Tampabay.com

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

Will Muschamp says Florida's failures ultimately fall on him

As Florida prepares to host Florida State in the annual rivalry this weekend, Florida coach Will Muschamp said he's not pleased with the season overall, and that ultimately that's his fault.

Muschamp continues to point out the Gators' deficiencies, including youth and lack of depth, but said he can't use that as an excuse for the  disappointing 6-5 season.

At the end of a game, I’m not like a lot of coaches,'' he said. "I’m not going to come in and blame all of our players. There’s a lot of coaches that do that, and I’m not going to do that. When we play well it’s because our players played well, and when we don’t it’s my fault. And that’s just been my approach all the time. The players understand that, too. I’m the first one that’s going to stand up and say I need to do a better job. I think it’s really unprofessional for a grown man to come up here and blame a 19, 20, 21-year-old kid for a mistake. I think that’s ridiculous. And I’m not going to do that. So if it makes somebody mad, let me know.''

The Gators are currently ranked 91st in the nation in total offense. And while Muschamp hasn't been openly critical of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, he said Monday this season's problems have been across the board.

"I don’t really look at it from that standpoint,'' Muschamp said when asked if he's pleased with the job Weis has done. "I look at it as the big-picture standpoint – offense, defense, special teams. We’re certainly not pleased with the season in any respect. It’s totally unacceptable here at Florida, and I realize that. Our goal is to go to Atlanta, so in all areas we need to improve. And we need to improve offensively. Regardless of the circumstances, regardless of youth, injuries, we can go through the laundry list of reasons. At the end of the day, they’re excuses and we need to play better.''

 

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