Getty Image / Jason Mowry
When Urban Meyer was the head coach at Florida from 2005-2010, they were the premier program in college football. Before Nick Saban went on his fantastic run at Alabama, which overlapped with Meyer’s tenure, it was Urban Meyer and Florida that looked on the cusp of a true dynasty.
That run was cut short when Urban Meyer abruptly “retired”, only to return to coaching at Ohio State two years later. But, Florida has not been the same since, and Urban Meyer took a shot at current head coach Billy Napier regarding the lack of success the program has had.
While at Florida, Meyer went 65-15, capturing national titles in both 2006 and 2008. In 2009, their only loss was to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, a de-facto play-in game to the BCS National Championship Game. But, it hasn’t been the same in Gainesville since he left.
Napier is not the first Florida coach to struggle since the Urban Meyer left. In fact, he’s the fourth hire since then, with the others being Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain, and Dan Mullen. While the four of them have seen varied degrees of success, they’ve had at least two losses in every season since 2010 and haven’t seriously contended for a national title in that time span.
While Florida has rallied down the stretch this year, the team struggled to the point that Billy Napier was considered by a dead man walking by most in terms of his job security. He seems to have saved his job by salvaging what should be a winning season out of the nation’s toughest schedule. The development of freshman quarterback DJ Lagway certainly helps his cause, as well.
But, the fact is that standards have dropped. 7-5 seasons certainly are not the standard at Florida, yet this season is being lauded as a success. That’s bothering Urban Meyer.
Here’s 247 Sports with more.
Florida is surging under third-year coach Billy Napier. The Gators enter Week 14 as a two-touchdown favorite over rival Florida State after back-to-back ranked wins over LSU and Ole Miss. Gators coaching legend Urban Meyer praised Napier for the impressive win over the Rebels last week but noted how the expectations in Gainesville have changed since his tenure from 2005-10.
“Imagine being happy at 6-5 in Gainesville, Florida,” Meyer said Wednesday, via “The Triple Option” podcast. “We went 13-1, and I couldn’t go out to eat because we lost the game. … Of all the Ole Miss teams, that’s a generational Ole Miss roster that Florida beat. 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 CFP contention].”
Meyer is right in that expectations have definitely lessened. But, maybe things are headed in the right direction now. Expectations will certainly be higher for next season.
Meanwhile, Urban Meyer will continue to criticize coaches from his perch on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff. We all remember his last coaching stint, a disastrous fiasco with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021.