As Florida coach Will Muschamp faces mounting fan criticism, waist-deep in a 4-5 season that few Gators fans can identify with, UF Director of Athletics Jeremy Foley reiterated his belief in the third-year coach Wednesday.
"As athletic director, I'm a thousand percent convinced that Will Muschamp is the guy to lead this football program," Foley said in a story published on UF's official athletics website. "Nothing has changed in what we feel about Will Muschamp from the day we hired him."
Clowney's production a concern?
Daniel Jeremiah asked five NFL personnel executives if DE Jadeveon Clowney's decline in production this season is a major concern or a minor issue. **More ...**
Muschamp's team now appears unlikely to qualify for a bowl appearance as an anemic offense and season-ending injuries to 10 players conspired to derail the Gators, who were ranked 10th in the preseason. Vanderbilt beat UF on the Gators' Homecoming last week, 34-17, for its first win in the Swamp since 1945.
Coming off an 11-win season in 2012, Muschamp has verbally sparred with a fan after a game, and noted earlier this week that he needs no advice from fans, either.
Added Foley: "Everyone around there wants the same thing. "We want to do what is right for the University of Florida. We understand that this football season has not gone the way any of us wanted it to go, certainly not the way our fans wanted it to go, and most of all, not the way Will Muschamp wanted it to go. We have a history of being successful, we have a history of fixing things when they need to be fixed, and that is what is going to happen here, and coach Muschamp is the one that will fix it."
Muschamp, clearly, isn't lost on the gravity of the task -- and he wants it known.
"... I don't need to hear any fan from the outside telling me what we need to do," he said earlier this week.
The Gators face an SEC contender (South Carolina) and a national title contender (Florida State) in two of their last three regular season games. For bowl eligibility, UF would need to beat one, as well as Georgia Southern, in the season's final month.
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter *@ChaseGoodbread*.