Florida Gators: Tim Tebow offers Muschamp Support, Urges No More Boos

Former Gator quarterback and SEC Network analyst Tim Tebow offered some defense to embattled head coach Will Muschamp on Saturday morning. On the SEC Nation TV program, Tebow also urged Florida fans not to boo the players and “show character as fans.”

“If there’s one season where we’re not scoring points, that’s okay.”

Following up on comments he made on Tuesday during a radio show appearance, Tebow reiterated that the offense had problems, but stressed that Muschamp is a “very good coach” and that the failure of this Gator team is more on the player.

“I don’t think they’ve played up to their potential,” Tebow said. “Offensively, I don’t think they have an identity. I don’t think that they have a leader that is taking people together and saying ‘Hey, let’s do our job.’”

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Non-Offensive

Both Tebow and his co-hosts on the show cited the failure as the offense as the source of the team’s failures. Tebow said a few mistakes in previous games — citing the late-game dropped touchdown pass against LSU as an example — are all that separates a talented Gator team from being one that is on the rise.

Muschamp “knows how to lead a team, he knows how to be successful,” Tebow said. “But to do they, they have to find a way to score points and they have to have better leadership offensively to do that.” Co-host Marcus Spears, a former LSU and NFL defensive end, agreed, saying the Gators lackluster offense is what is costing them games.

Support of Muschamp

Tebow said that Muschamp was a talented defensive coach who while at Auburn “put together one of the best game that I have ever played against when I was in college.” Spears put the blame more squarely on the players backs.

“Players get coaches fired,” Spears said. “This has nothing to do with Will Muschamp. He’s a great coach. It’s easy to fire the coach. But let’s look at these guys.”

“The talent is there, the players are there, I would take his defense up against any team in the country,” said Spears, who played for Muschamp when he was the defensive coordinator at LSU. He said the turnovers and mistakes the Gator players were making was “a formula for losing football games.”

Host Paul Finebaum agreed that Muschamp needed more support, but he said that if the Gators lose their fourth straight game to Georgia next Saturday, it’s hard to see how he keeps his job.

Walking it back?

Overall, Tebow’s comments, while supportive of Muschamp, were somewhat vague, citing the need for “leadership” and for people to “do our jobs” without saying specifically if that failure is on the players or the coach.

In the setup to the segment, host Joe Tessitore cited Tebow’s comments on Tuesday to Jacksonville sports radio station 1010XL, where he said the Gator offense didn’t have an identity and didn’t “play with heart.” Tessitore said the comments were “more steak than sizzle” and implied that Tebow’s comments were misconstrued.

However, Tebow’s comments Saturday seemed to mirror what he said on Tuesday, again using the term “identity” to describe what the Gator offense lacks. And while he said the offense needed “leadership” and his comments implied that it was on the players to step us, he wasn’t entirely clear on who needed to provide “leadership.” And while supportive of Muschamp, Tebow didn’t specifically say the coach should be retained past this season.

Be Better Than Boo Birds

Tebow appealed to Florida fans not to boo the players, as they did when the Missouri game last week began to unravel.

“Over the course of the last twenty something years, we’ve been as blessed as any fans out there,” said Tebow, adding that the Gators have three national titles during that span. “When we’re at the game, let’s be better than these other universities that boo their student athletes.”

“If there’s one season where we’re not scoring points, that’s okay.”

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