Florida Soccer's decay should unnerve Gator fans as Stricklin picks a football coach

The Florida Gators have made the move to fire soccer coach Samantha Bohon after four seasons in Gainesville. Bohon won a grand total of five SEC games over those four seasons, and her squad showed minimal progress on the field, relying on 0-0 draws in order to get any kind of positive result.

There is an argument to be made that Bohon inherited a dumpster fire and Florida lagged behind in financial support compared to the rest of the SEC, and that is true.

But the fact that Florida turned into an unsalvageable dumpster fire in the first place falls on the man Gator fans are entrusting to also hire a football coach right now.

Scott Stricklin letting soccer rot should concern Florida fans

Florida Soccer was a once proud program that had started to slip a little, but the Gators were still a competitive SEC program that made the NCAA Tournament as recently as 2019.

But after Becky Burleigh retired in 2021, this is where things went off the rails.

Florida AD Scott Stricklin went out and hired Tony Amato from Arizona and had to fire Amato less than a year later, despite an original six-year contract.

Amato went 4-12-4 in his lone season in Gainesville, but what got him fired were allegations of verbal abuse and toxicity.

The problem is that Amato wasn't fired until April of 2022, a solid five months after the 2021 campaign ended.

Stricklin even said at the time when he fired Amato that:

"We have worked diligently with Tony since last fall, when I first became aware of challenges with relationship building and communication. As the issues continued to be brought to my attention, it became apparent that sufficient progress was not being made, and Tony was not a fit for the University of Florida."

So Stricklin knew there was a problem, but rather than pull the plug right away, he waited five months.

This is why he had limited options and opted for Bohon, who had never been a D1 head coach and had spent her previous 15 seasons in NAIA and D2 while at Embry-Riddle.

We can pile on Bohon, and she is not immune from criticism, but the reality is that Stricklin gave her a job that she was in over her head on.

Futbol to Football

So why should fans of Florida Football care that Florida Futbol has turned into a dumpster fire?

Well, the same man who watched as the program sank into decay is the same man tasked with trying to find a football coach in Gainesville.

In fact, the same man tasked with hiring a football coach has litteraly failed at all but one hire he has made for the University of Florida. And in reality, the one successful hire he did make (Todd Golden) was only after he refused to fire the underperforming coach who came before (Mike White).

Most Gator fans want Lane Kiffin as the next football coach, and if Stricklin pulls off Kiffin, then credit should be given to Stricklin.

But this is Scott Stricklin we are talking about, and until the ink is dry on the contract, Gator fans have every right to be skeptical.