Florida is dealing with a weird 'controversy' ahead of Tennessee game
The Florida Gators are dealing with a somewhat weird "controversy" ahead of their matchup against the Tennessee Vols. It's no secret that Gators head coach Billy Napier is off to a sluggish start in Gainesville. Napier reached eight losses at Florida in Week One when the Gators dropped their season-opener to Utah. The eighth loss […]
The Florida Gators are dealing with a somewhat weird "controversy" ahead of their matchup against the Tennessee Vols.
It's no secret that Gators head coach Billy Napier is off to a sluggish start in Gainesville.
Napier reached eight losses at Florida in Week One when the Gators dropped their season-opener to Utah.
The eighth loss for Napier came far quicker than it did for most of Florida's previous six head coaches.
(That tweet omits Ron Zook, the successor to Steve Spurrier, but he was 11-8 when he suffered his eighth loss at Florida.)
The "controversy" (or whatever you want to call it) involves a quip that Dan Mullen, who was Napier's predecessor at Florida, made this week while discussing the Florida/Tennessee game.
Mullen noted that Florida isn't "where they were a couple of years ago".
A "couple of years ago" is when Mullen was the Gators' head coach (and to Mullen's credit, he won 21 games his first two seasons at Florida and won the SEC East in his third season before getting fired in his fourth season).
When I first heard that comment from Mullen, I noticed it, but I didn't think it was nefarious.
At first, I just thought it was Mullen referring to how Florida is traditionally viewed and he wasn't necessarily referring to his own tenure as the Gators' head coach.
But then I saw some of Mullen's recent social media activity. And it seems like he might have actually been throwing some subtle shade at his former employer.
Mullen was spotted on Twitter "liking" several tweets that questioned why Florida fired him in 2021.
Florida fans, at least from some of the response on social media, seem to be split on this deal.
Some UF fans support Napier and they believe he'll turn things around (and they also threw some shade at Mullen). Others wonder why Mullen isn't still the head coach.
It's kind of odd to see some fans supporting Napier over Mullen.
Mullen, after all, had a hand in a plethora of memorable moments at Florida. He was there for most of the Urban Meyer era, which brought two national championships to Florida. And he delivered a win against Georgia in 2020.
Napier, though, is still early enough in his tenure at Florida that he can turn things around and help the Gators get to where they want to go (the College Football Playoff). But it's understandable if some Florida fans are still in wait and see mode with Napier.
It sounds like Mullen, however, is confident that he would've done a better job than Napier the last two years.
And hey, maybe's he right based on what he accomplished at Florida compared to Napier (so far).
Vols fans won’t like Steve Spurrier’s take on Saturday’s Tennessee vs Florida game
Vols fans probably won’t like former Gatos head coach Steve Spurrier’s take on Saturday’s Tennessee vs Florida game
Featured image via Alan Youngblood-USA TODAY Sports
