It’s been 14 years since Urban Meyer last stood on the Florida Gators sideline as the team’s head coach. But apparently, you can take the coach out of Gainesville, but can’t take Gainesville out of the coach. That was evident when Meyer assessed a couple of struggling college football programs in the Sunshine State, praising his former school while also taking a shot at a former rival.
The three-time National Championship-winning coach weighed in on Florida, which has a 5-5 record, when he appeared on The Triple Option podcast.
“I’m a fan of coach [Billy] Napier, and here’s why: 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,” Meyer said in reference to the Florida State Seminoles.
“[The Florida Gators] have continued to fight. I hear comments made by their excellent quarterback DJ Lagway. I see things, I hear things obviously, and I still know a lot of people down there.”
While the University of Florida is going through a rough stretch and has underperformed relative to expectations, it still sits at .500 and is just one win away from becoming bowl eligible. All five of the team’s losses were to teams currently ranked in the top 15, so it’s not like it’s losing to teams it should beat. Additionally, the Gators are coming off an upset of a ranked LSU team, which was their third straight double-digit home victory.
On the other hand, Florida State’s season has been an epic disappointment after beginning the year ranked in the top 10. No team in a power conference has a worse record than FSU, and only Kent State (0-11) has a worse record among the 134 FBS programs. The school finished its ACC slate with a 1-7 record, its worst conference record in program history, and there is no bowl game in its future.
Things hit rock bottom for the Gators’ in-state rival in its last game against No. 10 Notre Dame. The Seminoles were embarrassed 52-3, which resulted in three coaches—including both the offensive and defensive coordinators—getting fired the day after.
Many in Tallahassee may actually agree with Meyer’s condemnation of the team, and they would actually say the Seminoles quit before the season even started. They would go back to the end of last season as that exact point when, after having a 13-0 record but losing starting quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury, FSU was bypassed for the College Football Playoff. That is despite being an undefeated ACC champion and being among the top-four ranked teams prior to that conference championship game.
The Seminoles, clearly deflated from being passed over for the CFP, had to settle for the Orange Bowl, and many of the team’s best players opted out of that game. The result: the Georgia Bulldogs handed the Noles the biggest defeat in bowl history by destroying Mike Norvell’s team, 63-3. The team failing to show up for a New Year’s Six bowl game, with a perfect season on the line, led many Seminoles fans to question the effort of the squad, and that’s appeared to carry over into the 2024 season.
That game marked a turning point in the head-to-head series, as Florida State has a 9-4 record versus Florida since 2010. The Seminoles have won the rivalry game in each of the last two seasons, and they will meet again in the final game of the regular season on Nov. 30.
If Meyer’s words make their way back to Tallahassee, and in this age of social media that’s all but a given, then he may have unintentionally inspired the Seminoles. The Florida vs. Florida State game is already one that’s always circled on every player’s calendar, and this bulletin board material from a Gators legend could take the passion of this season-ending matchup to even another level.
