Auburn Tigers head coach Alex Golesh and Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall have some winning-starved fanbases to please on the gridiron this coming season. On3's Ari Wasserman and Andy Staples both acknowledged the stakes of their Week 3 matchup, the first conference game of the season for both SEC programs.
Wasserman claimed that “Whoever loses this game (between Auburn and Florida), the fan base will be ready to jump off a bridge." Still, Wasserman denied that the two programs are in the same situation after Golesh brought over USF Bulls transfer Byrum Brown and several other transfers from Tampa to the Plains with his career change.
Wasserman also blamed Brown's performance during a 18-16 USF win over UF at the "Swamp" last September on Billy Napier's firing the following month.
"Everything's a measuring stick. Everything is a comparison. Part of that's because of us but I think the fans too are educated and smart enough to say, 'hey you know we are in similar boats. We hired coaches. We had the same time to improve our rosters. How are we not as good as theoretically in the exact position?' I don't know if that's a fair comparison. It's not always apples-to-apples. Florida did a great job of retaining some… Auburn brought an exciting quarterback but lost their best receiver," Wasserman said.
"He went into the swamp with USF and beat Florida last year. And obviously he's not the only one coming from USF. So there are several players on this team who've already beaten Florida once and beat them at their place with a team that wasn't supposed to win. Byrum Brown is a quarterback who got both coaches new jobs in this game."
Florida could have Lane Kiffin FOMO if Jon Sumrall doesn't work out
If Sumrall's defensive identity and Buster Faulkner's offensive schemes don't lead UF to wins this coming fall, there's a good chance Gator fans will feel FOMO about not hiring Lane Kiffin before he ended up with the LSU Tigers.
Sumrall was the preferred choice in Auburn, so there's a chance of FOMO in East Central Alabama, but it's less likely because defensive coordinator DJ Durkin was always going to be retained no matter what, making the Sumrall fit redundant.
Gainesville may need immediate success sooner than the Loveliest Village for Sumrall's sake. If AU turns out to be good and UF flames out yet again, there could be serious buyer's remorse in Alachua County, Florida.