GoodWill hunting
MUSCHAMP TOURS STATE TO EASE GATOR NATION’S SKEPTICISM
GAINESVILLE — During 15 years of marriage, Gainesville’s Steve and Kristine Wendig have shared a love of the Florida Gators.
But last year’s 4-8 finish in football left theWendigs a house divided.
Kristine’s unwavering devotion to her team and Steve’s growing unhappiness with the program’s direction under coach Will Muschamp were common and, at times, competing emotions in Gator Nation during UF’s first losing season since 1979.
“We’ve gotten into arguments just because of some of the stuff he’s said,” Kristine said of her naysaying husband. “It’s like, ‘Knock it off.’”
Muschamp set out this spring during his annual statewide Gator Club tour to unite the fan base.
Lastweek in Gainesville, Kristine told Muschamp her husband thinks he knows more Xs and Os than he does. The comment drew howls of laughter from the crowd of a few hundred fans and a somber response Muschamp has delivered a few dozen times since last season.
“It hurts. Your pride hurts,” he said. “If you’re a prideful person, and you take pride in your work, it’s frustrating as heck, I’ll be honest with you.”
Muschamp has shared his message with smaller audiences.
The Central Florida Gator Club sold 240 tickets to itsMay13 gathering, while the Broward County Gator Club crowd on May 1 totaled around 200 fans even though the club had not hosted an event since 2011.
“This is the smallest crowd I’ve seen in 13 years … by far,” Orlando’s Scott Stowell said. “Iwas shocked by the turnout when I got here.”
Those who heard Muschamp in Orlando walked away impressed, but as Stowell says, “cautiously optimistic.”
“When you hear him talk, the amount of information he has that’s not just fluff for alumni is pretty remarkable,” Orlando’s Rod Johnston said. “I mean, he went through a series of plays there that was above everybody’s heads there I’m sure. Thatwas amazing.”
Muschamp’s passion, willingness to hold himself accountable and sense of humor endear him even to hardened critics like SteveWendig. “He’s a really good guy,” Wendig said. But Wendig and his fellow die-hards want results.
“The bottom line is he’s paid to win games,” said Wendig, a former Orlando resident. “That’s why he’s here. If you don’t win games, he’s not going to be here.
“I think he knows it. He’s pretty clear about it.”
Muschamp has tried to offer fans hope for the future during his eight Gator Club stops around the state during the past six weeks.
Along the way, the 42-year-old coach has fielded many of the same questions over and over — about the Gators’ failure to score points, avoid injuries and beat their rivals.
“Are we going to beat Georgia [3-0 against Muschamp’s Gators] this year?” a young woman asked. “And FSU for that matter? Please say yes, coach.”
Bill Pepper, an irascible 86-year-old Gainesville native, bluntly asked Muschamp how in the world he planned to beat FSU, Alabama, LSU, Georgia or South Carolina when UF’s program lags behind each of them.
Pepper, a UF swim team captain in the 1940s and former executive editor of the Gainesville Sun, then reminded Muschamp he had helped build the homeMuschamp lived in as a child.
Muschamp replied, “It flooded a couple times.”
The lighthearted exchange showed a side of Muschamp Pepper believes will carry him through this rough patch.
“There’s a certain underdog attitude that I like about Muschamp,” Pepper said. “He doesn’t back down. He’s going to make a big advance this coming year.
“But I’ll tell you what, if he doesn’t have a better year and succeed, he’s gone.”
Fans have high hopes for new offensive coordinator Kurt Roper’s up-tempo scheme a season after the Gators finished last in the SEC in points and yards.
Roper’s offense set records at Duke and piled up 661 yards during a 52-48 loss in the Chick-fil-A Bowl to quarterback Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M. UF then totaled 606 yards during the Orange and Blue Debut in April.
“That was the first time I paid that much attention to a Peach Bowl in a long time,” Stowell said, referring to the older name for the Chick-fil-A Bowl. “I liked what I saw. I liked what I saw in the spring game, but you don’t know what you are going to get in the fall.”
One thing fans do not expect to see again is a rash of injuries gut the Gatotrs’ roster. By the FSU game, 19 players had suffered season-ending injuries, including quarterback Jeff Driskel and star defensive tackle Dominique Easley just three games into the season.
“It was a perfect storm of events,” Johnston said.
No one expects things to be as bad as 2013, but the magic number of wins in 2014 is anyone’s guess.
But evenMuschamp’s most loyal supporters, like Kristine Wendig, know things need to change — or else.
“Beat Georgia and I think he’ll save his job,” she said. “You’ve got to beat Georgia.”