Saturday was not a good day for Jon Sumrall and his Florida team. He was never going to go undefeated, so he was bound to lose at some point, but Saturday was a brutal of a loss as one could conjure up.
We noted last night that Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer both had massive losses in their respective debut seasons, but we thought we would take a look at the first loss each of the seven non-interim coaches for Florida suffered since 1990 and see if a first loss can lead to any clues about the future of the program.
The first loss for each Florida coach since 1990
The Man in the Black Polo - Sept. 10, 2022 vs. Kentucky (26-16)
There are a ton of parallels between what went down yesterday and what took place in The Swamp in 2022. We all remember the feeling of Florida being “back” after knocking off Utah the week before, and we all were dreaming of a new era in Gainesville.
Instead, Florida looked lifeless the following week and just couldn’t generate anything on offense. To be honest, the bigger red flag came the following week against a Jeff Scott-led USF squad, as Florida needed a botched snap to hang on. But retroactivly, the Kentucky game felt like a warning sign of things to come.
Dan Mullen - Sept. 8, 2018 vs. Kentucky (27-16)
After teetering on the edge for years against Kentucky, the dam finally broke in Dan Mullen’s debut season. In retrospect, that Kentucky team was solid and went 10-3 in 2018. Florida also recovered to go 10-3 during Mullen’s debut season.
As we have said from time to time, the Dan Mullen era was better than it got credit for. It’s just that it crashed and burned so hard that fans have issues.
Jim McElwain - Oct. 17, 2015 vs. LSU (35-28)
After starting 6-0, Gainesville's vibes were high. But Florida was also having to hang on for dear life with Treon Harris at QB after WIll Grier had been suspended. Harris played well in this game with 271 yards passing and two TDs. But Florida has no answer for Leonard Fournett, who popped off for 180 yards rushing, and the dagger was off a fake field goal for a TD in the 4th quarter.
Most felt positive coming out of the loss, and beating Georgia in the next game softened the blow. The real red flag came after the Georgia game, as Florida all of a sudden was lifeless to close out the season.
Will Muschamp - Oct. 1, 2011 vs. Alabama (38-10)
People were trying to be cautiously optimistic about the Will Muchamp era, and there were no clear warning signs through their first four games. That all came crashing down as Alabama ran roughshod over Muschamp for a 28-point defeat. Florida as a team managed just 222 yards of offense in this one.
The real red flag came next: Florida followed up the Alabama loss with a 30-point loss to LSU, then two more losses that dropped their record from 4-0 to 4-4 in a blink. To be fair, Florida was without John Brantly for those losses as he got hurt against Alabama, but one would have liked to see Florida be more competitve.
Urban Meyer - Oct. 1, 2005 vs. Alabama (31-3)
There are plenty of parallels between the first five games that both Muschamp and Urban Meyer had, as both started 4-0 and both suffered their first defeat in blowout fashion to Alabama.
The difference is that Meyer recovered to finish the year 9-3, while Muschamp ended the year 7-6. Meyer would take the momentum from the season as a whole and would win a national title a year later.
Ron Zook - Sept. 7, 2002 vs. Miami (41-16)
Compared to some of the stuff we watched in the 2010s into the 2020s, the Ron Zook era was not the complete disaster that it gets remembered as. But getting blown out by Miami in his second game in Gainesville didn’t set any positive vibes for Florida.
The Gators did recover to beat Tennessee the following week, but the real red flags started with a loss to a 7-6 Ole Miss squad, followed by getting blown out at home to LSU.
Steve Spurrier - Oct. 13, 1990 vs. Tennessee (45-3)
Looking back, within the context of how the 1990 season played out, this was a truly shocking loss. Florida was 5-0, and while this was a top ten Tennessee squad, they weren’t some unstoppable juggernaut.
The key for Florida was the response afterward, as Florida would blow out then No. 4 Auburn two games later and would finish 1990 9-2. They finished 1st in the SEC, but couldn’t claim the title due to being on probation.
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