Times are tough in Gainesville. Following Saturday’s home loss to Vanderbilt, the Gators are in danger of not reaching the postseason. The pressure is increasing on a weekly basis for Florida head coach Will Muschamp. Typically in these situations athletics directors, and sometimes presidents of universities, will come out and lend a public show of support for their head coach. That is not the case at Florida.
Florida Athletics Director Jeremy Foley has not gone on record about Muschamp’s job security, but according to Miami Herald he has done so in private. But in the SEC, where nothing short of a BCS championship contender is expected at most of the schools, and with some programs beginning to turn things around, the rumor mill will continue to spin around Florida’s head coach until Foley says anything in public. Even then, how much will that mean?
Muschamp has admitted to some mistakes and has been critical of his coaching. He knows some things need to be changed.
“I’m a lot harder on myself than y’all are or anyone else is going to be or anyone else in this Gator Nation,” Muschamp said according to Miami Herald. “You know, again, I’m very critical of myself and what I need to do to be better, and I don’t need to hear any fan from the outside telling me what we need to do with this football team. I can assure you that.”
Florida lost at home to Vanderbilt for the first time since 1945, and just the second time in school history. As a result, Florida now needs to win two of their final three games to avoid missing the postseason without a postseason ban since 1986 (Florida was on a postseason ban in 1990).
Muschamp is probably coming back to Florida in 2014, but it is clear the Gators need to start turning things around soon. Muschamp inherited a bit of a rebuilding project, at least by Florida standards, and the progress has been limited at best overall.