Urban Meyer is one of the most successful college football coaches in history.
He knows how to spot a problem in a program from a mile away.
And Urban Meyer revealed one painful reality about the state of the Florida Gators.
Urban Meyer notes the lowered expectations for Florida Gators football
The University of Florida Gators football rallied from a disappointing start to the season to finish 7-5.
Head coach Billy Napier was on the hot seat entering the year, but he managed to buy himself more time with a promising group of young players led by quarterback D.J. Lagway.
The highlight of the season for the Gators was defeating then-ninth-ranked Ole Miss at home 24-17 in a victory that likely knocked the Rebels out of the college football playoffs.
Florida has been searching for success since Urban Meyer retired as head coach after the 2010 season.
Meyer turned the Gators into the premier program in college football during his time as head coach from 2005 to 2010.
He left Florida with a 65-15 record and two national championships.
The Gators have been struggling to recapture the success the program had under Meyer and former head coach Steve Spurrier.
Napier is the fourth coach that Florida has hired since Meyer had a brief retirement before taking the Ohio State job.
Florida has not been a national championship contender since Meyer was the head coach.
The famously competitive coach marveled how far expectations have fallen at Florida since he roamed the sidelines on The Triple Option podcast after Florida’s win over Ole Miss.
“Imagine being happy at 6-5 in Gainesville, Florida,” Meyer said. “We went 13-1, and I couldn’t go out to eat because we lost the game.”
Meyer lost the 2009 SEC Championship game to the Alabama Crimson Tide which denied the team a shot at back-to-back national titles.
“Of all the Ole Miss teams, that’s a generational Ole Miss roster that Florida beat,” Meyer explained. “You see rosters like that at Alabama. There are elite players all over the field. Ole Miss is legit, but Florida beat them, and they’re out [of College Football Playoff contention].”
Urban Meyer offers praise for the job Billy Napier has done
Meyer pointed out that expectations are lower at Florida these days, but he did praise the Gators for not quitting after the team was hammered by the Miami Hurricanes and the Texas A&M Aggies at home to start the season.
“I’m going to tell you something: I’m a fan of coach Napier, and here’s why,” Meyer said. “I don’t know him. I met him once or twice. They’ve been obviously really struggling, but the one thing they have not done, like the team in Tallahassee, is quit. They have continued to fight.
The Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee finished a nightmare season at 2-10.
“I hear comments made by their excellent quarterback D.J. Lagway,” Meyer continued. “I see things, I hear things obviously and I still know a lot of people down there.”
Time will tell if Bill Napier is able to return Florida to the standard set by Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
