Fire. Passion. Loyalty. Grit. These are all characteristics of a good football team. While they may have been lacking at times for the 2014 Florida Gators (3-3, 2-3) these things certainly made an appearance Monday afternoon through linebacker Michael Taylor.
The Gators head into their annual matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday. The Dawgs are currently in control of the SEC East with a 6-1 record and sitting at number 9 in the AP Poll. It also shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise if Richt and company welcome back Heisman contending running back Todd Gurley from suspension for the Cocktail Party.
Meanwhile the Gators are playing amongst a rain of boo’s and “Fire Muschamp” chants from their fans as they play for a coach that, despite all assurances from Jeremy Foley otherwise, can’t find himself anywhere but the hot seat.
The players hear the boo’s as well, they see the tweets and they feel the tension. And while Michael Taylor understands it’s your right as an American to express that thanks to “somewhere in the Constitution”, he also has really had enough.
Taylor politely lashed out at fans saying, “People can say whatever they want…people saying that aren’t out there coaching with him, they aren’t being coached by him…they can voice their opinion. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s somewhere in the Constitution, you can voice your opinion.”
To clarify, he’s referring to the First Amendment, which reads:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
He goes on to say “We love playing for him. He’s a good coach. He’s a great person. I wouldn’t approve anybody else. I wouldn’t want to play for anybody else right now.”
Watch the video for his full mini-speech, and then watch the Gators face the Dawgs Saturday at 3:30 on CBS to see if this translates onto the field.
Good for Michael Taylor.
I respect Mike Taylor. He’s been a good Gator….class act, on and off the field. And it’s obvious that WM is a players coach, but so was Zook. The players rallied around him too, when his job was in jeopardy. That doesn’t always translate on Saturday afternoons. Sorry Mike, but Muschamp is not getting it done.
Hey Michael – want to shut me and others up at the game, how about making a play for your coach and playing like you care and getting the rest of the players who support Will so much to play like you were supposed to be able to when you were recruited. If you are doing this, then maybe you should look at your coaches who are failing you. In every business (yes this is a business) you have a lot of Good Guys who people love but guess what, they can’t run my company. The same goes for Head Coaches, some people just are not head coaches. Just because they are good guys or people that you would play for doesn’t translate to CEO’s/Head Coaches.
It’s nice to get fired up, but it only gets you so far. Usually the better players win out in the end, and guys like Taylor are not the better players when they go up against the likes of Todd Gurley. Each game is it’s own game, so comparing the results of the two teams performance against Missouri doesn’t mean anything, but I just see Georgia having better players than Florida. Now that can be offset if you have a good quarterback. That’s the big question for this Florida team, and has been since Tebow left. When will UF put a good quarterback on the field? I never play the “if” game, it is only for dreamers, but a good quarterback just might make the difference between winning and losing. Michael Taylor may have his heart in the right place, but he’s not talented enough to be a difference maker.