A Skeptical Gator

For the record, I am a die hard Gator fan, but I am NOT jumping on the Will Muschamp bandwagon just yet, unlike most of the Gator Nation, it seems. I get that everyone is pumped up and excited, but let me just point out a few things here.

People should know that Jeremy Foley, Bernie Machen and even Will Muschamp are very good at saying EXACTLY what the Gator Nation wants to hear. First of all, Will Muschamp talks, sounds and acts JUST LIKE Ron Zook. Not to mention he's coming in during a situation JUST LIKE the one Ron Zook faced...having to follow a head coach who was loved by and did great things for the Gator Nation, yet has absolutely no head coaching experience to his name. I hate to sound stuck up, but Florida is too good of a school to have any business gambling on coaches that are completely untested on a head coaching level. Make no mistake, when Urban Meyer resigned, the UF head coaching job was the number one head coaching job IN THE COUNTRY! For Jeremy Foley to openly say that he didn't even contact any other candidates before offering the job to Muschamp is pretty arrogant. Seems like a knee-jerk, rebound reaction to me. When UF and Spurrier ended their relationship in 2002, Ron Zook was the rebound coach. And we all know about rebounds...they seem like a great decision at first, but over time we realize that their only purpose is to boost our egos a little, until we're ready to put ourselves out there again for the real thing.

I would also like to take this opportunity to point out that Will Muschamp is a HUGE Georgia fan! He grew up in Georgia and played college football for THE BULLDOGS! Everyone's playing up that he's a native of Gainesville, including Muschamp himself, but let's not forget that he and his family spent just as much time in Georgia rooting for the Bulldogs as they did in Florida rooting for the Gators. He's also best friends with FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher, and that's not an overzealous statement. They spent time together on the coaching staff at LSU and he and Jimbo even own a beach house together. I'm not saying that these affiliations disqualify him from the job as head coach of the Gators, or that they even mean anything...but they could. I think I'd rather have a coach whose blood pressure actually rises a little, who gets a little steamed up when facing the Bulldogs or the 'Noles. Wouldn't your rather have someone on our sideline who ISN'T empathetic towards two of the biggest rivals in Gator football history? I know I would.

Now I realize none of this means ANYTHING and that it's ALL speculation at this point. My understanding is that Muschamp comes with an exceptional resume, from time spent at LSU and Texas as well as (limited) experience at the professional level. (But so did Ron Zook. Just sayin'.) So I could be completely wrong, and I really, really hope I am. I don't pretend to know diddely squat about football and pro-style offenses and whether or not the SEC really is "the line of scrimmage league." But I don't think that disqualifies me from having an opinion as a layperson and a Gator fan. This is all just the rantings of a girl who grew up loving the Gators and everything they stand for, and watches with her heart in her throat every time they take the field. So excuse me if I haven't lifted my hands in a "Muschomp" just yet.