A little perspective before we burn the program down
Today was awful. There’s no defending a 45–17 type performance. The defense got embarrassed, Missouri was clearly the better team, and the staff deserves criticism for it.
But before we decide five games into Jon Sumrall’s tenure that the rebuild is dead, Florida history is worth remembering:
In Steve Spurrier’s first season in 1990, Florida started 5–0 and reached No. 9. Then they went to Tennessee and got absolutely destroyed 45–3. Sound familiar?
Florida responded by beating Akron 59–0, Auburn 48–7, Georgia 38–7, and Kentucky 47–15. They finished 9–2.
Spurrier obviously turned out okay.
In Urban Meyer’s first season in 2005, Florida started 4–0 and reached No. 5. Game five was at Alabama.
Alabama 31, Florida 3.
Meyer’s first team eventually finished 9–3. The following season (as you know) Florida went 13–1 and won the national championship.
None of that means Sumrall is Spurrier or Meyer.
And it absolutely does not mean today was acceptable.
It means one catastrophic road loss early in a coach’s first season does not tell us what that coach’s tenure will become.
There’s a huge difference between:
“This loss exposed serious problems Florida needs to fix.”
and “We’re fucking frauds; the season is over”.
The first is fair. The second is pretending we know the future.
Today sucked. Adjust expectations if you want. Fucking criticize the hell out of the defense. But maybe give the new staff more than five games before writing the obituary. Spurrier was once 5–0 and lost 45–3. Meyer was once 4–0 and lost 31–3.
We have been here before.
In all kinds of weather.