Muschamp Serious About Operating The "Florida Way"
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – As soon as news broke Saturday afternoon that Gators senior cornerback Janoris Jenkins had another misstep off the field, a common question emerged on Twitter, Facebook, fan message boards and any other place Gator football is discussed.
The question on everyone's mind: What would Will do?
They wanted to know how first-year Florida coach Will Muschamp – not only in his first season at Florida but a first-time head coach – would handle the delicate issue with his team's best defensive player.
It was Muschamp's first major off-the-field issue to tackle in public since he was introduced to Gator Nation on Dec. 14 at a packed press conference inside The Swamp. The situation also featured a subplot.
Muschamp had to deal with Jenkins' dilemma at a time when college athletics are under the microscope like never before because of recent ethical and moral lapses at some of the most prominent football and men's basketball programs in the nation.
After a few days spent gathering facts and discussing internally, neither Muschamp nor Jenkins probably looked forward to their meeting Tuesday morning to discuss Jenkins' future with the program. They had already met once about the same subject in January shortly after Muschamp took the reins from Urban Meyer.
Waiting to hear the outcome, you couldn't help but think back to Muschamp's introductory press conference in December when he talked about running the program the “Florida Way.'' According to Muschamp's master plan, that includes developing programs to help players in leadership development, character development and the mental conditioning it takes to be a successful student-athlete.
He warned that despite the best efforts of everyone in the program, there would be mistakes to address, especially when you are dealing with 18- to 22-year-olds still trying to find their way in life.
“There are a lot of distractions out there,'' Muschamp said that Tuesday evening. “There are a lot of things that can go wrong when you make a poor choice and decision. There's nothing more frustrating to me than to see a young man make a poor choice and somebody says he must be a bad kid.
“He's not a bad kid, he's a kid who made a poor choice and decision.''
Jenkins is a splendid player, considered by some a potential first-round pick in this week's NFL Draft until he needed shoulder surgery at the end of the regular season, forcing him to miss the Outback Bowl and spring football after he surprised some by opting to return for his senior season.
He's the kind of player that opposing game plans are geared away from. He's the kind of player that can change the momentum in an instant the way he did in last year's season opener against Miami (Ohio), scoring UF's first touchdown of the 2010 season with a 67-yard interception return.
Unfortunately, Jenkins' track record suggests he is also the kind of player that can give a head coach an extra gray hair or two off the field. It's always disappointing to see a young player with so much talent make the same bad choices when he has already been given a second or third chance.
Eventually, chances run out and that's at the heart of the message Muschamp delivered on Tuesday when his meeting with Jenkins ended with the two sides parting ways.
It probably won't be the last time someone makes a bad decision during Muschamp's tenure, and Muschamp will have to address those the same way he did with Jenkins. Maybe a lifeline will be given, maybe not. Each decision will be on a case-by-case basis.
What we learned Tuesday is that Muschamp is serious when it comes to operating by what he calls the “Florida Way.” He grew up in a home with a father who was a headmaster, so Muschamp learned about discipline and respect and other valued principles at a very young age.
Based on comments on Twitter in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's news that Jenkins was no longer part of the football program, Florida fans seemed pleased for the most part at Muschamp's loudest statement since his introductory press conference 133 days ago.
“Muschamp ain't playing, ya'll,'' KrissyGator tweeted.
“Kudos to Coach M,'' posted BZilberman.
“I'm a huge Gator fan, and I'm really happy to see this,'' JDHerman said on Twitter. “Standards must be set and met – star player or not.”
Dozens of tweets on my timeline voiced similar sentiments with a few contrarian ones mixed in.
The best that can come out of all this is that Jenkins, still young and a gifted football player, will learn from his mistakes. While he disappointed his coaches and his teammates and Gator fans, he hurt himself and his family the most.
That's who Jenkins should be most concerned about now. He must start working to restore his reputation, and that's going to take time and a lot of hard work.
But it can be done.
As for his former teammates, they have a better understanding of Muschamp's expectations and that he means what he says.
The first game of the Muschamp era is still more than four months away, but based on the reaction and feedback from Gator Nation on Tuesday, he has already recorded at least one huge victory.
In this writer's view, I agree Muschamp made the right decision in this particular case. I know it wasn't an easy decision but one that needed to be made – not just for the start of his tenure at Florida, but hopefully for the start of a new and less-rocky chapter in Jenkins' life.
Sometimes you have to have something taken away before you realize how much it means to you. The perfect ending to this story would be Jenkins coming back to UF one day and thanking Muschamp for helping put him on the right path.
For now, that seems like a fairytale ending. But we learned Tuesday never to be surprised. It's not often a big-time college football coach parts way with his team's best defensive player before coaching his first game.
