In December 2010, Jeremy Foley introduced Will Muschamp as the guy Florida wanted not only to lead the football program but, the former athletic director said, also “build on the wonderful foundation that has been left here by Urban Meyer.” Things didn’t quite work out that way. After the 2000s ended with one of the best stretches for a program in college football history, success was an expectation, just like it had been during the 1990s under Steve Spurrier. The 2010s were different for Florida.
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Though the Gators didn’t reach the kind of heights that were set as a precedent, there were a few good years inside the decade. Most years, however, were mediocre by Florida’s standards. And a couple were historically terrible.
Meyer’s resignation in 2010 signaled the end of the last time the Gators were consistently elite. Muschamp’s second season included a Sugar Bowl trip, but struggles on offense and injuries doomed his tenure from there. For the first time since the winless 1979 team, the Gators finished the 2013 season with a losing record. A bowl streak of 22 consecutive seasons was also snapped. Muschamp was fired toward the end of the 2014 season.
Although Jim McElwain’s ensuing tenure included consecutive trips to the SEC championship game, Florida was thoroughly thumped by Alabama on both occasions, lending credence to the idea of those division titles being hollow. Neither his offenses nor recruiting was enough. And nine players were suspended before the 2017 season after facing felony charges amid a credit card fraud scandal. McElwain and the Gators were never a good marriage, and his embarrassing exit in 2017 reflected the poor fit.
Alas, the 2010s were mostly dark. There were a few tantalizing flickers, but little light. Only now, under head coach Dan Mullen and athletic director Scott Stricklin, Florida has shown signs of returning to legitimate prominence.
Here’s a look back at more of what happened for Florida during the 2010s:
All-decade team
Offense
QB: Feleipe Franks (2016-19)
RB: Mike Gillislee (2009-12)
RB: Lamical Perine (2017-19)
WR: Antonio Callaway (2015-16)
WR: Demarcus Robinson (2013-15)
TE: Jordan Reed (2009-12)
OT: Marcus Gilbert (2006-10)
G: Trenton Brown (2013-14)
C: Mike Pouncey (2007-10)
G: Jon Halapio (2009-13)
OT: Jawaan Taylor (2016-18)
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Defense
DE: Dante Fowler Jr. (2012-14)
DE: Jonathan Bullard (2012-15)
DT: Sharrif Floyd (2010-12)
DT: Dominique Easley (2010-13)
LB: Jarrad Davis (2013-16)
LB: Antonio Morrison (2012-15)
LB: Jon Bostic (2010-12)
CB: Vernon Hargreaves III (2013-15)
CB: tee*z Tabor (2014-16)
S: Matt Elam (2010-12)
S: Keanu Neal (2013-15)
Special teams
K: Caleb Sturgis (2010-12)
P: Johnny Townsend (2013-17)
RET: Andre Debose (2010-14)
Most memorable moments
Urban Meyer steps down nine months after returning from a leave of absence
On Dec. 8, 2010, Meyer said he was doing “what’s best for the University of Florida, my players and myself and my family,” when he announced he was resigning, again, as the Gators’ coach. A year prior, Meyer had said he was leaving his position, only to change his mind a few days later and coach the following spring.
Meyer’s run at Florida was one of the best in modern college football. He left Florida with two national championships, a Heisman Trophy winner and a record of 64-15 in six years, with one-third of those losses occurring in his final season, when the Gators sputtered to a 7-5 record.
‘Train Right Open, Big Ben In’
Florida and Tennessee stumbled to poor seasons in 2017, so the play ended up being relatively meaningless. But “Train Right Open, Big Ben In” is still one of the most memorable in recent Florida history.
The Gators had beaten the Vols 11 consecutive years from 2005-15 before the Vols finally ended the streak. In September 2017, Florida returned to tormenting Tennessee, when Feleipe Franks completed a 63-yard touchdown pass to Tyrie Cleveland on the final play to shock the Vols, 26-20.
With nine seconds remaining and the score tied at 20, Florida was at its 37-yard line. The idea was for the Gators to gain about 25 more yards to increase the chances for dependable kicker Eddy Pineiro to win the game.
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But Franks dropped back, scrambled toward the right after eluding a pass rush, paused to set his feet and then launched the ball. Cleveland had slipped behind safety Micah Abernathy and was running full stride as he secured the catch in the end zone while falling to the ground.
“You grow up waiting for moments like that to happen in your life,” Franks said, “and when it does happen, you don’t have any words to describe it.”
Jim McElwain says in press conference that on-field struggles led to death threats
After back-to-back home losses in 2017, McElwain cited death threats in an odd press conference on Oct. 23.
“A pretty good kind of lesson for the way things are,” McElwain said during his regularly scheduled press conference. “There’s a lot of hate in this world and a lot of anger, and yet it’s freedom to show it. The hard part is obviously when the threats [are] against your own players, the death threats to your families, the ill will that is brought upon out there. I think it’s really one of those deals that really is a pretty good testament of what’s going on out there nationally.
“A lot of angry people, and in this business, we’re the ones you take the shots at and that’s the way it is.”
Later that day, the University Athletic Association released a statement on the situation via spokesman Steve McClain: “The [UAA] takes the safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and families very seriously. Our administration met with Coach McElwain this afternoon and he offered no additional details.”
Six days later, McElwain was no longer Florida’s coach.
Dan Mullen was then hired away from Mississippi State four days after he coached his final game with the Bulldogs.
The coaching carousel of 2017 featured a handful of high-profile jobs, and Florida had to fill its opening with the “right” hire. The Gators were tied to Scott Frost, who went to Nebraska, and Chip Kelly, who picked UCLA. On Nov. 26, Stricklin hired his former coach at Mississippi State: Mullen.
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A former Florida offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer, Mullen understood expectations and brought with him experience and a productive offense. As soon as Mullen got off the plane in Gainesville, he couldn’t hide his excitement; a wide smile and a large gator chomp revealed more than even his detailed press conference that followed. So far, Mullen has proven to be the perfect fit for Florida.
Wins against LSU provided some of the best moments of the decade for Florida. (Jerome Miron / USA Today)
Top games
Florida 14, LSU 6 (Oct. 6, 2012)
It was No. 10 Florida against No. 4 LSU at The Swamp, and the Gators came out on top. Florida handed the Tigers their first regular-season loss in 19 games and gave Muschamp a signature win. Florida won Muschamp’s way, with a hard-nosed running game, which was a departure from the spread offense under Meyer. Mike Gillislee ran for a career-high 146 yards and two touchdowns. LSU finished with only 42 rushing yards. It was the program’s first victory against a ranked team since Florida’s win against Georgia in 2010. The victory against LSU helped propel Florida to the Sugar Bowl in Muschamp’s second season.
Florida 16, LSU 10 (Nov. 19, 2016)
Leading up to the game, LSU fans and players taunted the Gators for supposedly looking for ways to avoid playing the Tigers when the game, originally scheduled for Oct. 8 in Gainesville, was postponed amid the threat of Hurricane Matthew. The Gators didn’t look scared in Baton Rouge. Instead, they secured an SEC East division title with one of their greatest goal-line stands.
Quarterback Austin Appleby threw a 98-yard touchdown pass to receiver Tyrie Cleveland, and Eddy Pineiro kicked three field goals. To win the game, Florida’s defense stuffed LSU running back Derrius Guice on fourth-and-goal from the 1 as time expired.
Florida lost to Alabama in the SEC title game and ended its season with a win against Iowa in the Outback Bowl.
Florida 41, Michigan 15 (Dec. 29, 2018)
The win against Michigan in the Peach Bowl last December was important. It was the 10th victory of the season, a significant feat for Mullen and Florida, considering McElwain had just been fired during the season less than 12 months earlier. Mullen became just the third coach in college football history to inherit a program currently in the Power 5 that had won five or fewer games and guide it to at least 10 wins in his first season. Florida looked like the hungrier, more focused team throughout, with quarterback Feleipe Franks racking up 247 yards of total offense and nickel safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson picking off two passes.
Armed with tangible proof that they could believe in Mullen after he told them he knew how to win, the Gators entered the offseason full of optimism. A top-10 signing class followed, with Florida securing surprise commitments from blue-chippers cornerback Kaiir Elam and edge-rusher Khris Bogle. The Gators spoke of championship aspirations during the spring.
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Player of the Decade
Vernon Hargreaves III
Florida is known for its collection of excellent defensive backs over the years. The 2010s featured a handful of superb cornerbacks, including Jalen Tabor, Quincy Wilson, Marco Wilson, CJ Henderson and Janoris Jenkins for one season (2010). It’s an impressive list, but no one has the accolades of Hargreaves.
Hargreaves is one of only two Florida defensive backs who became a two-time first-team All-America selection (Louis Oliver is the other). In 2015, he started 13 games at cornerback, totaled 33 tackles and tied for the team lead with four interceptions. In 2014, he had 50 total tackles and three interceptions and led the SEC with 13 pass breakups. As a freshman in 2013, he started the season’s final 10 games and was named to the Freshman All-SEC team. He had three interceptions in his first year, and his 11 pass breakups equaled the most by a true freshman in school history, matching the total Jenkins had in 2008.
(Top photo of Lamical Perine: Mike Zarrilli / Getty Images)
Will Sammon is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the New York Mets. A native of Queens, New York, Will previously covered the Milwaukee Brewers and Florida Gators football for The Athletic, starting in 2018. Before that, he covered Mississippi State for The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi’s largest newspaper. Follow Will on Twitter @WillSammon
