crushin feelings

GAINESVILLE — Thousands of empty seats in a stadium that was once perennially packed.

No superstar players on a field that was once overrun with NFL scouts.

And the once-mighty Florida Gators struggling in a 54-32 victory over lower-division Furman just for the right to become bowl eligible.

Meanwhile, reports run rampant that former UF coach Urban Meyer has already interviewed for the job at Arizona and is set to take the job at Ohio State. Meyer said on ESPN Saturday that he has not been offered or accepted any job.

Hopefully he is telling the truth, because if he isn't Gators fans and players should feel betrayed by Meyer, who clearly left a program bereft of talent, depth and discipline so he could go spend more time with his ESPN family.

When reports started circulating Friday night that Meyer had already taken the Ohio State job, one of his former UF players — Marcus Gilbert — wasn't shocked.

"I don't know why anybody is surprised about Urban taking the job at THE OSU," tweeted Gilbert, an offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers. "Me personally, I would've been a man and not have made up a lie."

Say it ain't so, Urban. Tell us all of these newspaper and Internet reports are false. And don't just come out with some milquetoast statement about how you haven't been offered a job; come out and say that no way, no how are you going to take another job even if it is offered.

Florida fans would have a right to call him Urban "Liar" if indeed he accepts a new job not even a year after he left his old one. Just the fact that he interviewed for the Arizona job, according to The New York Times, is a slap in the face to the Gators. Why is Meyer reportedly interviewing for other jobs only months after leaving one of the best jobs in America?

"With his deteriorating health and his family being as important as it is to him, I wouldn't think he would ," new Gators coach Will Muschamp said when asked if he would be surprised if Meyer returned to coaching this quickly.

Unfortunately for Muschamp, he is the one who has to deal with the Urban decay that Meyer left behind. He is the one who had to talk about what a "big win" it was for Florida to beat Furman. He is the one whose depth-depleted roster is 70 percent freshmen and sophomores.

The explanation Meyer gave for leaving UF was because of family and health issues. If he takes the Ohio State job now, those reasons will seem like empty excuses. And Gators fans will have a right to believe Captain Meyer bailed from a sinking ship and left Muschamp to scoop out the waves of incoming water, patch the massive leaks and steer the listing Gators gondola to safety.

We would be left to wonder if Meyer left Florida because of his program's health instead of his own. Would he have left if the Gators had lost one game last year instead of five? Would he have left if the Gators had a championship team coming back this season instead of a bowl-eligible one?

Meyer obviously deserves tons of credit for winning two national titles, but there's no denying he left scorched earth in his wake. Here's all you need to know about UF's talent level: There was one NFL scout in the press box on Saturday, and he was there to scout a Furman player. That's right: NFL scouts are now coming to Gators home games to scout the other team.

History tells us Nero fiddled while the Roman Empire was crumbling.

Now we're hearing Meyer is interviewing while Gator Nation is stumbling.

Say it ain't so, Urban.

mbianchi@tribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show weekdays from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740-AM.
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Freddie Gibbs - Cold Day In Hell
Mobb Deep - Black Cocaine
Roc Marciano/Alchemist/Oh No - Greneberg

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