Billy Donovan Speaks

You have to respect Donovan

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Billy Donovan threw his support behind embattled Florida football coach Will Muschamp and said that his colleague has been focused on trying to turn around the downtrodden Gators program.

Donovan, a two-time national champion with the Gators and the SEC's longest-tenured men's basketball coach, said he is well aware of the pressures Muschamp has experienced after winning only four games last year, starting 3-3 this season and now hearing continual calls for his job.

"Certainly coming toward the end before [Urban Meyer] left, I think Will walked into a very challenging situation. I think everybody knew that," said Donovan, who appeared Friday on the ESPNU College Basketball podcast with Andy Katz and Seth Greenberg. "I think he built in a style of play his first year, and I think he saw a huge jump in his second year. Last year what happened, and I give Will a lot of credit, I don't think enough people have talked about this, people look at their record a year ago and how difficult and challenging it was. As a head coach, he never, ever made one excuse for his players or for himself with the amount of injuries they had. It was totally impossible to overcome the level and the talent of the players that he had.

"And I will tell you this: I am a huge Will Muschamp fan. I really respect him as a man. I respect the way he goes to work every day, and the way he's tried to deal and address his team. Certainly in these situations, they are always challenging. But as a man, he is a great guy and I think he's an outstanding football coach. I don't know enough about the X's and O's in football to probably pass an opinion on that. But I do know Will Muschamp is a man, and there's nobody rooting harder for him than I am because he's all about the right things."

Florida has a bye week before facing No. 9 Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) on Nov. 1 in Jacksonville, Florida.