Once upon a time, Florida Football was on top of world and were the untouchable kings of the college football world. Some might even call them the Swamp Kings of college football. The Gators won the national title in 2006 and 2008 under Urban Meyer and it felt like the dynasty Florida was building was going to last forever.
Until it didn’t.
And the parallels between Florida from that era and its neighbor to the north from present day are starting to build day by day.
As has been well documented, Gator players from the Urban Meyer Era couldn’t stay out of jail. Most of it was swept under the rug in the name of keeping the team successful on the field. But just quickly as Florida’s star burned bright, it fizzled out as Meyer created a monster he could no longer control.
When Florida lost to Alabama in the 2009 SEC title game, many assumed it was just a bump in the road for Gators and the machine would keep rolling out. 15 years later, Florida is still trying to rebuild the machine that broke.
And just up the road in Athens, Georgia the parallels are starting to grow between Meyer Era and the Kirby Smart Era.
Two national titles?
Check.
Top tier recruiting?
Check.
A loss to Alabama in the SEC title game following a national title year?
Check.
A lack of program control leading to countless players getting arrested?
Check
A highly wound up coach lets the stress of it all get to him?
Well, to be determined.
But after two more Georgia players were arrested this week for reckless driving it clear is that either Smart has next to zero control as to what his players are doing off the field or he just doesn’t care because the Bulldogs are winning. After all in January 2023 Georgia had a player and a recruiting staffer die in a high speed car crash. Rather than be an impetus for change in their program, Georgia has had 24 players apprehended for something driving related since that tragic incident.
Per the AJC, there have been *24* incidents in which “an individual associated with Georgia football has been apprehended by police for speeding, reckless driving or (DUI)” since the high-speed, alcohol-related crash that killed 2 people in January ’23. https://t.co/4TrcbZ0r4o
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) July 12, 2024
Online, Georgia fans are offering up every excuse in the book:
And on the surface, all of these arrests are background noise for a program who should make the playoffs in 2024 and are still bringing in top tier recruiting classes year after year. Georgia is winning so why worry about making sweeping changes?
Florida fans thought the same thing once upon a time and 15 years later are still fighting to reclaim the throne. We know a thing or two because we have seen a thing or two.
If you keep letting players get arrested, it doesn’t end well.
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Publish date : 2024-07-13 09:44:04
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