The origins of the Florida Gators collapse dates back 15 years

(UAA photo)

The instant reaction to what happened Saturday night in Lexington is to start pointing fingers starting with Billy Napier, but it really isn’t his fault. Nor is it the fault of Billy Gonzales, who, as the interim head coach, fell on the sword for what happened to the Gators.

“I’ll take the blame for everything,” Gonzales said after Florida (3-6, 2-4 SEC) was burb stomped by the Kentucky Wildcats, 38-7. “I think if you take a look at what we do and where we need to be, it’s unacceptable and I’m going to put me up in front and say, ‘that’s on me.’ I’ll take the blame for this loss, 100 percent.”

That’s the politically correct thing to say, but you can’t blame Gonzales just as you can’t blame Napier. Where the Gators are right now – living life among the bottom feeders of the Southeastern Conference – didn’t happen overnight nor did it start back in August when hopes were so high that a lot of college football experts considered them darkhorse candidates to make the College Football Playoff.

You can trace the origins of Florida’s fall from college football powerhouse to SEC catfish all the way back to January 2, 2011. The day before, the Gators beat Penn State 37-24, to win the Outback Bowl and Urban Meyer coached his final game as the UF head coach. Meyer went 65-15 at Florida, winning two SEC and two national championships. Florida could have and should have gone after a proven head coach with a history of playing for and winning championships. Instead Will Muschamp was hired. The defensive coordinator and head coach in waiting at Texas, Muschamp had no idea what he was getting into.

Counting Mushamp Florida has had four head coaches since 2011, none of whom have won an SEC championship or gotten the Gators into the playoff. From 1990 until 2010 Florida won more games than any coach in the country. Since 2011 the Gators rank 46^th.

Think of Muschamp and the three coaches that succeeded him as Peter Principle hires by the powers that be at the University of Florida. Laurence J. Peter wrote “The Peter Principle,” a book that makes a convincing argument that based on their success at lower level jobs, people are promoted to a level where they are no longer competent. How true when you look at how the careers of Muschamp, Jim McElwain, Dan Mullen and Napier. All four cratered after taking the Florida job.

Muschamp knows good and well that he should have learned the nuances of being a head coach at a school where there isn’t near as much pressure as the University of Florida. Jim McElwain won at Colorado State then felt so much heat at Florida that he lied his way out of a job. Had Dan Mullen remained at Mississippi State they would be raising the funds to build a statue of him. He is trying to resuscitate his coaching career at UNLV. Napier? Fine coach at the Sun Belt level but at Florida? Disaster.

You can’t blame any of the four for taking the Florida job. It's rare to find someone willing to turn down the millions that Florida pays. If you wish to blame someone for the current state of Florida football, then blame the people who have been in charge of hiring and firing since January 2, 2011.

The late Lewis Grizzard wrote a book entitled, “Shoot Low Boys, They’re Riding Shetland Ponies,” which could have been the title of a book about Florida hiring football coaches since 2011. The same program that never had a losing season from 1980 until 2013 has endured six losing seasons since 2011. The Gators are a game away from a seventh losing record after the steamrolling in Lexington Saturday night.

The losing seasons all occurred on the watches of Muschamp, McElwain, Mullen and Napier. At least Muschamp and McElwain never lost to Kentucky. The Gators beat Kentucky 31 straight years starting in 1987. Since Dan Mullen lost to UK in his second game as the Florida head coach in 2018, the Gators have lost five times to the Wildcats and it makes you wonder why? With the amount of talent and resources available at Florida, the Gators should NEVER lose to Kentucky.

How is it a team that went toe-to-toe with No. 5 Georgia can go down in flames to Kentucky seven days later? A week ago the Gators had Georgia on the ropes before crashing and burning late in the fourth quarter. Against Georgia, the Gators didn’t turn the ball over four times. DJ Lagway didn’t play like an All-American against Georgia but he didn’t play so poorly that he had to sit the bench the entire second half like he did against Kentucky. Lagway threw three first half interceptions and his 19 pass attempts gained a combined 83 yards. Georgia, which struggled to run the ball against the Gators last week, ran for 331 yards against UK.

The only touchdown the Gators scored – a 10-yard Lagway to Jadan Baugh pass in the first quarter – was a gift. Kentucky punt returner Ja’Mori Maclin muffed a punt at the UK 13 that long snapper Rocco Underwood recovered. Kentucky led 24-7 at the half, in large part because of two gift scores, a field goal after a Lagway interception and a touchdown after a fumble by KD Daniels.

Lagway was so inconsistent that Gonzales elected to bench him the entire second half, turning the game over to freshman Trammell Jones. Jones didn’t produce any points, but at least he didn’t turn the ball over, consistently throw into double coverage and overshoot wide open receivers because he was throwing off his back foot.

Kentucky fans will be celebrating for days after taking down the Gators by 31 points. The Wildcats are 5-3 against Florida since they broke the 31-game losing streak to UF in 2018. Wins are nice, but humiliating wins are something to savor. The official head count at Kroger Field was 56,388. Ten years from now at least 300,000 Kentucky fans will recall that they were there the night the Wildcats neutered the Florida Gators in 2025.

This game was retribution for Kentucky fans. They’ve never won a national championship. You have to go all the way back to 1950 to find the only SEC championship ever won by the Wildcats. With a legacy like that you understand why a 31-point win over the team that was once the permanent nemesis is worth celebrating for days to come.

In the days and weeks that follow Saturday night, we can only hope that the people in charge of the University Athletic Association won’t settle, which is what they’ve done the last four coach hires. This has to be a home run hire if Florida is to rise above circumstances 15 years in the making. It has to be someone who can bring instant credibility to the program, a household name that recruits and transfers in the portal want to play for.

It has to be someone who isn’t afraid of the lofty expectations that come with the job or the amount of work it will take to lift Florida out of the current muck. Is there another Charley Pell or Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer out there because that is what it will take. We are well past a time when the prevailing thought out of the UAA was the Florida job was so good that anyone could do it.

Not anyone can win SEC and national championships. Since 1953 only seven schools (Seven (Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Florida, Ole Miss and Auburn) have won SEC championships. Only five have won an SEC title since Steve Spurrier retired from UF after the 2001 season (Florida 2, Georgia 5, Alabama 9, Auburn 3, LSU 4).

SEC FOOTBALL

No. 3 Texas A&M (9-0, 6-0 SEC) 38, No. 19 Missouri (6-3, 2-3 SEC) 17: The Aggies went ahead 21-0 and then had a cruise control finish fr their ninth win of the season.

No. 4 Alabama (8-1, 6-0 SEC) 20, LSU (5-4, 2-4 SEC) 9: The Alabama defense held LSU to three field goals and just 232 yards,

No. 5 Georgia (8-1, 6-1 SEC) 41, Mississippi State (5-5, 1-5 SEC) 21: Nate Frazier ran for 181 of Georgia’s 303 yards on the ground.

No. 7 Ole Miss (9-1, 5-1 SEC) 49, The Citadel (4-6) 0: Kewan Lacy ran for three touchdowns. He has 16 with two regular seasons to go.  

No. 15 Vanderbilt (8-2, 4-2 SEC) 45, Auburn (4-6, 1-6 SEC) 38, OT: Diego Pavia threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns while running for 112 and another TD as Vandy kept its playoff hopes alive.

Next Saturday

FLORIDA (3-6, 2-4 SEC) at No. 7 Ole Miss (9-1, 5-1 SEC)

South Carolina (3-6, 1-6 SEC) at No. 3 Texas A&M (9-0, 6-0 SEC)

No. 11 Oklahoma (7-2, 3-2 SEC) at No. 4 Alabama (8-1, 6-0 SEC)

No. 13 Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC) at No. 5 Georgia (8-1, 6-1 SEC)

Mississippi State (5-5, 1-5 SEC) at No. 19 Missouri (6-3, 2-3 SEC)

New Mexico State (3-6) at No. 23 Tennessee (6-3, 3-3 SEC)

Arkansas (2-7, 0-5 SEC) at LSU (5-4, 2-4 SEC)