10:05 pm | July 10, 2018 | Go to Source | Author: Pat Dooley
You hear it all the time and there is some truth to it — Gator fans are spoiled.
Some of us believe that nobody suffers winning like Gator fans.
But it sure beats the alternative.
Would you rather be happy just making an occasional bowl game?
Would you settle for a coach who couldn’t get you over the hump?
Would you like to have no reason for statues in front of the stadium?
Think about that last one. If Florida had never experienced the last three decades of success, would there even be a statue in front of the stadium? I’m not sure a single one would be erected to honor Florida’s only Heisman Trophy winner.
But along came Steve Spurrier the coach, who changed everything at Florida by winning SEC title after SEC title and the first national title.
As a result, when Ron Zook was hired he was the first to experience the spoiled Gator fans.
In his three seasons as the Florida head coach, he won two-thirds of his conference games and he was run out of town on a rail.
Then Urban Meyer gave Gator fans something to really be spoiled about, winning two national titles in three seasons.
And Will Muschamp came in, took over a mental mess and won 11 games in his second season. By the end of his third season, a majority of the vocal Gator fans wanted him out.
Jim McElwain was next and he won two division titles and at one point was 16-3 in SEC games. But his love/hate relationship with the fan base resulted in a guy who was never truly accepted because he didn’t play the room well.
It’s a tough room.
Gator fans are warm and fuzzy when it comes to Dan Mullen.
He’s never lost a game at UF as head coach.
Miracles are expected and mediocrity shunned, The good thing is that he knows that.
So are Gator fans spoiled?
Dang right.
And you wouldn’t want it any other way.
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