he’s just a big-time ball coach. He’s also a really good friend. Nobody respects him more than I do. I spent some time with him in the Bahamas back in May and it’s just great being around him. … The guy is one of the all-time greats. … He just can flat-out coach. When all is said and done, he will be recognized as one of the all-time greats as well.”

» On Billy Donovan’s flirtation with the Orlando Magic and return to the Gators: “It was a difficult time for our program, more difficult for Billy. He was under a tremendous amount of stress. To be honest with you, I’ve never seen him in such a difficult situation. … It is fun to be around him because not only is he a great guy and a good friend and a good person, but he really is a talented, talented coached. I love being in the locker room listening to him talk to his team. I love being on road trips with him listening to him strategize and talk to his assistants. We are blessed. We are blessed he came back, and we’re still blessed he’s our basketball coach because he’s one of the best.”

39 Comments

  1. Michael Jones says:

    Yeah, he was quite the leader after the Georgia Southern loss. . . . gems like “Georgia Southern practices that offense all year, we only had a week to prepare for it,” and turning over the locker room after the game to a team in discord and disarray with a “you handle it, I’m washing my hands of this” attitude, or pointing fingers at the offense when his defense got run over by an FCS team that passed the ball twice. . .all great signs of leadership in difficult times.

    Look, at this point, it’s too late to do anything but support him. You, me, Foley, we’re all stuck with him for at least one more season. I would otherwise give absolutely no credence to Foley’s comments. At this late juncture, he’s made his bed, and he has no choice but to sleep in it, which invariably includes the proverbial, notorious, usually foreboding “public vote of confidence.”

    You bet, Jeremy. Me too. We all agree 100% that Muschamp is THE MAN. Bahahahahahahahaha!!!

    That being said, in all kinds of weather, baby: BAH NAH NAH NAH NAH GO GATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • Dave Massey says:

      You forgot to mention GS didn’t complete either of those two passes. If Florida is to be successful this year the team needs to play with a chip on their shoulder and with pride. Something they didn’t do last year. The defense flat out quit in the GS game, it had nothing to do with scheme. You make adjustments during the game to any scheme the other team is throwing at you. Florida was playing with a guy at QB that at the end of the previous year they had as fifth string. Brisset transferred and they redshirted one guy who then transferred and two got injured, not to mention all the other injuries. Let’s just hope that last year was simply a fact of anything that could go wrong went wrong and we will be closer to the year before. All hinges on the offense making vast improvements and the special teams cannot be as bad again. GO GATORS!!!

    • Michael J. says:

      D.J. Durkin said the Gators had practiced for the Georgia Southern game all year, starting in the preseason. I guess they didn’t practice very well.i

    • G8R 1975 says:

      Semi-agree. The Dawg better beat Georgia, too.

      BTW, you are short one NAH…

      • Michael Jones says:

        Not if you count my first “bah” as a “nah”. . your “nah” is my “bah”. . ha ha . . . .

  2. W2 says:

    Wonder where were the doubters when the guy won 11. Let’s just hope that injury bug has moved on.

    • Dave Massey says:

      There were a lot of doubters in the 11-1 year. But the defense and special teams were outstanding and the offense was able to run the ball late in games and run out the clock. But the offense was still awful. Florida won a lot of close games and had a lot of luck, remember that punt block for a TD with a few seconds left against who? SE Lousiana or something like that.

      • Brenton Kaiser says:

        I agree with you Dave. We were extremely lucky to have gone 11-1 in 2012. If not for our Defense, we might have gone 4-8 two seasons in a row. The doubters were still present even after an 11-1 season, myself included. The only offensive threat we had that year was RB Mike Gillislee. The problem was, after 2012 everybody we played had already figured out that our offense was one dimensional. That’s not even including all the injuries that played a factor in last years season. Take away the injuries, Florida would have finished anywhere between 5-7 to 8-4. Every team knew our one dimensional offensive scheme last season, so either way failure was in the midst. The way the Sugar Bowl ended, everybody should have known from the start of the 2013 season that Florida was in trouble. I am hoping for the best for the Gators this season and that Will Muschamp will be successful. But if he doesn’t beat those bulldogs this year, that hot seat might burst into flames and Muschamp will feel the wrath of Gator Nation. Haha! Go Gators!

    • gatorboi352 says:

      Yeah I have to echo Dave. Plenty of doubters during that 2012 campaign, and for good reason. The team stumbled ass backwards into those 11 wins like no other team I’ve ever seen in the sport. It was all smoke, mirrors and Gillislee on offense, and that game Dave referenced would have changed the entire perception of the season, and possibly Will’s tenure here. Actually, had we lost it, and still had the 4-8 season in 2013, I do not believe he would be our head coach today.

      And remember, the 1 loss we did suffer during the season? The only one that mattered. To Georgia. Again. Costed us a trip to the SEC game.

    • Ken (CA) says:

      There were tons of doubters that year, all through the year, including myself, and if you go back and read postings throughout that season you will see it. That was the most painful, most stressful 11-1 season possible for a fan. Virtually every lucky thing that had to happen to get across the finish line fell our way. The team was exposed by Louisville, though in how fortunate it was to be an 11-1 team and how easily it could have been a 7-5 team. The record isn’t always indicative of the quality.

  3. Michael J. says:

    I can see Foley is in denial. When he says that Muschamp was 11-1, what is he talking about? The Sugar Bowl was a game that counted, Jeremy. I’m sure if the gators had won, he would be spouting 12-1. Let’s hope Foley has enough integrity to hold Muschamp to his promise, the one he’s been telling everyone who will listen, that the Gators are “going to be a very good football team” this year. That means at least nine wins, if you ask me. I don’t think going less than 9-3 qualifies you to be called a “very good” team. It won’t happen because Muschamp is still not smart enough to figure out that Jeff Driskel sucks. He, and the rest of the staff, will be looking for new jobs next year because they weren’t smart enough to see what a woman who knows nothing about football can see. I’m referencing someone who was watching the Toledo game with me last year. When Driskel had his first fumble, she asked why could he not see the guy coming to get him? Why did he just stand there and drop the ball when the guy touched him? What could I answer? It didn’t come from the blind side, Driskel saw him coming and still didn’t protect the ball. Toledo was a bad team, just like the other three teams the Gators lost to. So it came as no surprise when he “driskeled” away the game at Miami and was well on his way to doing the same with Tennessee. The Gators caught a break when he gt injured, at least Murphy didn’t try to give the ball to the other team. What is really perplexing is that Muschamp is supposedly a defensive guru, if so, why hasn’t he figured out how easy it is to defend Driskel? Hell, you don’t even need to disguise your coverages, Driskel never reads a defense in the first place. So yes Mr. Foley, the gators went 11-1, the Sugar Bowl didn’t count and Muschamp is a great coach and Jeff Driskel should be the starting quarterback. Maybe Foley needs to hit the road as well.

    • Gatoralum88 says:

      Complete denial/selective amnesia for Foley although I know I’ve tried to completely forget about that egg they laid in NO. My hope is that he won’t still be trying to spin “11-1 two years ago blah, blah, blah” when they finish 8-5/7-6/another loss to UGA which I’m hoping won’t happen but expecting because of the schedule, receivers coach, etc. If you’re able to see the picture of Muschump on today’s G’ville Sun sports section…hmmm, looks like “deer in headlights” to me! If the Gators have another mediocre/tank season & Dan Mullen leads his program to 9/10 wins let’s hope “horse face” gives him a call. Foley’s made his bed (more like wet it) now Gator nation must sleep in it for better or (more likely) worse. Go Gators!

      • Michael Jones says:

        Finally, someone else who appreciates what a good coach Dan Mullen is. Foley should have gone after him immediately after Meyer left. Would love to see what Mullen could do at a school that recruits itself the way UF does.

  4. Michael J. says:

    Edit- the other three teams the Gators “beat” not lost to.

  5. Dave Massey says:

    I gotta agree with you on all but one point. I have said it all along and haven’t changed my mind yet, Driskell does not have the “pocket presence” and quick decision making ability to be a top notch QB. Unfortunately, it look like the only alternative will be a true freshman. The one thing I will disagree on is Foley needing to go. He is clearly one of the top AD’s in the country and we are fortunate to have him. Look at the accomplishments of the Gators athletic department before Foley and since. Football is not the only sport in the program. Foley said what you would expect. And if Chump doesn’t deliver THIS year bigtime he will be bladed in a hurry and that will severely set the program, especially recruiting, back 3-5 years no matter who they hire.

    • Michael J. says:

      You’re right about Foley, but let’s face reality, football is the only sport that matters. As for recruiting, I think it’s a myth that recruiting will suffer. Muschamp has not recruited any better than the coaches who have went before him. Even Galen Hall did well recruiting. Maybe UF won’t get some guys in 2015 that they want, but by 2016 the new coach will do just fine. How good do you need to be when your base is the state of Florida? I think you can be a great recruiter at the University of Florida by just falling out of bed. The problems with this team are not due to any shortfalls in recruiting. UF has recruited just as well as anyone not named Alabama. UF has recruited as well as FSU. The difference? UF gets the number one quarterback named Driskel, FSU get’s the same, but his name is Winston. Maybe the staff doesn’t do a good job getting the right players, maybe they are going wrong by being more influenced by the number of stars a player has next to his name. I don’t know, but the excuse made by Foley and others that it would hurt recruiting if Muschamp is fired is a red herring. If you can talk and chew bubble gum at the same time, you can recruit great players to the University of Florida. Muschamp has done nothing special recruiting, so that’s not a valid reason to keep him. Only going to Atlanta is, at least every four years or so. By the way, this is his fourth year.

      • Dave Massey says:

        Football is not the only sport that matters to me. I love football but am damn proud of all the Gators athletic teams. The men finished 3rd in the FedEx Cup and the Lady Gators brought home the top spot. That speaks to Foley’s leadership. Florida has had top rated recruiting classes under Muschamp and it will certainly hurt the program to fire a coach, but it may be inevitable. As far as Driskell versus Winston, I would rather have Driskell than a raping seafood stealing lying piece of garbage like Winston. We have had enough negative players in the program without that scumbag. And believe me, if he had come to the Gators I would be saying the same thing. I don’t want guys like that at our school. FSU had success against an ACC schedule, who cares, they play in a second rate conference with a second rate schedule. I mean they had to beat Duke in their conference championship game, come on man. I will agree with you on going to Atlanta is the only thing that matters for football though.

        • Michael J. says:

          I think you have lost your objectivity. Winston has not ever been arrested, so calling him a rapist is pretty stupid. I could call you a child molester, that doesn’t mean it’s true.I also think you’re being pretty silly criticizing the ACC when UF was humiliated by Louisville on the field and I doubt a team that can’t even beat Georgia Southern can act like they are better than Duke. By the way, UF gets two transfers from the ACC and they instantly start at UF, Garcia and McGee, how could that happen if the ACC was as bad as you depict? The ACC also has more NFL players than any league except the SEC. The SEC is the best league, there is no doubt about that, but other teams can play football too. The ACC was undefeated in BCS games this year, while the SEC was 0-2. Let’s give the devil his due, UF was a 30 point underdog at home to FSU last year. There’s a big gap in the two programs right now, and Winston is the main reason. The truth is hard to accept, but you can’t hide your head in the sand and ignore it. Like Sgt. Friday said; ” Just the facts…”, I may not like them either, but they’re there just the same.

          • Michael Jones says:

            Good stuff, Michael and Dave. Didn’t agree with everything, who does, but you both made some good points and I enjoyed reading your comments. Love a comment board like what Adam has provided for us here when there is a good, healthy, robust exchange of ideas. It’s what America is all about.

          • Dave Massey says:

            You are almost as good at twisting facts as the Tallahassee police department. TPD is one of the most corrupt police departments in the country. That is why their captain had to resign under allegations of rampant corruption in his department. I guess it is just a coincidence that it took almost a year for the allegations against Winston to become public. Just in time for the season to be over before an investigation could be completed. He may not have been arrested but the evidence is there to support that a lot of pressure was placed against the complainant not to press the matter. The whole thing stinks. And he was arrested for stealing seafood. My point was that I would rather not have him associated with my program and would rather have Driskell any day from a character standpoint. He was protected by the athletic department who did everything they could to cover it up. And he lawyered up pretty quick. Just because he wasn’t arrested doesn’t mean he didn’t do anything wrong, they just didn’t have enough proof. As usual, it was a he said, she said. And Louisville was not a member of the ACC when they beat Florida in the bowl game. Seriously doubt the Cardinals will be that good now that Bridgewater is gone and Strong has headed to Texas. Bridgewater had the game of his life in that bowl game and I give him credit for having an outstanding game. And as far as Garcia and McGee go, I don’t remember seeing them on anybody’s All American or even all conference teams. Just being a starter doesn’t mean all that much to me. By the way, how many games has McGee started? And Garcia played on a line that was terrible, was that all his fault? And there is no doubt that there are good players on pretty much every team in every conference but that doesn’t make for good teams. The SEC supplies almost 25% of the NFL draft. Duke wouldn’t have finished in the top half of the SEC whether or not Florida was better than them. Outside of FSU the ACC was a pretty weak conference last year and has been for a while. Look at the last ten years, not just last year. Florida had a tough year and we will see how big a gap there is between the two programs after this year. Florida was a worn down broken team by the time they got to the FSU game and just wanted the year to be over. This was the same team that the year before ran the ball down FSU’s throat in the second half against their supposed “NFL defensive line”. One year is not going to make or break this program, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

        • Ken (CA) says:

          For all of you talking about how bad Driskel (one L guys!) is, there is a reason why he is on all the QB awards watch list this year. He is a lot better than you give him credit for, he was put in a system that wasn’t conducive to his style of play. I think you will see much different and better QB under Roper. Football isn’t the only sport that matters, but it is the major revenue producer, and all of Foley’s success in the other sports wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the 70 million/yr Football brings in. He is one of the top 3 ADs in the country, and I think he may be wrong about Champ, not every decision he has made has been perfect, when you manage as many sports as he does, not every one will be. But when you look at all the SEC champs and NCAA champs won since 1992, the overall resume is incredibly impressive.

          I thought he made some very good arguments as to his reasoning as to why Champ was his guy and clearly put a lot of thought and evaluation into it. While I am still not confident about Champ, I tend to trust Foley’s judgment knowing when something is working and when it is time to cut ties. I, for one, will be supporting his decision until I get a reason not to.

          As far as the recruiting bed of Florida, I find it interesting that the top 4 players recruited so far were not from the state of Florida. One thing to consider, is we are still in the running for some huge names, including the #1 rated player in the country who happens to be a badly needed OLine guy in Martez Ivey, who has long had us as the team to beat for his services. This class still has an opportunity to be a top 3 or top 5 class if even just some of those top players that have us as the top or in the top 3 end up choosing UF

          • Michael Jones says:

            I agree with you about Driskel.

            The part about everyone raving about how great Foley is, I struggle with that to the extent that it allows him to dig in on Muschamp. Sounds like ego to me. Yeah, Foley has done a lot of good things, but he’s also made some mistakes, like Adazio, and maybe Muschamp. When you make a mistake, I don’t care how great your track record is, admit that you’ve made a mistake, fix it, and then let’s move on.

  6. Rakkasan says:

    Well that clears things up nicely for me. It’s Foley who needs to leave.

    • ConnGator says:

      Foley is one of the top 3 ADs in America. Calling for him to leave is ridiculous.

      • Michael Jones says:

        I’m not calling for Foley to leave. Just calling for him to admit that he made mistake if we have another year that even comes close to approaching last year’s debacle.

  7. James P says:

    I am bias toward the Gators. I admit that. I believe last year was the result of bad breaks, and in turn bad coaching. It happens. Let me ask, how many teams can say they have not had a losing season in over 30 years? I can’t think of any. How does that 1 losing season in 3 decades make Florida a sinking ship, as many have stated? Just a bad year. It happens more frequently to other teams, not the Gators, so maybe that’s why it garnered so much attention. I am fully behind Muschamp. I think he’s a good head coach. And so does Foley. Muschamp will be at Florida for a while. Winning takes care of everything, and the Gators will be winning again soon. With Muschamp at the helm. Driskell does need to make better decisions, and I have faith he will. My biggest concern is the o-line. To me, that is a bigger key than Driskell. Injuries are part of the game, happy err nd all the time. The thing with Florida’s injuries last year was the depth at which the injuries occurred at specific key positions really decimated the Gators on offense. When the first and second string at positions go down, there’s bound to be an impact. I believe that having more depth was and still is being addressed through recruiting. I don’t expect a repeat of last season. I think we’ll win the SEC this year. Go Gators!!!!!!!!

    • Michael J. says:

      Here’s a team that hasn’t had a losing record since 1976, the first year of a coach named Bobby Bowden. You asked, so there’s another unpleasant fact. As for Martez Ivey, it’d be nice to get him, but it doesn’t mean he’s going to be a good player. D.J. Humphries was rated the 2nd best player in America by Rivals and he has sucked. Remember he was benched before his supposed “injury” kept him from playing the rest of the year. For the guy who crows about Driskel being on some list, you only have to be breathing to do so, evidenced by Humphries being on the Outland Trophy list. I don’t care how many stars a guy has. In particular, at UF, it hasn’t meant much recently. Remember the next Percy Harvin, Andre Debose? If you don’t, that’s understandable since he has had a pretty forgettable career and some people are gullible enough to think his injury last year made a difference. How about the quarterbacks named Brantley and Driskel? Brantley was awful and people are still placing their hopes on Driskel without any valid reason. Roper is not a miracle worker and the things that make a good quarterback, like poise, accuracy, and decision making are not something you can teach. Bullard was the 6th ranked player, he rarely even touches the quarterback. Did you know the gators were 96th in sacks last year. I could go on and on, but you get the picture. Muschamp has been saying that the gators are going to be a “very good” team this year. I don’t think anything less than nine wins fulfills that pledge. I could be wrong, but I think the only suspense next season is when Muschamp gets the axe. I just can’t imagine the team being “very good” with Driskel at the helm. I’ve seen Driskel in the spread in the Sugar Bowl, he still sucked.

      • Dave Massey says:

        You sound more and more like a troll. FSU, yes the university that fired their legendary coach after about, oh, 35 years of success including the greatest 10 year run in the history of college football. That legendary program that was nowhere until he came along. They may not have had any losing records recently, buy until last year had a lot of mediocre years against less than a stellar schedule. When Bowden came along he would play anybody, including Nebraska, Oklahoma, etc. Any average team could have “winning” records against their schedule now that they have joined the Always Crappy Conference. Every school in the country gets highly rated recruits that don’t pan out the way people expect, Florida is no exception. The problem is that these rankings are compiled by journalists who rarely see any of these recruits except highlight reels and don’t really know crap about what makes a baller or not. Heck, look at all the high draft choices in the NFL that don’t work out, and I guarantee you those guys know what they are looking at when they make their choices. They all get together and decide who is good and who isn’t. Just look at the differences among players on Rivals and ESPN rankings. There are plenty of two and three star recruits who come in and are outstanding players and go on to the NFL. The level of competition in high school is light years behind college so an above average athlete can completely dominate but when he gets to college is no better than average. Brantley only came to Florida out of family loyalty, he should have never come to Florida as his style of QB’ing was totally opposite of what we were running. And I disagree with you on teaching QB’s, it is the most teachable position in football. Just look at what Spurrier has done for the last thirty years without arguably a “great” quarterback. How many of Spurriers quarterbacks have gone on to great NFL careers? None, but he has routinely produced great, productive college quarterbacks. I personally don’t think Driskell has “it” to be a great quarterback, but can he be a good game manager is the question. Two years ago, Florida went 11-2, yes that was our real record because in eleven games we rarely turned the ball over and won with field position, defense, and special teams. In the two losses it was turnovers that decided the games. For all of Florida’s faults that year and smoke and mirrors or whatever you want to call it, the reality is that Florida was less than five yards away from going through the regular season undefeated. If Jordan Reed wasn’t carrying the ball like a loaf of bread down inside the 5 at the end of the game who knows what the outcome would have been. In the Sugar Bowl, Florida laid an egg because Louisville, and their coach, wanted to be there a whole lot more than Florida. Emotions play a huge factor in college football. The comment about Driskell in the spread in the Sugar Bowl makes no sense at all.

  8. Dustin says:

    “I certainly observed how Will handled a difficult year. I never saw a guy lose control; I never saw a guy who was walking around with a deer-in-the-headlights look. I saw a guy who just kept grinding and was a leader,” he explained.

    Either Jeremy Foley is not watching the games or he thinks that the fanbase is full of idiots who suffer from short term memory loss. Muschamp challenged a fan to fight after the UGA game, he broke his hand during the South Carolina game, told the fans to get a grip, and walked out on the team after the GA Southern game. He’s got a lot of growing up to do if he ever wants to be a big time head coach and anything other than a national punchline.

    • Ed says:

      Dustin, I agree. Foley thinks we are all idiots. He actually told us that we do not understand what we see on the field. He told us with a 4 – 8 record we are headed in the right direction… WTF???

      Now, Foley is paying the price, no pun intended, as season ticket sales are way down. This is the year for Muschamp to put up or shut up.

  9. SH Gator says:

    Interesting points listed above and enjoyed the back and forth from Dave and MJ. I will side with Dave for most of the points and one thing that you clowns can’t knock WM on is cleaning up this thug ass program since Urban jetted for the Buckeyes. He doesn’t put up with crap, no matter who you are!! Our boys up in Tally recently joined the I “borrow the scooter” club with some clown named Bobo and more than likely Jimbo will give the kid a slap on the wrist unlike Jessamen who was relived of his duties. All this hate on Driskel is humorous and a little much but you clowns gotta point the finger somewhere I guess. Lets just say the O-line hasn’t been up to par, period!! Sticking Jeff’s skills “square peg” into a pro style “round hole” was a joke from the get go with BP and this spread should change a bunch of your views with Roper at the helm. No more excuses for this JD this season!! An as far as Foley goes, he’s the best damn AD in the nation hands down, period!! Sorry MJ it’s not all about football like it is at FSU. Its about “all” of the sports and UF and that’s why we are near the top every year in all around athletics. I’m keeping the fingers crossed that the offense comes to life this year but mainly that the injury bug travels north and gets the heck away from G’ville!! I don’t ever wish injury upon anyone but wouldn’t lose any sleep if the injury bug hit Tally just so they can see how difficult it is to play with back ups across every aspect of your offense and defense! No excuses this year Gator fans its put up or shut up and we should know where we stand Week 4 with our little visit to a place called Tuscaloosa! Go Gators!!

    • gatorboi352 says:

      You lost all credibility in anything you said once you dropped this gem: “cleaning up this thug ass program”

      Every time I hear some fan drop the “thug” line in relation to football and basketball players (and it’s dropped A LOT) I’ve often wondered, how come no one ever refers to those white hockey players as being “thuggish” in regards to their antics as well? Food for thought, indeed.

      • Ken (CA) says:

        I didn’t realize we had a hockey team to discuss? as far as NHL, a lot of the more physical players that are frequently penalized for “thuggish” play are often called thugs. When was the last time our baseball, lacrosse, softball, women’s basketball, etc. were considered thugs? They weren’t, but then they weren’t getting arrested over and over which happened during the Meyer and Zook. None of our other sports have a guy sitting in prison (white I might add) charged with multiple possibly gang related, murders. Thug is not a racial word unless you choose to view it in that light. In which case, who is the real racially motivated when the first thing that comes to your mind is race?

        • Dave Massey says:

          I agree with SH on what he said about thuggish play. He was referring to “off field” incidents and not what happens once the whistle blows. Meyer and Zook clearly let the players do whatever they wanted. Meyer let the better players get away with murder, literally in the case of Hernandez, and push the other players on the team around. That is one of the reasons he left town with his tail tucked between his legs. The guy is a complete liar and thee OSU deserves everything they get from him, same as that lying terd Tressell gave them. I didn’t respond to boi’s comment because he clearly has racist issues. What hockey has to do with this discussion I don’t know. To me soccer has become more vicious than hockey is now.

      • SH Gator says:

        Gatorboi,

        Not sure how in the hell my comments got spun into talking about white hockey players but okay, lol. I guess I lost my credibility bc I used the word “thug”. Main point was first off, regardless of their race, I think WM has done a great job keeping these kids out of trouble “off the field” since he took over. I’d love to go an entire summer without reading some headline on one of our guys getting into some trouble off the field. An I’m sorry our boy Urban did leave us labeled as a “thug ass program” off the field so it is what it is. Maybe you prefer “dumba$$ entitled immature punks” instead of thug? An don’t forget not all hockey players are white boss so not sure where you were going with that one. Bottom line, I just want these kids to continue to stay out of trouble and focus on the upcoming season.

  10. MojaveGator says:

    Jeremy Foley apparently watched a different season than I did. Punching a bulletin board and breaking his hand isn’t losing control? Challenging a fan to a fight after a game isn’t losing control? Foley is so eaten up with his own ego that he blatantly lies to defend the indefensible. Foley is so hell-bent on being proven right in hiring Muschamp that he is willing to risk wrecking the football program in the process. Lest people forget, we are this bad THREE YEARS IN. Injuries don’t explain the losses to Vanderbilt (starting QB out, yet they still won by 17 points) and Georgia Southern (6-4 FCS team, 19 players out due to injuries). Muschamp should have been doismissed the day of the Georgia Southern game, period – and he could have been, except that Foley pushes contract extensions at coaches at the first sign of success (and in Zook’s case, with no sign whatsoever). All this does is increase the cost of the inevitable buyout.

    I have come to the opinion that when Muschamp goes, Foley needs to go too. I don’t trust him to hire another head football coach. He has gotten it badly wrong two times out of three, and the one time he didn’t there was one obvious choice and he wasn’t allowed to go on one of his patented “searches”. The man has zero judgment when it comes to hiring football coaches. The man we should have hired is coaching the Texas Longhorns, while the man we should have left at Texas is killing our program. UF is a destination job, not a training ground for failed defensive coordinators who want to be head coaches.

  11. Bret says:

    Let’s start with the thug comments. A few weeks ago I had two children in camps on campus, soccer and swim. We had to walk by the football camp everyday – and listen to thug music that cursed, celebrated dealing drugs, murder, gang banging, etc. Children, as young as eight, had to listen to this celebration of thug life for days. To their credit, Mr. Foley and George Wynn let me know that things would change. Muschamps camps celebrate and embrace thug life. Way to leave a positive impression on some football kids who for once, could be exposed to something other than thug life. Did we learn nothing from the Hernandez incident?

  12. Bret says:

    Mojave-

    Concur with your statement- except- why give Foley credit for Meyer? That was all Bernie.

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